Getty Tyler Herro #14 of the Miami Heat warms up before the game against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena on January 9, 2021 in Washington, DC.
While Tyler Herro is one of the most popular players on the Miami Heat, the Boy Wonder proved this season that he’s not ready to be a starter, and is already struggling to stay healthy.
After missing numerous games earlier in the season due to a sore neck, the 21-year-old shooting guard has missed the Heat’s last six straight games due to a foot injury. Herro hasn’t been on the court since the team’s road loss to the Atlanta Hawks on April 23.
Bleacher Report named the Kentucky alum as one of the top “NBA Youngers Who Could Be Traded for a Star This Offseason,” and amid Herro’s sophomore slump, along with the ticking clock on All-Star Jimmy Butler’s prime, such a move is no longer out of the question.
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Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes wrote that “under normal circumstances,” the 6-foot-5 guard, who has shown spurts of explosive talent, would not be made available. But the Heat have “good reason to chase instant gratification, and even more importantly, they don’t have better paths toward improvement.”
Herro “has undeniable talent,” Hughes reported. “But it’s difficult to understand any theory of him as a star . He can get his own buckets and create difficult jumpers, but he’s point-guard-sized without a point guard’s team-first mentality. His defense is substandard at any position. Taken together, those characteristics describe a sixth man.”
While the Heat weren’t willing to give up Herro for Kyle Lowry, if Bradley Beal decides to leave Washington, Herro would likely be the centerpiece of a deal.
While Herro’s Celebrity Status ‘Concerns’ the Heat, It Could Help Boost Other Franchises
Despite Herro’s struggles on the court, his celebrity status has continued to rise. On April 19, Five Reasons Sports Network’s Ethan Skolnick and South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman reported that his undue star status has become a major concern for the Heat on their Inside the Paint podcast.
“Herro chose to become a celebrity,” Winderman said. “He chose to become something outside the game, as is his right. With his breakfast cereal, and his Tyler Tuesdays, and his Chipotle Bowl and that’s all well and good. But you know what? Other players when they see a player doing that before they’ve truly reached it. I don’t want to say there’s a jealousy. They sort of take a scant view of the guy and say, ‘Wait a minute buddy. You haven’t done anything yet.'”
GettyTyler Herro #14 of the Miami Heat gestures after defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 115-104 in Game Three of the 2019-2020 NBA Finals.
Skolnick agreed. “Ultimately, the team starts to get a certain level of concern. In this particular case, the team has been concerned now for months.”
Thus far this season, Herro has teamed up with Chipotle to promote his own “Tyler Herro Bowl,” released a cereal called HerrO’s Fruit Hoops, and the official Miami Heat Twitter page gave him an official day of the week, “Tyler Tuesdays.”
Herro’s marketability, however, could be absolutely clutch for a strugggling team needing a media boost. Hughes wrote, “Other franchises will talk themselves into Herro’s game and personality. Teams that aren’t winning could use his floor-raising offense and box-office marketability. Moxie sells, and Herro has plenty of that.”
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