Miami Heat dealing with a battle between perception and reality

The Miami Heat seem to always see their names thrown in the mix when it comes to trade rumors and player acquisitions. It’s been something that’s been a trend for a long time.

While the reason for that has a lot to do with Pat Riley and the allure of Miami, the Heat are typically a winning organization. There is also the fact that when you consider all of this, throwing their name out there is a great piece of leverage for whomever the party of concern is at the time.

For instance, when a player is mentioned with the Miami Heat in reference to a potential partnership being formed between the two, the other suitors quickly step up—because they know that it’s always a threat when the Heat and Pat Riley are involved.

In a lot of cases, the best guess is to assume the player or his representation used that to get the preferred team to move quicker or something else associated with a preferred deal.