Ever since reading about this exchange in 2013 I've thought differently about the Miami Heat as a trade partner, essentially going from they probably wouldn't want to trade within the conference to not a snowball's chance on a Miami sidewalk.
Aside from being conference rivals it always just seems like we don't have much discourse with the Heat and this public outburst from Pat Riley in 2013 absolutely confirmed that Riley and Ainge simply dislike each other on a personal and professional level.
Mar 30, 2013
Kevin Arnovitz
ESPN Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS -- Miami Heat president Pat Riley on Friday forcefully responded to criticism leveled against LeBron James by Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.
"Danny Ainge needs to shut the f--- up and manage his own team," Riley said in a statement released through a Heat spokesman. "He was the biggest whiner going when he was playing and I know that because I coached against him."
Ainge said he was at a loss to explain why Riley should have gotten into such a lather in the first place.
"I stand by what I said. That's all. I don't care about Pat Riley. He can say whatever he wants," Ainge said in the runway shortly before Friday night's game against Atlanta.
Ainge couldn't let it go without one final shot at Riley.
"I don't want to mess up his Armani suits and all that hair goop. It would be way too expensive for me," he said.
The only case of high level GM aggressive revenge maneuvering I've heard of is when Portland traded Martell Webster to Minnesota, failed to disclose medical information, and then publicly ridiculed the Minnesota front office for not knowing about Webster's injury when it happened on live TV during the playoffs.
Minnesota then attempted to sign Nic Batum to a Max offer sheet in restricted free agency and brought Brandon Roy back from retirement leaving Portland on the hook for a large portion of his old contract.
Both of those moves put Portland in difficult negotiating positions, could Chris Bosh do the same to Miami?From what I understand Miami is able to delay playing Chris Bosh and were subsequently wait on waiving him until after the deadline for him to join a playoff team this year. What about next year though? What if Chris Bosh just needs a team to agree to sign him to put leverage on Miami.
What team would be a good fit for a jump shooting, defensively versatile Center? What team is still looking for the fifth member of its starting five? What team is run by a general manager known for taking creative, risky maneuvers and hasn't opened this life for Pat Riley?
If there's going to be one team to take a risk on Chris Bosh, would anyone be in a better position than us?