Riles could use this. He could use it for his team but also for himself.
Pat Riley, if he can somehow make Kyrie Irving-to-the-Miami Heat happen, would remind those who’ve forgotten — and those who’ve begun to doubt it — that he is still an NBA rainmaker, a deal closer.
It isn’t about convincing Irving, who already has listed Miami among teams to which he’d prefer to be traded. This time Riley would have to convince the Cleveland Cavaliers to move Irving not elsewhere but to an Eastern Conference rival in the Heat, by either offering the best deal or selling it as such.