Riley Swallowing Bait

Pat Riley is a fool.

Or at least, he is playing the fool a little too well.

This offseason is not going as well as it could be, and Riley's stubborn approach to it seems to be making it worse.

I cannot stress, things can change dramatically within the next few days as the free agent moratorium ends on July 11th - but it doesn't look like it.

In a previous blog, we stressed that Miami has to re-tool the team's roster by facing the challenge of going after undervalued talent. Why? Because the Heat do not have a whole lot of room under the new cap (which will be officially announced as of July 11th) - currently they are at $64.5M for 9 players.

The Heat need to round out their roster of 15 with 6 more players. Where are they going to come from?

As for payroll flexibility, they only have the MLE (mid-level exception) which is around $5.6M dollars and an unlimited amount of veteran minimum contracts ($1.3M). So that leaves little chance of signing a big-ticket free agent.

There is a possibility that the Heat work out a sign-and-trade with James Posey, signing him to a larger sum than another team might be able to, and trade him to that team for a player in return. Yet, the situation has to make sense and the contracts have to match up.

Pat Riley, meanwhile, has properly assessed the situation with James Posey as staying where it is - it hasn't progressed. Now, of course that could all be apart of Riley pulling the wool over everyone's eyes as he is working on a deal, but this feels like he is telling the truth.

If the Heat's sign-and-trade possibilities are done, then what is next? After all, what is the point of bringing in Mo Williams, the best PG on the market?

A few days ago, Riley was downplaying the Heat's need for a PG, saying that the media was over exaggerating while Riley turned to stressing Jason Williams' value to the team. More "coach-speak"? Was this just to downplay the desperation that is apparent to everyone that looks at the Heat's roster?

Say one thing, do another. It might work if you are trying to create subterfuge, but the fact that the Heat is being confusing should only assert the desperation of this team in the first place.

Then there is the stance of Riley and the MLE, he doesn't believe in giving it all up unless the right player comes along.

"If he's a player that his production has been such over the past three or four years that he's a double-digit [scorer], a starter, a heavy-minute rotation player and has contributed on a winning situation, you might think about it." Riley said.

But that is really all the Heat can do - think about it. They have very little possibility for pulling off a deal. Sure Mo Williams loves Miami and sure it would make sense for him to play with Wade and Shaq; but it doesn't make the right kind of "cents". If Milwaukee ups the pot by a few million, it would offset any benefits of getting the entire MLE in the state of Florida (with no state income tax) for Mo.

Simply put, Mo wants mo'. And the Heat cannot offer it.

Some would argue that Riley's mid-night recruiting of Mo Williams was a mistake. Although it went well, the Heat never really had too much of a chance to sign Mo and in fact, that trip could be used as leverage for Milwaukee to up their pay - which puts Mo further out of reach for the Heat.

Right now, the Heat are secretly hoping the Bucks are more concerned with Yi Jianlian, their draft pick who is trying to get traded, so they can sneak Mo Williams onto the Heat's roster.

Although this is to be expected, you want your team president/GM to take every opportunity to better the team, one has to be concerned that there is not proper attention being paid to the solutions that are available.

The Heat need a point guard and they will need a small forward to replace James Posey as well as Jason Kapono. There are options available. And just as a guy like Theo Papaloukas was a possibility, many predicted - rightly - that he was never a real possibility to play in the NBA and that he was just using interest in the NBA to drive up his pay. Mo Williams is looking to do the same thing here and Riley would be better spent trying to identify the solutions that are available and are not long shots - before those options have dried up and are no longer possibilities.

It is reported that Ime Udoka has an offer on the table for 3 years for $12M. Even at $4M per season, he is still cheaper than James Posey would be over that time span - and arguably just as effective if not more so.

Both the Lakers and the Heat are the favorites to sign point guard free agent, and Hollywood native, Steve Blake - and both are not willing to give the entire MLE to pull it off. That is something the Heat are getting right - but they better make up their mind.

Either Mo or nothing. Or Blake and someone else.

The Heat have 6 roster spots up for grabs. Daequan Cook looks to have one of them wrapped up and Wayne Simien, already under contract, could have another one. That leaves 4. There are a couple of options on the Summer League roster that could surprise and get invites to training camp.

Outside of that, the Heat look very unwilling to find other options. No trade leads, no serious free agent signings.

Did Riley swallow the bait and just out-maneuver himself by entertaining Mo Williams? It sure seems so. Meanwhile, he hasn't seem to pay enough attention to options that are on the table - at this point.

Why not put in the effort to convincing a guy like Trajan Langdon to come practice with the Heat? Or another European free agent like 6'5" PG Dimitrios Diamantidis, or 6'4" PG Terrell Everett - who was exiled to Europe because of marijuana charges.

Again, everything could change come July 11th. It just doesn't seem like it will as Riley seems to have the same old mentality about getting NBA veterans. Going for him, however, is the old Anthony Mason/John Starks/Udonis Haslem history. Looks like the Heat's chances will be left to the talents found within the Summer League then?

Will that be enough to convince Zo to return?