A longtime, respected NBA scout for another playoff team was assessing the Heat roster by phone this week when he pointed out how “strange it is seeing” Heat president Pat Riley — a man who has built an extraordinary coaching and front-office career around star players — “being in this spot,” now essentially stuck with a roster without an in-his-prime whale, to borrow a Riley term.
“Let’s put it this way,” the scout said. “Goran Dragic is their best player, but if you had a really good team that would contend for a championship, you would want him to be your fourth-best player, maybe [third if you had two superstars].