With only five players contractually guaranteed to return next season, the Miami Heat need to make a lot big moves and tough decisions in order to rebuild this summer.
With All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo virtually untouchable, the Heat only have three players to possibly use as trade pieces: KZ Okpala, Precious Achiuwa, and Tyler Herro. According to Bleacher Report‘s Grant Hughes, the “most likely player to get traded this summer” is Herro.
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With both “Goran Dragic and Andre Iguodala—subject to team options, we’re down to considering three players on rookie-scale contracts,” Hughes wrote. “ Of the group composed of Tyler Herro, Precious Achiuwa and KZ Okpala, Herro emerges as the most likely to be dealt. ”
“The other two have shown flashes in their brief careers, but Herro is the one with the 2020 Finals breakout on his resume and name recognition to anchor a high-profile trade,” Hughes continued. “And if we know anything about the ambitious Heat, it’s that they tend to favor trades of that ilk. The concerns about Herro’s off-court habits could factor into the Heat’s willingness to deal as well.”
While Herro’s Celebrity Status ‘Concerns’ the Heat, It Could Help Boost Other Franchises
Those “off-court habits” Hughes mentions are a reference to how despite Herro’s sophomore slump, 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.'”
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 struggling 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.”
One of the Heat’s Biggest Problems Is Not Having Any First-Round Picks to Trade
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.
The Heat’s biggest problem when it comes to making trades is that they don’t have draft picks. Miami doesn’t have any first-round or second-round picks in this year’s draft, and according to Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, they currently have only one pick that’s eligible to be traded in the next seven drafts: a 2024 second-rounder.
Therefore, unless the Heat is willing to give up a promising up-and-comer like Herro, it’s going to be nearly impossible to make a worthwhile trade. Herro’s name is mentioned in nearly every conceivable trade scenario not because the Heat can’t wait to get rid of him, but due to a lack of other options.
If the Heat want to make another serious run to the NBA Finals while Butler, 31, is still in his prime, they can’t sit around and wait for Herro to reach his full potential. Instead, they can trade the Boy Wonder while the expected ceiling for the 21-year-old guard remains high.
Hughes wrote back in May 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.”
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