Riley says Heat will 'rebuild quick'

A proper NBA team rebuild has two main ingredients: luck and patience. It seems the latter isn't on Miami Heat president Pat Riley's radar.

"We're dealing with that word that you hate to use - that we have to rebuild," Riley told CBS Miami's Joe Rose Wednesday. "But we will rebuild quick. I'm not going to hang around here for three or four years selling this kind of song to people in Miami ... I think we can turn this thing around. You can use that word rebuild. But we're going to do it fast."

Sports history is littered with rebuilds derailed by a lack of consistent focus. One of the beauties of the NBA, however, is smaller rosters mean it can take less time to reload talent. That's where the luck comes in. The Heat have the fifth-worst record in the league and are on pace for a high lottery pick.

Given that Miami owes the Phoenix Suns a first-round pick next year (top-seven protected in 2018 and unprotected in 2019), the deep draft this coming summer could be the Heat's best chance to land a star-caliber prospect like Markelle Fultz, Josh Jackson, or Lonzo Ball.

Incumbent point guard Goran Dragic's name has been bandied about in trade rumors, but the veteran has said he wants to stay put. And while the South Beach lifestyle and absence of a state income tax make Miami a potential magnet for free agents, the Heat have other issues to contend with.

First is the tricky Chris Bosh situation. It's virtually certain that his career with the Heat is over; the team has classified him as medically unable to play, and the next step will be settling his contract. Bosh has three years and about $76 million in guaranteed money left, so even a traditional buyout would be a massive hit to the team's salary cap. Miami is clearly hoping he takes a medical retirement - that way he gets all his money, but it won't count against the cap.

And as far as free agents in 2017 go, most of the elite talents available appears quite happy in their current environs, with it's Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Kyle Lowry, or Gordon Hayward.

Given their constraints, the Heat won't add two superstars this summer, either. After the Bosh situation, the team has three players locked up through at least 2019 to the tune of about $153 million: Dragic, Hassan Whiteside, and Tyler Johnson.