Yes. Riley is the only GM/President who ever made a decision not to overpay / multi-year an aging player, the face of the franchise, WHO GAVE THEM 3 CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!
And btw, 25M/yr for 2 years for Wade's stature, who is currently healthy (as of writing) is not overpaying. Especially starting this season, the next and the next.
They also have the money since they didn't get Durant. On top of that, there is no one else available in the free agent market. Paying Wade may not have been the best use of their money from a player perspective, but from a marketing perspective, it would have been money well spent.
Let's see, right of the bat ...... back in 2003, Shaquille O'Neal was demanding a contract extension from no less than LAKERS owner Jerry Buss - his demands were not met and he was traded to the HEAT after the season.
At that point, Shaq had already won 3 championships for the LAKERS, winning Finals MVP all three times.
===========================================================================
Back in 2012, the LAKERS had a coaching vacancy - everyone knows the story, Phil Jackson (who had shown interest) was bypassed in favor of Mike D'Antoni ....... Phil Jackson won 5 championships with the LAKERS. Also, Phil Jackson has had contractual disputes with the LAKERS circa 2003-2004, when he had won 3 championships with the LAKERS.
===========================================================================
Scottie Pippen, 6x champion with the BULLS was grossly underpaid his whole time with the team ......... Pippen's final year salary with the BULLS, was $2.8M. Pippen's contract when he traded to the ROCKETS, was $11M/year.
===========================================================================
Hakeem Olajuwon, 2x champion with the ROCKETS was traded to the RAPTORS back in 2001 after a contract dispute ...... he rejected the ROCKETS offer of $3.3M/year and went to the RAPTORS for $6M/year.
===========================================================================
I could go on all day brader ....... by the way, if your earlier post held true, that DWade deserved the max - then the BULLS did not do right by him as well, since they also did not give him the max contract.