The Miami Heat reportedly could explore avenues to deal guard Tyler Herro this offseason prior to his contract extension kicking in.
Herro has a four-year, $120 million deal that begins in the 2023-24 season.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer, there is “increased speculation” that Miami could follow the same route that the Golden State Warriors took with guard Jordan Poole, who also signed a major extension last offseason.
The Warriors traded Poole to the Washington Wizards in exchange for guard Chris Paul on Thursday.
“But trading Poole, who signed a nearly identical contract to Tyler Herro’s last summer, has only increased speculation from team personnel that the Miami Heat will explore avenues to deal Herro’s own lucrative extension before it even begins — also with consideration to the Heat’s run to the NBA Finals without Herro in the active lineup due to a broken hand,” Fischer wrote.
If the Heat do decide to move Herro, they’re certainly going to want to get players that can help the team win now in return. Herro was the league’s Sixth Man of the Year in the 2021-22 season, and he’s been one of the best scorers for Miami since entering the league.
During the 2022-23 regular season, Herro averaged 20.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from beyond the arc.
However, he only appeared in one playoff game before breaking his hand and missing the rest of Miami’s run to the NBA Finals.
The Heat had several players step up over that run, and it’s possible the team views Herro as expendable after making it to the Finals without him.
With the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement having harsher penalties for teams that go past a new second luxury tax apron, the Heat may feel that shedding Herro’s salary is a strong long-term plan for the team.
That’s seemingly how Golden State viewed Poole’s deal, as Paul’s salary is non-guaranteed after the 2023-24 season, allowing the team to clear some space off its books if it waives him. That option with Paul was more attractive to Golden State than four years of Poole being on the roster with a high cap hit.
The Heat clearly have a championship-caliber roster right now, so it will be interesting to see how Herro fits into that this offseason.
