Getty Tyler Herro #14 of the Miami Heat.
All is not right in South Beach. Since defeating the NBA’s best team two weeks ago, the Miami Heat have suffered humiliating defeats to the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons, neither one of which will be competing for anything this season other than Victor Wembanyama’s signature.
One fix, suggested by Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley, involves wing Tyler Herro. Herro, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, has been handed an opportunity to start in Miami. Yet according to Buckley, swapping Herro out of the starting five for Max Strus might be the wiser basketball decision.
“Herro operates best within an offense that revolves around him, and the Heat can’t give him that with Butler and Bam Adebayo on the floor, too. However, they could give him back the keys to the bench group and promote Max Strus, who’s helped compile a colossal plus-30.2 net rating over 76 minutes in Herro’s place alongside Miami’s four other starters.”
Herro Wants to Be Starter for Heat
At the end of last season, Herro made one priority abundantly clear: become a starter for Miami. As a reserve last year, Herro poured in 20.7 points on nearly 40 percent shooting from deep.
But when asked by Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel if he intends on starting next season, Herro responded candidly: ‘Yeah, for sure.”
“Yeah, for sure,” Herro said when asked if goal now is to become a starter.
But as Buckley pointed out, Miami is simply better with Herro off the bench than in a starting spot.
“[H]e’s not spectacular as a starter, whereas he was literally the best bench player in the business. Miami’s bench, meanwhile, has tumbled from seventh to 27th in net efficiency since making the change.”
This season, Herro has started all 20 games that he’s played in on just under 34.5 minutes per game (up from 32.6 last season). But his shooting has lagged a hair: he’s down to just 37.7 percent from deep, though his volume has stayed around 7.5 threes per game.
Should the Heat Swap Herro for Strus?
The Heat’s best lineup (min. 100 possessions) actually doesn’t feature Herro. A five-person lineup of Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Caleb Martin, Kyle Lowry, and Max Strus is outscoring opponents by 16.2 points per 100 possessions.
Inserting Herro into the Heat lineup drops that differential down to a plus-5.2 differential, which is just above league average. Strangely, it’s the offense that slumps more when Herro starts than the defense, a puzzling result given Herro’s flamethrowing tendencies.
Herro’s defense has always been a low mark on his game. When he’s shooting brilliantly (like last season), fewer questions are asked on that front. But inserted into the starting five and he becomes a bit of a liability. And the Heat need to bone up on the defensive end, according to Jimmy Butler.
“I’ve never said, and I don’t think anybody would ever tell you, that offense is our problem. We lose track of what we have to do on the defensive end at times, which is why we lose so many games. But when we lock in and we guard, we know we’re gonna score,” Butler said, h/t Brady Hawk.