Interview with Miami Heat Assistant GM

[Silogical]

David Aldridge: Good morning Pat Riles, and congratulations on the playoff birth.

Pat Riles: Thank you

David Aldridge: Are you surprised you were able to sneak into the playoffs in the tough eastern conference?

Pat Riles: No, Im not surprised. We felt we were the 9th best team in the east, so it would only take semi-serious injuries to one of about 5 teams above us to claim a spot. That is exactly what happened with Paul George going down for a month or so.

David Aldridge: Was the playoffs the goal, or was rebuilding the goal?

Pat Riles: On day 1 we had a meeting with our owner Mickey Arison. We asked what he would prefer, build for the future or continue to build a winning culture. His response “Both” I was about to say it’s not that easy, but before I could Silogical accepted the challenge.

David Aldridge: Did you have a game plan to win and rebuild at the same time or did you just wing it?

Pat Riles: We had a plan. Silogical wanted to bring in under-appreciated/under-rated players who wont cost a whole lot to acquire while simultaneously trading out our aging high profile veterans. Silogical gave us a list of under valued players and tasked us with finding more. Some of the players included in his list were: Roy Hibbert, Ryan Anderson, Jason Thompson, RJ Hunter, and Andrew Bynum. With the exception of RJ we acquired all these players while sending out very little.

David Aldridge: I notice Joe Jackson wasnt listed is he a part of the heats future?

Pat Riles: Absolutely, We didnt have Joe as a target at the start of the year, but when his name came up in possible trades we scouted him hard. The more we scouted him the more we liked. He wont go off for 30 like Lowry, but he gives us what we need at the PG position. A floor General.

David Aldridge: Who would you say is your MVP?

Pat Riles: That’s a tough question, every rotation player has a role to fill. I would say its a tie between Joe Jackson and RJ Hunter. We would have a very tough time winning games if either went down with an injury.

David Aldridge: Pre-Season projections had the heat winning 36 games. You ended up winning 44 while simultaneously getting younger at every position and acquired 5 additional 1st round picks. Do you feel the heat have a shot at winning GM of the Year?

Pat Riles: Im probably bias, so I wont answer, but I really like what we did. We didnt start with much, you could argue young stars like Okaro White/Stanley Johnson held more value than our entire roster at the start of the year. So to take what we started with go on to win 44 games and acquire 5 additional 1st round picks, we couldnt be happier with the results.

David Aldridge: What’s the plan moving forward?
Pat Riles: We will likely use a few of our 1sts round picks to bring in some immediate impact players. 50 wins with a still relatively young team that can continue to improve yr after yr is our goal.

[Chilikonkarne]

I was really impressed by the performance of your team after trading your main assets.
It seems you are a really good tactician and looking forward to see if you can do some magics against the Pistons in Playoffs. Stealing a gme or two would be already a great achievement.
Anyway, future looks bright in Miami with 5 first round in the next 3 drafts

[hardenwithnod]

Good stuff, I like how your team is shaping up as well. Being able to compete for playoffs, and looking after the future is no easy task. Well done.

[8timechamp]

Top 3 gm of the year imo
Trading away some talent and still future gained assets in return l, and didn't miss a beat either.
No one expected the heat to make the playoffs after those trades. Myself included.

[Dennis]

Two things had a huge impact on your season..

1. That you got unbelievable return for Cousins, good job man.

2. That you and Matty mopped the floor with a rookie GM (Griffin/Gay trade).

Overall a very good season by you this year. Top3 for GMs of the year for me.

[emplep7]

You should be one of the top GM of the year votes from the league for your work. Looking forward to our third year in a row facing you in the playoffs.

[WillyJakkz]

Great gm job Sil, Hayward Hunter 2 1sts for Cousins is the only deal I feel you couldve gotten more for.

Cuz the top C in the League but amazing job getting into the PO's man!

[Mattybriand]

Two things had a huge impact on your season..

1. That you got unbelievable return for Cousins, good job man.

2. That you and Matty mopped the floor with a rookie GM (Griffin/Gay trade).

Overall a very good season by you this year. Top3 for GMs of the year for me.

Matty did all the work on the trade ftr

[mgtr81]

A very solid team. Glad to see Jackson doing well in Miami. He is a good player, just wasn't what we needed at the point guard spot in our system. Good luck in the playoffs.

[andrei]

Great job Ted - made the playoffs in a tough conference, well done.

[Marcos_Beck]

Very very good GMing. After adjusting to the league you seem to have learned DDS's tricky engine.. That's good!
I did not expect you to be a playoff squad but well done sir!