Heat Are Facing a Major Tyler Herro Dilemma: Analyst

Tyler Herro Heat

Getty Miami Heat star Tyler Herro reacts during a playoff bout with the Boston Celtics.

While Jimmy Butler was the engine that made the Miami Heat go during the team’s incredible run to the Eastern Conference Finals — and a Game 7 situation against the Boston Celtics — Tyler Herro was arguably the team’s regular-season MVP.

In a year when injuries and a teamwide COVID-19 outbreak severely impacted availability up and down the roster, it was Herro, not Butler, who led Miami in minutes played (2,151) and total points scored (1,367).

“If Tyler Herro doesn’t exist on the Miami Heat, the Miami Heat are a .500 club,” the baller’s father, Chris Herro, said of the situation during an April interview with ESPN. “Let’s be real, dude.”

Dear ol’ dad may be overstating the matter, but no one can deny how large a hand Herro played in getting the South Beach crew to the playoffs as a No. 1 seed. And no one can be blamed, either, for seeing that as proof that bigger and better things may lie in store for last season’s Sixth Man of the Year.

Not everyone is on board with that evaluation of Herro’s future, however.


The Heat Need to Figure Out Who Herro Really Is

Bleacher Report‘s Zach Buckley just put every team in the Association under the microscope in an attempt to identify the one big question that each of them will be looking to answer heading into the future.

For the Heat, Buckley landed on Herro as the big dilemma. As the longtime hoops writer sees it, team president Pat Riley and his brain trust need to make a real (and accurate) determination on whether or not the 22-year-old can truly be that dude for the Heat and react accordingly.

“If Miami believes Herro can become an annual All-Star as a top-shelf scorer who makes plays for others, then he clearly deserves off-limits keeper status,” Buckley wrote.

Conversely, Buckley believes that the Heat must act quickly and decisively in the other direction in the event that they’ve already seen the best he has to offer.

“If the Heat are unsure he’ll be more than a scoring specialist with some defensive issues, then the time to flip him for an upgrade is now, as he’ll need a new deal by next summer.”


The Clock Is Ticking

Clearly, the time for making a final call on Herro is fast approaching. The sharpshooter is seeking a contract extension worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $20-25 million annually and Riley and Co aren’t in a position to make another $90-100-plus million mistake.

They did it once with Duncan Robinson and that move has severely affected their ability to improve the roster around Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Herro. Another massive overpay could leave the Heat below the contender’s threshold and in luxury-tax hell with a steep hill to climb in getting out of either situation.

This much is certain — Herro was arguably the club’s most consistent performer from October to early April. When the games really mattered, though, he shriveled to the point that he was averaging 12.6 PPG and shooting 22.9% from three while playing the same less-than-mediocre defense he always had.

If that dip was anything more than a temporary glitch in the system or the byproduct of his bumps and bruises, the Heat may just have to make the tough call.

Read More
,