Miami Heat’s Pat Riley is eager to see the next step for Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro

Pat Riley loves his young core.

Now he’s eager to see the next step for all of them.

The Miami Heat’s president made clear during his recent media briefing that as good as Bam Adebayo is, there is still room for growth. Though Riley didn’t say this, expanding his range is one clear area for potential improvement.

Adebayo shot 2 for 14 on three-pointers this season and 5 for 36 in his career.

His mid-range jumper was significantly improved, especially in the first three rounds of the playoffs.

“He’s a multi-faceted player right now and his game needs to expand,” Riley said. “And it will expand because he is a player that’s willing to work at it. We know what he can do, and I don’t think Erik Spoelstra would have put him in the situations as the main trigger man in our offense as a point-center, unless he had great confidence in his ability to handle the ball and make plays as a passer. He didn’t do that his rookie year. He didn’t do half of the things that he does now. And that’s just through steady work and growth, development, and confidence.

“I love him to death. Practice gives you confidence. When you prepare you become confident in what you do out there. So Bam will practice, and he will get better. Erik will expand his game, and I think he’ll become better in all facets of the game.”

Riley admitted that “when we drafted Bam, we didn’t think Bam would be an All-Star this quick. We saw a great athlete. We didn’t even know how great a person he was. When we found out the level of his character and his loyalty and being a teammate, that with his talent, we knew we had something special.”

As for Herro, “his improvement, I think, will even go to another level as he gets older,” Riley said. “He just turned 20, my gosh. He had a great year.

“We knew he could shoot the ball. We knew he was competitive. In doing all the interviews and talking to all the people that knew him, we felt that he was a great choice. With Chet [Kammerer] and Adam [Simon] and Eric [Amsler] and Keith [Askins] and all our scouts, they were unanimous on picking [him].”

Riley said Herro “grew through listening and he grew through the mentorship of Udonis Haslem, Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic. All of those guys and the ones that came at midseason — Andre [Iguodala] and Solomon [Hill] and and Kelly [Olynyk] and Meyers [Leonard] — all of these veterans took him under their wing because they saw something special there.

“He got better not just as a shooter, but as a shotmaker. He got better in handling the ball. I used to see him out here on the court with our coaches that were developing him putting him through a myriad of ball-handling drills against pressure, banging him with the heavy bag, making him go to the basket and knocking him down and making sure he concentrated on finishing.

“He’s a very, very efficient offensive player. He got better as a playmaker. His vision — he started to see other plays because he could take it to the rack. He’s a great kid. He works hard and we have somebody very special in him.”

Riley acknowledged the front office and scouting department for targeting Adebayo, Herro, Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson and the coaching staff for developing them.

“We’re happy to have him and K-9, Dunc, our young guys, Bam,” Riley said. “What a young nucleus that we have that can play. I don’t think they would be at this level without Erik and his staff and the discipline that they’ve shown in taking care of themselves. It’s going to make it a lot easier for us, to be able to bring other people here in knowing that they can play and they can play in big moments.”

The odds appear against the Heat landing a third top Kentucky player to join former Wildcats Adebayo and Herro.

Kentucky 6-3 guard Tyrese Maxey conducted a Pro Day workout on Thursday night in Southern California - live on ESPN2 - and ESPN’s Jay Bilas projected Maxey as a lottery pick, well ahead of the Heat’s pick at 20.

Maxey - a good defender with very good length - averaged 14.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists on 43 percent shooting as a freshman at Kentucky last season.

He shot only 29 percent on threes but shot better on threes in big games and has made an adjustment in his form that seemed to help him during Thursday night’s workout, which was attended by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who are also Rich Paul clients.

According to Empire Sports Media, Miami has twice interviewed Kentucky point guard and SEC Player of the Year Immanuel Quickley, who’s projected to go late in the first round or early in the second. It’s possible he could rise to Miami’s range.

BEAL UPDATE

The Heat has long admired the game of Washington guard Bradley Beal and inquired about a trade for him 15 months ago before he signed an extension with the Wizards last October.

Beal is now signed with Washington through 2021-22, with a $37.3 million player option for 2022-23, and so a trade would be the only way to acquire him in the forseeable future.

Beal has said he’s committed to Washington but added something of a caveat in an interview on Pelicans guard J.J. Redick’s podcast.

“When I signed my deal, I structured it to where I still have some flexibility,” Beal said. “At the end of the day, I still want to win and the organization has to show me we want to win. I want to see what John [Wall] is like as well [after not playing since December 2018 because of a ruptured left Achilles tendon].

“You still want to be able to protect yourself and kind of be selfish in that regard. How can I create some type of flexibility for myself if we aren’t winning and I do choose to get out.

“That’s why [the contract is] two years with one and one as opposed to full three years. And [not being named to] the All-NBA [first, second or third team] screwed me too [which eliminated the chance of a super max contract at this point].”

“Just trying to position myself later down the line... I want to win. They have to show that.”

Beal, whose 30.5 scoring average ranked second in the league, said teams have been inquiring about trading for him.

“Teams are trying,” he said. “A lot of them are calling. A lot of them are inquiring and putting packages together, trying to see if they can get me. That’s not a secret.”

Please click here for my other Thursday pieces: two Miami Dolphins stories and my Miami Hurricanes 6-pack.