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The Miami Heat‘s guard Tyler Herro is in the midst of the best campaign of his career and appears to be a shoo-in to earn the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year title.
In September, the former 13th overall pick was the first player from the 2019 NBA Draft class to have his option picked up. If the Heat chose not to pick up the 6-foot-5 guard’s option, Herro would’ve become a free agent after the close of the 2021-22 NBA season.
The Heat exercised the $5.7 million fourth-year option on Herro’s rookie-scale contract for the 2022-23 season, but he is eligible for a “lucratic contract extension this summer,” per Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer.
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Thus far this season, Herro is averaging 20.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. “He’s at times been Miami’s clear best player,” Fischer wrote.
“Then there are skeptics in the league who view Herro as nothing more than a top-tier bench creator and sixth man. But there’s enough evidence to suggest the 22-year-old is blossoming into an All-Star-caliber scorer—a potentially costly outcome for Miami’s books.”
According to Fischer, Herro is in line to receive at least a nine-figure contract extension:
Some rival executives and agents polled by B/R believe Herro’s next deal may approach his five-year, $184 million maximum. Others have pointed more toward Jaylen Brown’s recent structure of a four-year, $106 million deal. For context, Fred VanVleet and Lonzo Ball’s recent four-year, $85 million contracts have set a clear benchmark in the market, where this summer combo guards such as Jalen Brunson and Collin Sexton are said to be seeking salaries north of $20 million.
Herro’s Extension Wouldn’t Hit the Books Until the 2023-24 Season
Even if Herro inks a monster contract extension this summer, his contract wouldn’t hit the Heat’s books until the 2023-24 season. However, with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Kyle Lowry’s already massive contracts in the mix, Miami will have to get creative to make the salary cap work.
Fischer wrote, “Miami’s postseason will be critical for evaluating Herro and other rotation pieces alongside the Adebayo-Butler-Lowry trio. Herro’s extension wouldn’t hit the Heat’s books until 2023-24, the final year of Lowry’s hefty deal, but Miami’s creative front office may need careful calculus to bring back both Victor Oladipo, barring a strong return from injury, and restricted free agent Caleb Martin for 2022-23. Both players are known to have strong interest in remaining with the Heat, sources told B/R.”
Twitter Had Strong Mixed Reactions to Herro’s Rumored Salary Outlook
While Herro is a huge reason why Miami currently sits in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 44-23 record, not all fans were on board for Herro getting such a high-caliber max rookie extension.
“A max for your 6th man is insane,” one person tweeted, while a fan Heat responded, “Hes a starter coming off the bench. Not your traditional bench player.”
One man tweeted big support for Herro getting the bag. “In year 3, he’s taken a HUGE leap. He is their best closer, play maker & facilitator while coming off the bench. He bails this team out when they’re struggling & closes out teams in the 4th. @raf_tyler is just as important to this team as Jimmy & Bam are,” he tweeted.
However, one of the most-liked tweets in response to the report of Herro’s rumored contract, “He’s literally being overpaid…”
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