The polarizing way in which rival teams view Tyler Herro is one reason why the Heat haven’t made much headway in trade talks for Kevin Durant or Donovan Mitchell, sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Insider link), who says Miami is still determined to make something happen and “can never be counted out.” If Herro signs a lucrative rookie scale extension, that might make it more difficult for the Heat to deal him in part because of poison pill provision rules, Lowe notes.
According to Lowe, some league executives and coaches view Herro as a potential All-Star, but some view him more like Jamal Crawford or Lou Williams, an instant-offense bench scorer whose defensive limitations make it difficult to keep him on the court in the playoffs. Lowe observes that the Heat are unable to match rival teams’ trade packages centered on first-round picks, so if they are able to land one of the stars on the trade market, part of the reason will be due to an opposing team being “higher on Herro than consensus.”
The Heat including Bam Adebayo in a deal for Durant would hamstring the Heat’s defense and could have disastrous long-term consequences due to the advancing ages of Kyle Lowry (36), Durant (34 in September), and Jimmy Butler (33 in September), Lowe writes. Sending Ben Simmons to Miami along with Durant would help solve that problem, but Lowe says the Nets are “wary of selling low” on the three-time All-Star, whose value has cratered after missing all of last season for various reasons.
Lowe takes an in-depth look at Herro’s strengths and weaknesses, ultimately suggesting that the 22-year-old might be able to develop into a player like CJ McCollum, a very good offensive player with below-average defense.
Here’s more on the Heat:
- Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link) provides an update of where things stand with Miami’s pursuit of Durant. According to Jackson, Brooklyn isn’t interested in Herro as a headliner, so Durant heading to the Heat will likely hinge upon the star insisting on only being dealt to Miami, which obviously hasn’t happened to this point.
- Haywood Highsmith is vying for an increased role in 2022/23 and will aim to emulate the departed P.J. Tucker, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “I think me and P.J. have similar styles on defense,” Highsmith said to the Herald. “We like to guard the ball, be physical and play hard and just play to win. On the offensive end, he’s a good three-point shooter in the corner, and I think I’m a good three-point shooter in the corner. I think I can do the stuff that he does on the dribble handoffs and the short roll, get into the pocket and making plays, shooting the floaters. I think just on both ends of the floor, I think we have a lot of similarities.” Highsmith’s salary is only guaranteed for $50K next season, so he’ll have to earn both his minutes and his contract by sticking with the team into January, when non-guaranteed and partially guaranteed deals become fully guaranteed.
- Adebayo and Victor Oladipo are unfazed by the perception that the Heat have taken a step backward this summer after losing Tucker to the Sixers and not signing any outside free agents, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “They’re always counting us out,” Adebayo said. “We The Kennel for a reason, the underdog. That’s our chip. You can believe what you want, you can say what you want.” Oladipo re-signed with Miami on a two-year, $18.2MM deal that includes a second year player option.
I set the over under for combined all star appearances for guys like Mikal bridges , Tyler herro , Ty maxey and Jordan Poole at zero and view pretty confident n it ! They are all very good players but it’s understandable nets wouldn’t be thrilled with any of them as a key piece ! It’s debatable if any of them would be better off with a bigger role and responsibility!
Well it’s impossible to get negative all star appearances so I’ll take the over and the worst I can do is break even. Everyone should take this bet
I’m not literally gonna bet on it bc of the Wiggins being voted into the all star game as a starter ! As for none of them ever making the all star game ! Cj McCollum a similar player to them has never been a all star despite going on 7 years of 20 ppg plus! None of them really have any secondary standout skills either
Actually bridges is completely different then them all ! He by far has the best chance to be a future all star or the four if he can vastly improve his self creation chops! I happens sometimes but it’s rare but none of those players are a star nets can build around! They are complimentary players
Jordan Poole hit multiple buzzer beaters in the NBA Finals, and I had to hear about it all season how Herro was “way, way better than Poole” by people on here. Now GMs are outright saying Herro can’t play in the playoffs because his overall game is so bad? Hahahahahahaha
If Brooklyn isn’t interested in Tyler Herro headlining a deal for Kevin Durant …. Then Brooklyn isn’t interested in trading Durant to Miami.
Bam isn’t getting traded. You cannot trade Jimmy Butler to a team that has Ben Simmons on it.
No sense even writing about this unless all you are doing is looking for click bait.
The bigger problem even more then that is that either Duncan Robinson or Kyle Lowry need to be the second piece of the deal and both are negative assets right now for different reasons ! Nets already have their own version of Duncan who can also play a little d
What if Highsmith’s last name was Jablomi?
Bob Myers finally put those stupid Durant rumors to rest. He wants to see what the group he has now can do. Kerr and Myers didn’t think they had it all together last season. Moody, Kuminga and Wiseman will get more minutes this season. Divencinzo and Green are upgrades. Klay will have normal training camp. All positives.
Please tell me a writer that gets paid to cover the NBA isn’t even remotely suggesting Ben Simmons be traded w/KD to Miami, thus reuniting with Jimmy Butler.
He is an ESPN Insider(?). So, he must be a genius.
Heat would have 3 1sts to trade, plus swaps, if they send some cash to OKC to get rid of protections on their 2025 pick…
Herro can be a starter on certain teams, depending in who else is on the roster. He and Poole are similar. He is very comparable to Booker as well, who only became a good player in the last couple of years, being surrounded by Chris Paul, Bridges, Crowder, Cam Johnson, Torrey Craig…if people like him, it’s a bit hypocritical to look down on Herro. I dont think Herro is a starter on the Heat’s current roster, but that’s just due to circumstances
Adding Strus to the deal also has value. He is on an expiring deal, but only makes the minimum, and is a valuable rotation player at 3 positions.
Lowry is still one of the best 2 way guards in the NBA. A trade around those guys, plus Jovic, who is more of a long term guy, plus the picks, is at least comparable to the best possible offers out there, and is arguably 2nd best when you factor in limitations for 1 for 1 swaps, and also if other teams would even make their best offers, which a few of the ones I’ve mentioned probably wouldnt
Again, the Heat dont care about Donovan Mitchell, so him constantly being mentioned makes no sense. They only care about Kevin Durant
I’ll add that Herro also took the most shots on a team that finished 1st in the East, and essentially made the finals for the 2nd time in his 3 year career if secaucus NJ didnt take away 3 points arbitrarily. Dude dropped 40 in the ECF as a rookie against Boston
The Heat’s guys always get undervalued though b/c the league hates Pat Riley. Not a new thing
In my opinion, Russle Westbrook or Julius Randle are the best players for miami to take a chance on. Durant is to old to give up all those players for. There’s no way I’m giving up Adebayo for durant, no way, Kyle, maybe but bam, hell no. If you can’t go get Mitchell, or Durant without keeping Adebayo, chase julius Randle and westbrook like a runaway train.
Heat are not trading to get or dump anyone. Riley himself said more less he wants to run it back, “I like the roster we have”
You don’t replace PJ with KD
The Spida rumor is the more fun one but neither will happen
They’re gonna start Martin at PF/or move Butler to PF and start Dipo at SF
They need to decide if Herro or Strus is the starting 2 guard or Dipo could start there too
Ain’t nothing more happening in Miami this off-season except filler signings
It’s all about surrounding Jimmy, Bam and Kyle with good role players
Running it back was always the way to go. We’re 1 game out of the ECF and 40% of our starting lineup(incuding out pg) is injured?
Now you got Jimmy taking 3’s. Victor’s going into his first offseason in years full healthy and with a season already under his belt!
I expect Milwaukee to be ready with a healthy Chris Middleton. Boston added Brogdan. The East is going to be very competitive again.