Finally, A Done Deal: Knicks Get $1 Million, And Draft Pick, For Riley

The Pat Riley tampering soap opera ended in an unprecedented manner Friday when the New York Knicks received $1 million and a first-round draft pick from the Miami Heat for allowing the Heat to pursue hiring Riley.

Miami has called a press conference for today to announce the hiring of one of the most high-profile coaches in the history of the NBA.

The Knicks withdrew the tampering charges they filed against the Heat June 29 for comments by club executives interested in hiring Riley, who still had a year remaining on his five-year deal with New York.

Miami said it was negotiating with Riley and wouldn’t comment further until a final agreement was reached. When asked about the team’s timetable for signing Riley, spokesman Mark Pray said: “All I can tell you is that it will be in the future.”

The Knicks will receive the Heat’s 1996 first-round draft pick previously acquired from the Atlanta Hawks. According to Knicks president David Checketts, if the pick is in the top five, Atlanta will retain the pick, and the Knicks will get it the following season. That also will be true if the choice is in the top five in succeeding seasons.

Also, Checketts said the Knicks could use the pick in 1997, when they don’t have a first-round choice, instead of a year earlier if they notify Atlanta at least two weeks before the draft.

The unfair labor practice charge filed against the NBA by Sacramento Kings guard Mitch Richmond will probably delay results of the NBA players’ union vote, National Labor Relations Board regional director Daniel Silverman said.

Balloting concludes Thursday and results were scheduled to be announced Sept. 12, three weeks before the start of training camps.

Richmond claims the NBA tainted the voting process with coercive statements, primarily NBA commissioner David Stern’s warning that if the players voted to decertify the union, the lockout would continue and the 1995-96 season would be canceled.