Pat Riley, president of basketball operations of the Miami Heat, said the franchise is committed to retaining Goran Dragic, who became Miami's second-leading scorer in the playoffs at the age of 34.

"We know the guys that have sacrificed for us that we really like. Our free agents, especially Goran, who's been here for five years, it's going to be a little dicey for us because of wanting that flexibility but things can happen prior to that," said Riley.

Many will wonder how Dwyane Wade will feel after hearing the remarks above. As the greatest basketball name in Miami history, Wade contributed way more to the team than Dragic, yet Riley did not seem to remember that when he was negotiating a contract extension with Wade, who was also 34 in 2016.

Miami surprised everyone when they eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics to appear in front of the Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA Finals. Though they did not win the championship, the team should still be proud of their performance and, more importantly, they have a bright future.

Tyler Herro, 20, finished the first playoff trip of his career averaging 16.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists. In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics, Herro proved that he shoots to kill with a court-high 37 points. Bam Adebayo not only raised his playoff stats from three points and four assists last year to 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists this year, he also made himself the standard for a big man in the small-ball era. Duncan Robinson had to play hide-and-seek in almost every game but that did not keep him from burying 62 triples in the playoffs at a 3-point rate of 39.7 percent.

The fact that the above three are still in their rookie contracts means they are and will be contributing way more than what Miami paid them. Meanwhile, the team will finally be able to open up some decent cap space this offseason. If they decide to let Dragic, Jae Crowder, Derrick Jones Jr., Meyers Leonard and Solomon Hill go, Miami can create about $21 million in cap space.

Of course, Miami should not let all of them go, at least not Dragic and Crowder. As for the others, Jones is still young and has shown good defensive potential, but he is not worth a big deal. Neither is Leonard, whose only job is stretching the spacing. Hill can go wherever he wants.

Dragic and Crowder, thanks to their performances in the playoffs, have already seen their names on the pursuing lists of multiple general managers. Nonetheless, Miami should not have much trouble retaining them. Not only does Miami have $21 million in cap space, they can also go above the salary cap with their offers. As long as the New York Knicks don't come up with any sabotaging deal starting with $20 million a year, both Dragic and Crowder will be with Miami in the 2020-21 season.

However, it's no secret that Pat Riley wants to bring Giannis Antetokounmpo to South Beach. The Greek Freak will become an unrestricted free agent in 2021 summer if he does not extend his contract with Milwaukee. In order to land him, a maximum deal is just the beginning.

That's why no matter how generous Miami's offer to Dragic and Crowder is, it must be a short deal with a team option for the second year. Moreover, that's not the biggest problem the team may encounter – Adebayo is.

Adebayo has only one year left in his rookie deal with Miami. Usually this should be time for them to negotiate with him about contract extension, just like what happened last summer between Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets, and Pascal Siakam and the Toronto Raptors.

Adebayo's performance last season was by no means inferior to that of the above three and he thus deserves a maximum contract like them. Chris Bosh strongly suggested that Miami sign the deal with Adebayo as soon as possible.

Nonetheless, Riley is understandably reluctant to do that because extending Adebayo's contract like that this year may hold up the team's grand plan of introducing Antetokounmpo. For example, Miami may have to throw in some extra assets to get him via trade instead of direct signing. Not only may something unexpected happen, you don't want to hurt your franchise when the lineup is a major part of your recruiting.

There have already been guys taking their talents to South Beach or joining the runner-up team that beat them in the playoffs. Riley benefited from the former, but will he be able to combine the two scenarios next summer?