Dwyane Wade‘s decision to leave the Miami Heat was arguably the most shocking development of the free agency period and Heat team president Pat Riley seems to regret letting Wade walk.
Riley held a press conference on Saturday (July 16) and spoke on the Heat’s offseason as a whole, including DWade’s exit and Chris Bosh’s future.
Here are the highlights via the Sun Sentinel‘s Ira Winderman:
“Obviously from my standpoint and the team’s standpoint, we’ve had a tough summer. Period.”
“What happened with Dwyane, floored me. I’m not trying to fall on the sword for anybody. I have great regret that I didn’t immerse myself in the middle of it.
“I’m gonna miss what I might have had planned for him and his future and how I saw the end going for him.
“My responsibility was to make it happen.
“Dwyane left and the buck really stops here.
“There will always be a key under the mat. I just hope it doesn’t get too rusty.
“It’s not going to be the same without him.”
“I’ve always been reaching to get him another guy, especially after [LeBron James] left, to help him win.
“I haven’t spoken to Dwyane yet. I’ve been crafting a very long e-mail to him. I’m going to send it when it’s finished.”
Riley said he wanted to make sure Wade got paid, “but not at the expense of paralyzing our chance to win.”
On Chris Bosh and the uncertainty of whether the All-Star forward will be back from the blood clots that have sidelined him the second half of each of the past two seasons:
“It’s always fluid and it always has been. It’s a positive environment right now with Chris and his doctors.
“I know he wants to play and we would be open to that. Let’s allow this process to move down the road and we’ll go from there.
“I can’t speak medically about this thing. I can only speak from a basketball standpoint.
“It’s a sensitive, complicated situation.”
