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Pat Riley has been known to bring big names to South Beach. Ever since he joined the organization, Riley's tenure as Heat president has been marked by big, even massive free agent signings, which have helped turn Miami into one of the most successful franchises in NBA history.
Earlier this month, Riles landed his latest "whale", acquiring two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks. During his recent appearance on Dan Le Batard's podcast, the Heat president talked about Giannis and compared him to the other legends he signed in Miami.
"Well, he's a game changer like Zo and Tim, and we didn't win with them. Came close. That frustrated all the fans, but it gave them something compelling to look forward to, a battle every night over there for five years. But we couldn't complete the task,"recalled Riley.
Getting Shaq in 2004 led to the Heat's first title
Zo and Tim are Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway Sr., whom Riley acquired during the 1995-96 season. Pat got Zo before the start of the campaign from the Charlotte Hornets, while Tim Sr. was a midseason acquisition from the Golden State Warriors.
Both led the Heat to four straight division titles from 1997 to 2000, and delivered the first four 50-win seasons in Heat history, including their 61-win campaign in 1996-97, where they lost to Michael Jordan's Bulls in the ECF.
However, after Mourning suffered a kidney failure after the 2000 Olympics, the Heat had a couple of down years. But their struggles landed them Caron Butler and Dwyane Wade in consecutive Drafts, and Riley also acquired free agents like Eddie Jones, Brian Grant, and Lamar Odom during their lean years. Odom, Grant, and Butler ended up becoming part of their trade package to land his literally biggest "whale" ever, Shaquille O'Neal, in 2004.
"To me, greatness will help you even if it's a little older; you'll get to the promised land. So we traded for Shaq, gave up Lamar, a great young player, gave up Caron, who I love dearly. We had to give up Brian Grant and a first-round pick. That was it, to get Shaq. And we won the title," Riley added.
Adding Giannis is like adding Shaq or the "Big 3"
In 2010, Riley masterminded another massive coup when he bagged LeBron James and Chris Bosh that summer to form a "Big 3" with D-Wade. The Heatles made four straight NBA Finals appearances and won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.
However, since LeBron left in 2014, the Heat have experienced a long title drought. Miami made the NBA Finals in 2020 and 2023, but without a "whale," they could not complete the job. And now comes Antetokounmpo.
"Giannis is right there with Shaq and the Big 3. He's right there with, in some ways, with Bam in 2017 when we drafted him. I place Giannis in the Top 5 in the NBA…His Greek name, basically, that name in Greece means God is gracious. It's a very powerful name, and so it's very fortunate for us to get this guy who's talented, who's humble, who's successful, who knows where his place is right now, and he just wants to win. And we've already put a pretty good cast of players around him."
A lot has been said about the current Heat team. Some say they need shooting. Riley said they need more playmaking. But regardless of how they are looked at right now, having Giannis is, as Pat said, having a game-changer.
When healthy, the Greek Freak is arguably a Top 5 player in the NBA. He led the Bucks to the 2021 NBA title with Khris Middleton as his co-star. Now he has Bam. It remains to be seen if Giannis can win a title like Shaq and LeBron did. But clearly, the Heat are better now than they were before Antetokounmpo came. That makes the trade worth it.
