Tyler Herro

Heat Notes: Herro, Mitchell, Highsmith, Jaquez, Larsson, Jovic

Tyler Herro had to adjust to more attention from opposing defenses after the Heat suspended and ultimately traded Jimmy Butler, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

Herro estimated that Butler was creating three to five open three-point opportunities for him every game. With those gone, Herro responded by attacking the basket more often and taking more mid-range shots. The results have been positive as he averaged 27.4 points and 4.9 assists over the final 12 regular season games and 34 points and 5.5 assists in the two play-in contests.

“So just finding different ways to be aggressive,” Herro said. “I’m not going to get the same shots every game with just the way guys are guarding me. But I got to find different ways to be efficient. Also, context of games, knowing when to shoot the pull-up two, which I think I’m doing pretty well.”

After years of being included in trade rumors, Herro now seems like part of the foundation in Miami, which will lead to an important decision this offseason. Chiang notes that beginning October 1, he’ll be eligible for a three-year, $149.7MM extension. If there’s no agreement by October 20, he can wait for a four-year, $206.9MM extension next summer, which could become a super-max estimated at $380MM over five years if he earns All-NBA honors next season.

“It’s something I haven’t paid much attention to, obviously,” Herro said. “I’m going to let my agent and the organization figure that out. But everyone knows I want to be here long term and I’m definitely excited to see what they have to say for the extension, and see if they want me here as much as I want to be here.”

There’s more on the Heat:

  • Reserves Davion Mitchell and Haywood Highsmith played key roles in closing out Friday’s win at Atlanta, Chiang adds in a separate story. They were on the court together for 36 minutes, including all but 19 seconds of the fourth quarter and overtime. “They’re being stars in their role and that’s what we need them to do,” Bam Adebayo said. “Obviously, you see Davion’s offense, making shots, and H’s offense. But the little things that they do throughout the game, that’s what really gets us going, that’s what really gets the group together and getting in a rhythm.”
  • A week ago, Jaime Jaquez p0ured in a career-high 41 points in Miami’s regular season finale, but he was back on the bench for the two play-in games, notes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. It’s been a frustrating season for the second-year forward, who had a regular rotation role as a rookie, but he’s trying to stay ready in case he’s needed in the playoffs while working on his shot with shooting coach Rob Fodor. “We get up a lot of shots,” Jaquez said. “I think one of the things with me is technique, my hand placement, getting my elbow where it needs to be, and my release, just get it out early. Those are the kinds of the things we talk about frequently.”
  • Pelle Larsson and Nikola Jovic have both fully recovered from their injuries and are available today without restrictions, Winderman tweets.

Southeast Notes: Anthony, Wizards, Heat Play-In

Cole Anthony played a starring role in Orlando’s play-in victory over Atlanta on Tuesday, Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes. He scored 26 points and six assists to clinch the seventh seed for the Magic.

As Robbins writes, Anthony had a roller-coaster season in 2024/25, seeing his role fluctuate frequently as he averaged a career-low 18.4 minutes per game, so it was rewarding for him to help secure their spot in the playoffs.

It’s been up-and-down for him,” head coach Jamahl Mosley said. “But just his energy, his spark, his juice, what he provides for this team coming off that bench, he plays fearlessly and that’s how we need him to continue to play.

Now, the Magic are preparing for a first-round series against the 61-win Celtics.

It was awesome, and we need that from him, to be ready and plug in and give us instant offense like that and just make the right play,” teammate Franz Wagner said.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • Even though they won just 18 games, this was a successful season from a developmental perspective for the Wizards. Three rookies — Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George — started a significant number of games while players like Bilal Coulibaly showed signs of development. In a piece exploring learnings from the season, Varun Shankar of The Washington Post pinpoints Justin Champagnie as a valuable player but writes that players like Richaun Holmes and Malcolm Brogdon might be on the way out in the offseason.
  • In his offseason preview for the Wizards, Keith Smith of Spotrac writes that players like Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart might have value for contending teams this offseason due to their contracts set to expire in 2026. In potential trade scenarios involving those players, the Wizards could take back long-term salary. Brogdon will be a free agent and the Wizards could theoretically involve him in a sign-and-trade while getting a minor asset in return. Outside of that, the Wizards will keep adding to their young core. Smith writes that AJ Johnson and Tristan Vukcevic are two young players in house to watch for bigger roles next year.
  • The Warriors‘ play-in victory over the Grizzlies ensures the Heat will receive Golden State’s first-round pick in June, which will be either 18th, 19th or 20th overall, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. That pick order will be determined by random drawing. Golden State’s pick was top-10 protected. Whether or not the Heat hang onto their own first-round pick will hinge on whether or not they beat Atlanta on Friday.
  • The Heat defeated the Bulls in the play-in tournament for the third straight year, with Tyler Herro serving as a major offensive catalyst, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. Pelle Larsson, who played many minutes toward the end of the season in a starting role, returned from an ankle injury and was available on Wednesday, but didn’t play. Forward Nikola Jovic is also close to making his return after not playing since late February. He was upgraded to questionable for the first time since then and could potentially return in the playoffs.

And-Ones: Clutch Player Award, NBA Europe, Award Picks, Oweh

The official candidates for Clutch Player of the Year have been revealed, NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor tweets. Here’s the list of candidates that voters can select for the award, as chosen by the league’s 30 head coaches:

Curry won the award last year.

We have more from around the international basketball world:

  • While the NBA is trying to establish a new league in Europe, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum insists that the goal is not to replace the EuroLeague, Eurohoops relays via a Reuters interview. “Our goal is to create a commercially viable league that features high quality on -court competition and respects the rich tradition of European basketball. And we think that that will better serve fans and players on the continent,” Tatum said. He notes that there are major cities in Europe that don’t have a team where the NBA can establish roots. “There are big markets in Europe that aren’t being serviced today, where there are millions of basketball fans that aren’t being serviced,” he said. London, Paris, Berlin and Rome are among the candidates that NBA Europe considers as prime targets.
  • The Athletic’s John Hollinger reveals his award picks. He has Gilgeous-Alexander atop his MVP list and the Rockets’ Amen Thompson as his Defensive Player of the Year. O’Connor, writing for Yahoo Sports, has the same duo winning those awards. They also both have Stephon Castle taking Rookie of the Year honors, Payton Pritchard atop their Sixth Man of the Year lists, and Kenny Atkinson as Coach of the Year.
  • Kentucky junior guard Otega Oweh will test the draft waters, Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 tweets. Oweh averaged 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals this past season. He played his first two seasons at Oklahoma.

Heat Notes: Play-In, Warriors’ Pick, Adebayo, Herro, Wiggins

The Heat are locked into the East’s No. 10 seed as the play-in tournament approaches, but coach Erik Spoelstra is happy that his team will be part of the postseason at all, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. It’s been a difficult season in Miami, marked by a long dispute with Jimmy Butler before he was traded in February, and Spoelstra is ready for a fresh start.

“It’s the second season and this is something that I want everybody in the locker room, which they do have this, I want everybody to be appreciative of this opportunity,” Spoelstra said. “It could be something where you’re not even in the play-in or have an opportunity for this. We have an opportunity to win and move on to the next thing. I mean, this is exciting. This is great competition.”

The 10th-seeded Heat have to win two road games to reach the playoffs, starting Wednesday with the Bulls, who’ve beaten them in all three meetings this season. If Miami manages to pull out a victory at Chicago, the next obstacle will be the loser of the 7-8 game between Orlando and Atlanta.

“Win or go home. It’s like the NCAA Tournament. Anything can happen,” Bam Adebayo said. “You’ve seen teams in the tournament that got swept by a team in the regular season and you get that one shining moment and it’s a turnaround.”

There’s more on the Heat:

  • Miami fans will be keeping an eye on the Warriors as the season wraps up tomorrow, Chiang adds. The 2025 first-round pick that the Heat got from Golden State in the Butler deal is top-10 protected. The Warriors are tied with Minnesota for the league’s 10th-best record, so they would have to fall into the play-in tournament, get eliminated there and then land a top-four spot in the lottery to keep the pick from conveying.
  • Adebayo’s improvement as a three-point shooter has been a significant development, Chiang notes in a separate story. Adebayo went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc in Friday’s win over New Orleans and is now 50-of-115 (43.5%) in his last 34 games. “You’re always going to feel good when the shot is going in,” he said. “It’s just routine. I work on it pregame, obviously behind the scenes. Just seeing it go in, obviously defenses got to change up the coverages a little bit.”
  • With nothing at stake in Sunday’s game against Washington, Adebayo and Tyler Herro will be given the afternoon off to rest, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Andrew Wiggins, who returned Wednesday after missing five games with right hamstring tendinopathy, has also been declared out.

Southeast Notes: Magic, Hornets, Heat, Wizards

The Magic clinched home court in all potential play-in games by defeating the Celtics on Wednesday. In the process, they also clinched the Southeast Division title, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel writes.

Orlando still needs to win a play-in game to clinch an official postseason slot, but it’s still an impressive feat for a team that lost its top three players – Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs – to lengthy injury absences over the course of the season.

[I’m] extremely proud of this group,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Just being able to endure through all the things — the injuries, the bump back, guys in, guys out — and still come away getting the division and giving yourself a chance at a secured seventh [seed] for the opportunity to get into the playoffs. I’m proud of our group for that, for being as tough as they are, resilient as they are to continue to push through no matter the circumstance.

As the current No. 7 seed, the Magic will host of the Hawks, Bulls or Heat on Tuesday and will see Boston again if they officially secure seventh place with a play-in win.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • The Hornets have decisions on multiple key players this offseason, cap expert Yossi Gozlan observes on his Substack. Some key points of reflection include whether Mark Williams is part of their future after the Lakers trade fell through, whether Tre Mann should be tendered his $6.96MM qualifying offer, and whether Miles Bridges should be traded, Gozlan writes.
  • The Heat had a chance to obtain home-court advantage in a play-in game, but fell to the Bulls on Wednesday. A missed Tyler Herro three that led to a made Matas Buzelis deep ball put the nail in the coffin for Miami, according to ESPN and the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. Herro had an open path to the basket with 43 seconds left and the Heat down five, but chose to stop at the three-point line rather than taking the easy layup. “What I’ll say is Tyler has a fearlessness that you can’t take for granted,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s hit so many big shots. He wants to take on anything to help you win and he’s had a lot of big plays offensively, especially in fourth quarters, in his time with us. And it’s my job now to also coach him in situational basketball.
  • While unlikely, it’s still possible for the Heat to move out of 10th place in the East, Chiang writes in a separate piece. They’ll continue to play their regulars for the final two games of the season.
  • The Wizards‘ plan to develop their young players and boost their lottery odds this season is a sound plan, but Candace Buckner of The Washington Post wonders whether it’s negatively impacting those currently on the roster. Even if players individually develop, Buckner opines that losing so often so early may harm their chances of developing winning habits.

Heat Notes: Anderson, Jovic, Herro, Larsson

Kyle Anderson and the Heat are both happy that he wound up in Miami as part of the Jimmy Butler trade in February, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Anderson was originally slated to go to Toronto in the complex five-team deal, but that arrangement fell through and Golden State shipped him to the Heat instead. Coach Erik Spoelstra is glad to have him, as he told reporters before tonight’s game at Chicago.

“I just can’t say enough about Kyle,” Spoelstra said. “Kyle is a winning basketball player. He really is. He’s an unorthodox player, so you have to view him differently. His skill set is not a traditional skill set. But if you can embrace what he does, he can unlock a lot of different strengths out of our team. I just love what he brings. He’s a competitor. I think above anything else, he competes and winning really matters to him. He competes on both ends. He’s a two-way basketball player and he does a lot of different things that impact the game.”

The move has beneficial for Anderson, who wasn’t seeing regular playing time with the Warriors. He has helped to fill a need with Nikola Jovic sidelined since late February due to a broken right hand, and Chiang notes that he has played at least 20 minutes off the bench in seven of Miami’s last eight games. During that stretch, the Heat are outscoring teams by 23.8 points per 100 possessions with Anderson on the court.

“Kyle is giving us something different,” Spoelstra added. “He’s a point guard. So he can set the table, he can control tempo, he can control and manipulate the defense. He can do it from the point guard position, he can do it from the low post. He just has a knack for those kind of plays and nuances. And we want to lean into that. Because it seems like a good fit right now with that second unit for him to be able to just kind of manipulate and orchestrate with his experience and IQ.”

There’s more on the Heat:

  • Jovic is making progress with his recovery and is traveling with the team, but Spoelstra isn’t sure if he’ll be able to play again this season, Chiang states in a separate story. “I don’t know yet,” Spoelstra told reporters. “He’s basically doing everything. It’s just whether his hand can take contact.”
  • The Heat are promoting Tyler Herro on social media for the Most Improved Player award, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The sixth-year shooting guard is having his most productive offensive season, averaging career highs of 23.8 points and 5.5 assists per game. “His maturity offensively and his role for our team has grown the last couple of months,” Spoelstra said. “And that’s due to all these pressure situations that we’ve been in, where everything just feels heightened and where we had injuries and he had to play a different way for us to be successful. He’s just more patient. He’s allowing the game to happen. His skill set can just take advantage of those situations.”
  • Rookie guard Pelle Larsson was forced to miss tonight’s game after spraining his ankle while lifting weights, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press (Twitter link).

Heat Notes: Bulls Showdown, Adebayo, Ware, Herro, Burks

The two teams are a combined 13 games under .500, but Heat coach Erik Spoelstra expects a playoff atmosphere when his team faces the Bulls on Wednesday night in Chicago, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

At minimum, the game will go a long way toward deciding who has home court advantage in the East’s 9-10 matchup in the play-in tournament. Miami is currently the 10th seed at 36-43, while Chicago is ninth at 36-42 going into a game tonight in Cleveland. Both teams also have a chance to pass Orlando or Atlanta and move into the 7-8 game.

“I think it’s a lot of fun,” Spoelstra said after Monday’s win over Philadelphia. “Nobody in our locker room is cynical enough to think otherwise. … This is what the league is right now. Just embrace it and enjoy it. This is going to be a great night. It’s going to feel like a playoff game and that’s fun.”

The Heat had larger aspirations when the season began, but they were derailed by injuries and a lingering dispute with Jimmy Butler that led to him being traded to Golden State in February. With the season winding down, the players are trying to put themselves in the best possible position to survive the play-in and earn a spot in the playoffs.

“We know what’s at stake,” Tyler Herro said. “It will be much harder to win two play-in games on the road as opposed to hopefully trying to get one at home.”

There’s more from Miami:

  • The Heat’s victory Monday night came without Bam Adebayo, as back spasms forced him to miss his third game of the season, Jackson adds in a separate story. Spoelstra said the issue began after Saturday’s game, and Adebayo is being considered “day to day.” Kel’el Ware moved into the starting lineup and tied a Heat single-game record for a rookie by grabbing 17 rebounds. Miami also got 20 points from Herro, who returned to action after sitting out Saturday with a thigh injury that he said was “still a little sore” when Monday’s game began. “As the game kept going, it loosened up a little bit more,” Herro added. “It feels good now. I will be ready to go against Chicago. I’m trying to play as many games as possible.”
  • In another piece, Jackson talks to a pair of longtime NBA scouts about several issues involving the Heat, including their assessment of who among Miami’s younger players has the brightest NBA future.
  • The Heat have asked Alec Burks to be flexible in his first season with the team as he fills in for various injured players, per Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Lately they’ve needed him to provide scoring, and he responded with a season-high 24 points on Saturday. “There aren’t a lot of guys, to be frank, that really are willing to sign up for this kind of role,” Spoelstra said. “We’re really appreciative of him, because he is that pro’s pro. He’s always ready, takes care of himself and he can produce in a lot of different kind of roles.”

Heat Notes: Wiggins, Herro, Arison, Tiebreakers

There’s still no set timetable for Andrew Wiggins to return from right hamstring tendinopathy, but the Heat continue to hope that he’ll be back before the regular season ends, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Wiggins will miss his fifth straight game tonight due to the hamstring issue, and Chiang notes that it’s the 13th time he has been unavailable since he was acquired from Golden State in early February. He has also been sidelined by a stomach illness, a sprained right ankle and a lower left leg contusion.

In the 15 games he’s played since coming to Miami, Wiggins has been productive, averaging 19.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 46.5% from the field and 36.7% from three-point range. Miami has four games remaining after tonight and is locked in a tight battle for positioning for the play-in tournament. The Heat are tied with Chicago at 35-42, two games behind Orlando and one game back of Atlanta.

Chiang points out that Miami has won three of the four games Wiggins has missed because of the hamstring while using a starting lineup of Tyler Herro, Alec Burks, Pelle Larsson, Kel’el Ware and Bam Adebayo.

There’s more on the Heat:

  • Herro will miss tonight’s game due to a right thigh contusion he suffered in Thursday’s contest against Memphis, Chiang tweets. It will be the fourth time Herro has been unavailable this season. Haywood Highsmith is questionable with left Achilles soreness, while Isaiah Stevens is also questionable after hurting his right foot while warming up. “(Herro) was doing as much treatment as he could,” coach Erik Spoelstra said in a pre-game session with reporters (Twitter link). “You guys saw the play. It was on that fast break. He just had a contusion there. We’ll treat him day to day.”
  • Heat owner Micky Arison has been elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in his first year as a finalist, Chiang adds in a separate story. The franchise has won three titles and reached the NBA Finals seven times during his 29-year tenure. “My management style is get the best people and let them go to work and don’t get in their way,” Arison said during today’s Hall of Fame press conference in San Antonio. “… I’m really uncomfortable being up here because I think the best owners are the most invisible owners and I’d rather be invisible than be up here.”
  • Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald reviews the Heat’s tiebreakers against the other three play-in teams and examines their chances of moving into the seventh or eighth seed.

Heat Notes: Winning Streak, Herro, Assets, Mitchell, Highsmith

The Heat have made NBA history for an unusual reason, as Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes.

Wednesday’s impressive road victory in Boston extended Miami’s winning streak to six games, with each triumph coming by double-digits. The Heat are the first team to accomplish that feat directly after a losing streak of at least 10 games.

We’re just trying to take care of our business and continue to try to play well, compete hard, have this connectivity that’s growing as this season is going on and prepare,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “… Our locker room is alive. It’s been alive even when we were losing games just for this opportunity to compete, have these games matter and grow together through all of this stuff.”

Ending the Celtics’ own nine-game winning streak was a noteworthy accomplishment for the Heat, who also snapped a six-game regular season losing streak vs. the defending champions, Chiang notes.

Here’s more on the Heat:

  • President Pat Riley famously challenged his players, particularly Jimmy Butler, to focus on availability after last season ended. Tyler Herro, who recorded 25 points, nine assists, six rebounds, two steals and zero turnovers against Boston, took that message to heart, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. The first-time All-Star has appeared in a career-high 73 games in 2024/25. He said that reaching the 70-game threshold for the first time “feels really good” and is “meaningful,” but he hopes to achieve another goal too. “I’ve missed only three games this season,” Herro said. “My goal was to only miss four. So I’m there, hopefully. Got a couple more to go, but I’ve just got to keep playing, getting treatment and staying healthy and I want to play as many games as possible. I’ve never been a guy that wants to sit out.”
  • Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald takes a look at the team’s most valuable trade assets ahead of what could be a busy offseason, with up to seven players who could hit free agency and Herro among those eligible for extensions.
  • Spoelstra appreciates the “tenacious” defense that Davion Mitchell and Haywood Highsmith bring to the second unit, Winderman writes for The South Florida Sun Sentinel. The two players sometimes battle to take on the opposing team’s best offensive player. “I let (Mitchell) get the first crack,” Highsmith said with a laugh. “And if he starts getting cooked, then it’s, ‘I got him.’ We go back and forth.

Heat Notes: Herro, Wiggins, Robinson, Two-Ways, Butler

After dropping 10 games in a row for the first time in 17 years, the Heat appear to have found their footing within the past week. They ended their losing streak on Sunday with a 17-point win over Charlotte, played spoiler in Jimmy Butler‘s return to Miami on Tuesday in a blowout victory over Golden State (story via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN), and won a third straight game on Thursday vs. Atlanta.

Entering Sunday’s game, Tyler Herro had been struggling with his efficiency since the trade deadline, making just 43.5% of his attempts from the floor – including only 27.9% of his three-pointers – during that 19-game stretch. But he has been on fire in these three victories, averaging 28.3 points per night on 67.4% shooting.

Head coach Erik Spoelstra had nothing but praise for Herro after he poured in 36 points on 13-of-17 shooting on Thursday against the Hawks, lauding the sixth-year guard for the way he has become more of a well-rounded offensive threat.

“Tyler was so efficient.” Spoelstra said, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “And the best part about it is he did this entire game mostly off the ball. I didn’t run one specific play for him. He got 36 just on the move, within the context of the game. He’s learning how to manipulate when guys are really being aggressive with him. He can be a great screener, he can play off the ball, he can back cut, he can do a lot of those different things. That’s great growth to see.”

Here’s more on the Heat:

  • Heat forward Andrew Wiggins, who has already missed eight games due to ankle injury, a leg injury, and an illness since arriving in Miami last month, didn’t travel with the team for the start of its three-game road trip due to right hamstring tendinopathy, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Wiggins and forward Duncan Robinson, who is out with a back issue, have been ruled out for Saturday’s contest in Philadelphia but could join the team at some point on its road trip, which also includes games in Washington on Monday and Boston on Wednesday.
  • According to Spoelstra, Robinson’s back issue is unrelated to the one that sidelined him at the end of last season and isn’t as significant as that one was. “It’s different than last year,” Spoelstra said, per Jackson. “We think we will be able to manage it. We want to be responsible and give as much treatment and then appropriate ramp-up.”
  • After the Sioux Falls Skyforce – Miami’s G League affiliate – fell just short of qualifying for the NBAGL playoffs, Heat two-way players Josh Christopher and Isaiah Stevens, along with roster player Keshad Johnson, are rejoining the NBA team and will be prepared to play roles for the banged-up squad if needed, according to Jackson. “They’re ready,” Spoelstra said. “They just have to be plug and play if they do get an opportunity. The way things have gone with guys out, those minutes could be available. They’re ready physically, mentally, emotionally. Everybody is disappointed they didn’t make the playoffs but they made a heck of a run.”
  • Heat big man Bam Adebayo spoke to reporters this week about how he has handled his most trying stretch as the team’s captain. Chiang has the story and the quotes for the Herald.
  • Although the Heat got the best of the Warriors on Tuesday, columnist Omar Kelly of The Miami Herald argues that Butler still came out ahead in his divorce with Miami.