The Miami Heat scored a pretty big victory on Sunday when they got past the upstart Houston Rockets, 104-100. But in the closing moments of the game, a fracas broke out between Tyler Herro and the Rockets’ Amen Thompson that led to both men getting ejected.
Herro responded after the game by flexing and surmising that Thompson was merely frustrated that he was getting lit up the sixth-year guard. Jimmy Butler chimed in with a reaction of his own via an Instagram post.
Jimmy Butler’s IG story. pic.twitter.com/btr3EAznx6
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) December 30, 2024
Herro had an excellent outing on Sunday with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field, including three 3-pointers. The guard is putting forth a career-best effort this season by averaging 24.0 points and 5.2 assists a game while shooting 47.6 percent overall and 41.0 percent from 3-point range.
Given how much the Heat have struggled to find consistency this season, Herro’s play has been a very fortunate development for them.
These days, the big talk surrounding them is Butler’s future with the team. There have been many rumors that he wants to be traded before February’s trade deadline, and his camp has given a list of preferred destinations. However, the Heat don’t seem that willing to trade Butler, even though he has a player option for next season that he can decline.
He has missed each of their last five games due to an illness. Per Five Reasons Sports, he is dealing with a real illness and not faking one in order to force a trade, and he’s expected to return on New Year’s Day when Miami will host the New Orleans Pelicans.
Butler is shooting 55.2 percent from the field, but his average of 18.5 points a game is his lowest since the 2013-14 season, which was his third year in the league. Given the fact that he’s 35 years of age and that the Heat may have exhausted the potential of their current core, perhaps their best move would be to trade him for draft capital and at least one young prospect.
In Herro, Bam Adebayo, forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. and big man Nikola Jovic, Miami has an intriguing young core to build around should it decide to move on from Butler.
