LeBron James mentioned what it looked like once, all of Pat Riley’s championship rings landing on the table before him, not so much dumped from a velvet bag with a metallic clank as a notably richer tone. ADVERTISING LeBron James
LeBron James mentioned what it looked like once, all of Pat Riley’s championship rings landing on the table before him, not so much dumped from a velvet bag with a metallic clank as a notably richer tone.
“Like jingle bells,” LeBron called the noise. “It was the most amazing sight and sound, all those rings shining at you, almost speaking to you.”
It wasn’t just seven championship rings before him that summer night in 2010 at their free-agent summit. It was those seven, plus the duplicates of each ring Riley has in yellow gold, sterling silver and platinum to match any chosen attire.
Greatness, by Riley’s definition, is in big moves and small details. So the championship rings must match his belt buckles and, of course, suits and ties. (Riley once sent a note congratulating former TV colleague Bob Costas on his Olympics coverage. “But the ties, Bob. The ties!” he wrote).
Riley now has nine rings, plus duplicates. The tangled question on the edge of free agency is simply this: Does he dump those rings and all his chips before Kevin Durant, knowing Durant is the one player available when free agency starts Thursday at midnight who can change a franchise?
Knowing, too, the Heat’s steep odds against signing him?
No one bets against Riley, simply because after he traded for Shaquille O’Neal and signed LeBron, no one should bet against him. But he had help those other years in landing O’Neal and LeBron, both on the Heat roster and involving those players’ former teams.
This is a more difficult act. Tougher. More uncertain. He’ll meet with Durant at some point, as will five other teams. And he no doubt wants Durant. Who doesn’t?
The question becomes how to stretch the available $41 million, the order he lines up all the necessary signings, and whether he can make everyone conveniently sidestep the murky issue of Chris Bosh’s future.
Does Riley, for instance, sign Hassan Whiteside first to a maximum contract, agree to terms with Dwyane Wade and then chase Durant? (That would be my idea).
Could he, say, trade Goran Dragic and Josh McRoberts to free up the necessary money if Durant — long shot alert, folks — picks the Heat over Oklahoma City and Golden State? (Again, my thought.)
At the center of it all is the question of what Riley really thinks of Whiteside. Is he a cornerstone player as he looked on his best days? If so, then give him the maximum deal and be done with it.
Or do the Heat offer Whiteside something smaller, something like the four-year, $64 million deal Toronto center Jonas Valanciunas signed last summer (before outplaying Whiteside in the playoffs)?
Some team will offer Whiteside a maximum deal. Riley knows that. Whiteside should take it, too, considering this is his first big contract and first chance to steer his career to a team that will show open love for him. Riley knows that, too.
For months, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra (plus veterans like Wade and Udonis Haslem) held Whiteside to demanding standards — as they should, as they must for a championship-seeking team.
Now we see what Whiteside thought of that tough love. And we see if Riley would rather have Whiteside or a solid professional behind Door B, like Al Horford.
Riley is so often at the center of everything that we almost expect him to be again.
He has had lots of acts. This next act will set up his final one. Does he drop those rings, like jingle bells, before Durant? More importantly, can it win the moment against bigger odds this time?
