The Miami Heat were able to make some recent big trades without having to part ways with youngsters Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson.
On Thursday, Heat president Pat Riley made it clear how highly he views Herro and Robinson.
“You can’t let go of those two assets, you can’t, because they could become truly great,” Riley said. “They’re very, very good players right now, and I think they’re probably a year or two away from making what their early max could be from a production standpoint.
“So I’d hate to have that come back at us if we were to do something and try to move them. But we’re not going to. So from that standpoint, what happened today is you’re going to see Duncan, you’re going to see Tyler.”
Most notably, the Heat acquired two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo from the Houston Rockets in exchange for Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley and a future draft swap.
Many around the league believe it was a big win for the Heat to accomplish the trade without having to give up any of the franchise’s young pieces.
Herro, 21, showed off his potential on Thursday with 29 points, eight assists and four rebounds off the bench in 125-122 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
The sophomore is putting up a career-high 15.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game this season.
As for Robinson, the starter has already established himself as one of the best 3-point shooters in the league. He has a career average of 12.0 points per game on 44.8 percent shooting from the field and 41.8 percent shooting from downtown.
