The Miami Heat have had a whirlwind of a season. After the Heat traded away Jimmy Butler and ended that saga, former NBA player Jeff Teague thinks a majority of the problems have to do with Pat Riley.
The team’s president was the main proponent that forced Butler out of Miami. Teague feels the same way. Even with what the Heat got back in the trade, the former all-star wants to see the team do a complete teardown.
“It’s time for the Heat to blow it up,” Teague said on the Club 520 Podcast. “It’s time for the whole organization to just start over. Let Pat Riley just go ahead and retire man somewhere. You’re 88, let’s just start it over.
“Let Erik Spoelstra run the team from the top to the bottom. Be the coach and the general manager. Just let him do it, just start over bro.”
Teague thinks after trading Butler, this would be the time for Riley to retire. He also mentioned that the Heat should let Spoelestra take over Riley’s role in the front office as well as continue his coaching duties.
The Heat are under .500 at 29-35 sitting in 9th place in the East. They would participate in the play-in tournament, but that isn’t what the organization is accustomed to.
Jeff Teague thinks the Heat’s future isn’t going anywhere
While the Heat has some formidable pieces around them, the mediocrity isn’t appealing to Teague. After all, Butler was the key guy that helped them reach the NBA Finals, twice (2020, 2023).
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Now that Butler is gone, who do they have to fall back on? Tyler Herro made his first All-Star appearance this season and Bam Adebayo is a three-time All-Star (2020, 2023, 2024).
Having two All-Star-level players should mean they could contend. Despite that though, Teague thinks they need to just rebuild and start over.
“They’re going to be like this every year, they don’t have anybody who moves the needle,” Teague said. “Tyler Herro had a good year.
“Bam, he does the same s**t every year. He’s a good defensive player, they don’t have anybody that moves the needle. Jimmy was their guy, they let Jimmy go. Wig going to always get 20 but he isn’t going to move the needle.”
While Adebayo and Herro have proven to be leaders on the Heat, Teague says that they aren’t doing enough to impact winning. It’s only a small sample size without Butler, but time will tell if a rebuild is on the way.
Spoelstra has never undergone a legitimate rebuild, so this could be a first for many in the organization if it happens.
