Miami Heat’s Pat Riley discusses his future and what modern NBA teams need

Heat president Pat Riley recently was discussing what teams need in this modern NBA game, and one thing is clear: His roster needs more of it.

During a Friday night interview with Meadowlark Media’s Dan Le Batard, Riley said his team — and then changed it to teams in general — want players who are “high energy, high octane, can shoot the three, athletic as hell, great speed. You incorporate them into what the league wants and what you want as an organization.”

While there is no generally issue with the Heat’s energy level, the roster’s dearth of speed and elite athleticism have been a glaring shortcoming, with Miami lacking enough players who can consistently blow by defenders and create their own shot.

Victor Oladipo would have helped in both of those areas — especially with speed — if he had not sustained a knee injury that limited him to four games after his acquisition from Houston.

The Heat finished 19th in three point shooting at 35.8 percent and shot just 33.6 percent on threes during the playoffs.

Aside from Duncan Robinson — who shot 40.8 percent on three-pointers and was fourth in the league with 250 threes — and Kendrick Nunn (who shot 38.1 percent on threes), multiple Heat players finished in the bottom half of the league in three-point shooting at their positions.

Jimmy Butler set career highs in rebounds and assists and led the league in steals per game but shot 24.5 percent on three-pointers (25 for 102). That was the worst of any small forward in the league who attempted nearly that many shots.

If Riley follows his own view of what NBA teams need, then the roster likely will undergo significant change this offseason.

“The NBA offensive oriented game based on speed, three-point shooting... can get you in trouble in any series,” Riley said. “When you start missing threes and start making bad plays offensively, there is no way a team today can really contain a three-point shooting, driving offense. It’s incredible to me how much the game has changed. Not in a negative way. It’s an exciting game to watch. it’s different.”

Riley addressed other issues during the interview, which streamed on YouTube:

▪ Asked why he is still running a front office at 76 when he has accomplished everything he could accomplish, Riley said: “That’s your opinion. I’ve been part of a lot of successful teams and sometimes I begin to wonder whether it was because of them or because of me. I’m in my sixth generation of the NBA because I think I have something to offer and I still like to win. I don’t like the way it ended [this season].

“I don’t think you have to sort of rush yourself out of anything because that might be the narrative or the thought process of a lot of people who cover you...

“The game will always have a way — not just basketball but anything people have a passion for — they may have a thought of extricating themselves and they get pulled right in, that they want to do more. The day you lose that, God forbid, if I have to go get a bag of golf clubs, I’m not going to do it.”

▪ Would he have considered retiring if the Heat had won the championship last year?

“No,” he said. “At my age, I feel I have a lot more left, a lot more energy. I feel I have a sharp mind. Over 60 years, I’ve collected a lot of wisdom and a reservoir of knowledge of what it takes to win and what kind of players I want. I am not in a hurry to go anywhere except go on vacation and come back to win a championship for the Heat. That’s what we do.”

▪ When Le Batard vaguely referenced a playoff-eve report by The Athletic’s Shams Charania that there have been “very, very testy moments behind the scenes between Jimmy and that coaching staff” — Riley said:

“It’s normal. In one of the great books I read that had a great impact on my life, “The Road Less Traveled.” In the first paragraph, it says life is difficult.

“Whatever rumors are out there about Jimmy Butler and anybody else who might have a problem with me or with Erik or with the team, it’s normal. As long as you can teach me something, as long as, ‘Oh, I get it. I understand.’

“Look, throughout my career as a coach, there wasn’t one player on any team that I ever coached, a key player, that I didn’t have disagreements with, didn’t have yelling and screaming matches with, and whether it was Alonzo Mourning or Magic Johnson or James Worthy or Patrick Ewing of whoever, LeBron [James], Dwyane [Wade], Chris [Bosh]. That’s just the way it is.

“And if it’s too nice and too quiet, then you want to create something where there’s tension, otherwise you’re going to be apathetic.”

Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, has strongly disputed Charania’s report.

▪ Asked in a roundabout way if Wade — now a Utah Jazz part-owner — will be welcomed back by the Heat, Riley said: “Yes. Whatever Dwyane decides to do with the rest of his life or the NBA and whatever he decides to do in Los Angeles, I’m happy as hell he was offered the opportunity be part-owner of a franchise and congrats to him. When Utah comes back and plays, we will probably take his jersey down for that night. Dwyane will always have the key under the mat; it’s gold in this city.”

▪ He said he wished “nothing but the best” for Danny Ainge, who recently resigned as the Celtics’ top basketball executive.

“He had 18 years up there and I know how hard it is,” Riley said. “He’s free from whatever he wants to get around from.”

While Ainge said in 2013 that it was “embarrassing” that then-Heat star James was complaining about officiating, Riley released a statement saying that “Danny Ainge needs to shut the [expletive] up and manage his own team. He was the biggest whiner going when he was playing and I know that because I coached against him.”