MIAMI _ So now what for the Miami Heat, as NBA free agency opens?
For Pat Riley, arguably one of the most difficult challenges of his career: Do nothing.
Because the 2020 offseason can offer something the Heat have not had, arguably, since 2010: Hope.
Yes, there was the run at Kevin Durant in 2016, but that would have required maneuvering with the deal agreed to by Hassan Whiteside, even more patience from Dwyane Wade and an acceptance from Durant that Chris Bosh no longer stood as a possibility as a teammate.
And, yes, there was the 2017 play for Gordon Hayward, which came while all the while competing against his college coach, Brad Stevens, in Boston and against the Utah Jazz's ability to offer far more to retain the All-Star forward.
In the interim, the Heat became caught up in the details of Tyler Johnson's riddle of a contract and playing piecemeal with the free agencies of James Johnson and Dion Waiters.
But if the line on future salary is held this summer, even at the cost of short-term gain, then there will be salary-cap space to potentially play with next summer, with the expiration of the deals of Whiteside and Goran Dragic, and exponentially more in the 2021 offseason, when only Josh Richardson, with his player option, and Justise Winslow, with his team option, might be on the books.
Playing passive, of course, is neither stimulating nor satisfying. Even last summer, when doing nothing might have been most advantageous, the Heat could not help themselves when it came to retaining Wayne Ellington. A season of maneuvering below the luxury tax followed.
In fact, with the Heat excising the contract of Rodney McGruder during the final week of this past season, it removed the temptation of extending a $3 million qualifying offer for the coming season.
Ultimately, there will be an attractive free agent or two who slip through this summer's process, becoming available at the minimum salary. That's when the Heat can decide, without impact to current or future cap/tax implications, whether to turn in that direction or continue with the development of prospects such as Derrick Jones Jr., Yante Maten, Duncan Robinson or Kendrick Nunn, all, at the moment, with excisable contracts.
A mere return by Udonis Haslem might not be the sexiest of offseason moves. But it also might be the only contract that will be extended over coming weeks.
That should not be taken as Riley losing his way.
It should, in fact, be taken as finding his way.
In the years leading up to 2010 and the epiphany that was Wade, LeBron James and Bosh, Riley signed off on the type of acquisitions that made it seem as if he was about to sign off from the front office, with all due respect to the likes of Kasib Powell, Blake Ahearn and Stephane Lasme.
This time, the expectations are neither short-term famine nor long-term feast.
Instead, it is accepting the current reality of being stuck in the middle and hoping to leverage it into eventually resuming a climb toward something better.
So think of this offseason as something along the lines of Seinfeld, as a show about nothing.
In many ways, it could be Pat Riley's most efficient way of producing an enduring hit revival.
