Youth Movement: How Pat Riley changed the Heat

On the eve of this 2005 NBA draft, we see a different Heat than we saw last year at this time. Last year, there was so much promise as a young fun 'n gun Heat team stirred quite a noise - with its loud music and its brash young team - in the playoffs. With a young nucleus that was Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and the emerging Dwyane Wade, the future was bright. We all know what happened next as the Heat have morphed into an Eastern Conference powerhouse.

But how exactly did the Heat get to the point of a young and promising team in the first place? And how exactly was it to happen on Riley's watch?

That may be a story of greater significance.

Pat Riley, as a coach, was known for his hard-nosed and serious style. He was demanding but asked no more of his players than he did of himself. And Riley was successful. Just as often as his teams won, there was always a player or two that would emerge out of nowhere and succeed in Riley's system. It demanded execution and discipline - qualities typically found in mature players. Such a group was usually found to be veterans; and that is who Riley looked to as a coach.

That is what made the transition of the 2003-2004 Heat so surprising.

The Heat, in all honesty, had fallen from its late '90's hey days. Tim Hardaway moved on and Zo had to face a serious, life-threatening illness. Riley was left to coach his team shorthanded. This was the blessing in disguise.

The Heat, coming into the 2002 draft, had a subpar season. They landed with the #10 pick in the lottery. Pat Riley and Randy Pfund selected a well-known college player - a proven winner in Caron Butler. A lot of the experts felt Riley managed to land a steal with the draft; Caron went on to have a strong rookie season and proved the experts right.

This took Riley to a place he wasnt familiar, well, not since Magic Johnson anyway. He had to rely on a rookie to help his team win. But still, it was not to be as the Heat went through another rough season and ended up with the #5 pick in the 2003 draft.

Riley was now faced with a dilemma. Find himself another veteran player to shore up his team and aim for the playoffs? Quietly, he must have doubted that even then the Heat could go forward and move deep into the playoffs. The desire to win stirred deep within Pat Riley. Perhaps this wasn't the path. In fact, we have now discovered that there was a deal on the table for the Heat to trade their #5 pick for Wally Sczerbiak: essentially, dealing Wade for Wally.

Then the miracle happened. Riley ruled against the move but instead fought what his natural inclination was and followed through with drafting Wade and embracing in full the youth movement in Miami.

So simple, yet so difficult. For a man who is used to winning and being on the mainstage of his profession, Pat Riley - for the first time - decided to see himself behind the scenes. And to peak from behind the curtains as the performance went on, was not an easy thing to swallow. It wasn't until Riley handed over the reigns of the head coach position to Stan Van Gundy that the transistion was complete.

This may have been Riley's greatest substitution of all his career. To actually look at himself and understand his own limitations and seeing that there was a different path to success this time is truly remarkable. Riley could have easily forced himself into following the path of the familiar and traded for Sczerbiak. He would not have been run out of town. Most likely, that team would have had moderate success, too. But it is clear that Riley made the right decision by taking on less responsibility - and ultimately, and quitely, taking responsibility for this franchises success in the process.

Was Riley completely conscious of this transition at the time? Perhaps not at all. Who would have thought the opportunity to trade for Shaq would have presented itself. And if Riley had not decided to reload the Heat with youth, he would have never had the bargaining chips in Odom and Butler to trade for Shaq. And had Riley not given up his coaching duties, he may not have been able to draft Dorrell Wright, either. Or even try and pick up Qyntel Woods.

Now, here we are with the 2005 draft. The Heat dont have one a lottery pick - for the first time in 3 seasons. Let's see what kind of magic Riley is able to do now.