Ira Windeman of the Sun-Sentinel reports that Pat Riley insists the issue is not personal. He said he has nothing against Anthony Mason, Scott Williams or Chris Gatling.

Riley is reluctant to facilitate a trade of Mason, is unwilling to trade for Williams and refuses to spend what some might consider market value for Gatling.

There has been a trade on the table for several weeks involving Mason and Milwaukees' Williams but Riley is unwilling to take on Williams' $4.7 million salary. "Scott Williams is a nice player. I don't have anything against Scott Williams," Riley said. "He takes us over [the tax] and he's not exactly what I need at that position."

In a similar vein, Riley said he would welcome Gatling but favors retaining the $3.3 million salary-cap exception that would be required for such a transaction. "The only way we can get Gat is through sign and trade and put him in the exception, and that doesn't work," he said. "We need some flexibility, and the only way we're going to get it is if we have some kind of an exception that we can put a player into later on."