Tyler Herro Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Notes: Herro, Butler, Love, Vincent

May 31st, 2023 at 6:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat guard Tyler Herro may return at some point during the NBA Finals, but he has been officially ruled out for Thursday’s Game 1, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Herro has been sidelined since breaking two fingers in his right hand in Miami’s playoff opener on April 16. He underwent surgery five days later and has said that he’s targeting Game 3 next Wednesday as a possible return date.

Coach Erik Spoelstra explained that Herro still hasn’t participated in any contact drills, which are required before he can be cleared to return.

“He’s still just starting this process,” Spoelstra said. “We have a few days here to continue his work. I can’t make any proclamation until he makes these next important steps of contact and doing more on the court live. We’re all encouraged by his progress but still want to continue to be responsible and make the best decisions.”

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Jimmy Butler is very happy to be in Miami, calling his situation “a match made in heaven,” per Jackson. He credits Heat legend Dwyane Wade for encouraging him to join the franchise earlier in his career. “I’m not perfect, but I’m me,” Butler said. “My style of leadership works here. More than anything I have to give a shout out to D-Wade. He always told me this culture fits who I am and how I go about things. … I love it here and I hope to be here.”
Neither Kevin Love nor Cody Zeller played in Game 7 against Boston, but Spoelstra may need to use both big men while trying to match up with Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Jackson adds. Love said he didn’t object to Spoelstra’s decision to replace him in the starting lineup during the last two games of the Eastern Conference Finals. “It made perfect sense to me, honestly,” Love said. “I was eager and wanted to play and kept myself ready. But those matchups, how they took Robert Williams out of the starting lineup and decided to go small, that’s … how it works in the playoffs. I felt I made my impact in two games and maybe one quarter.”
Gabe Vincent talks to Sean Cunningham of KTXL about making his second trip to the NBA Finals and getting the opportunity to play this time (Twitter link).

Heat Notes: Herro, Butler, Haslem, Culture, Martin

May 30th, 2023 at 7:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Tyler Herro, who reportedly could be back as soon as Game 3 of the Finals after undergoing hand surgery last month, said he’ll do everything possible to get back in action, Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald report. The Heat guard suffered the injury during Game 1 of Miami’s first-round series against Milwaukee.

“I’m going to be working out every day, twice, two, three times a day from here until the day I hopefully come back,” he said. “So I’m always going to continue to work hard and see how my body responds day by day and try to come back as soon as possible.”

“There’s a little soreness in my hand still,” Herro added. “But it’s all just post-surgery scar tissue and stuff like that, that I’m trying to work through right now. I would love to come back for the Finals, but we’ll see how my hand feels.”

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The way the team overcame Herro’s injury during the postseason is an example of its culture, according to Heat star Jimmy Butler (story via ESPN’s Nick Friedell). “When a guy goes down, the next guy could fill in that gap and do exactly what that guy that went down did — and do it at a high level,” he said. “Then be humble enough to know that when that guy comes back, you’ve got to take a step back and get back in your role. Nobody ever complains. They always do exactly what you ask of them to do, which is why you want to play with guys like that, which is why they are the reason we win so many games.”
Speaking of that culture, Udonis Haslem expounded on that subject in a feature from Marc J. Spears of Andscape’s. “I would like to say I am Heat culture. If you do it right, and you stay committed to the process, you don’t just speak it but it becomes a lifestyle,” he said. “And this is where you can end up. I have businesses around the city. I’ve played 20 years in the NBA. I put myself in the opportunity in a position where I can at least have the conversation about ownership. So, I think Heat culture applies in all walks of life.”
Caleb Martin came up one vote short of being named the Most Valuable Player of the conference finals. He’s come a long way from getting waived by the Hornets two years ago. That was the low point of his career, he told Spears. “That was worse than not getting drafted,” Martin said. “That was the first time where I felt that I wasn’t good enough. Being drafted or undrafted, there are only a certain amount of spots for [60] kids. But a team deciding to cut you because they feel like you can’t contribute to what they are trying to do, that hurt.”

Tyler Herro Targeting Game 3 Return

May 29th, 2023 at 10:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Heat guard Tyler Herro is ramping up his workouts and is aiming to return to action during the NBA Finals, according to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT, who tweets that Game 3 on June 7 is the likely target date.

Herro’s season appeared to be over when he broke his hand during Game 1 of the first-round series against Milwaukee. He underwent hand surgery on April 21 and was expected to miss a minimum of six weeks.

Miami’s stunning run to the Finals as an eighth seed has provided Herro with an opportunity to contribute in the Finals. Game 3 is slated for Wednesday, June 7.

However, Herro indicated after Miami’s Game 7 triumph in Boston on Monday that he’s still experiencing post-surgical pain in his right hand, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets. While Herro believes he’ll return in the Finals, a Game 3 comeback is no lock.

Herro was the team’s third-leading scorer during the regular season at 20.1 points per game. He also averaged 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 34.9 minutes per game. He’s a career 38.3% 3-point shooter and 87.5% free throw shooter.

If Herro can return to action, coach Erik Spoelstra will have the pleasant dilemma of how to work him into a rotation that has proved so successful during the postseason.

Heat Notes: Butler, Adebayo, Spoelstra, Herro

May 23rd, 2023 at 5:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are the Heat‘s leading scorers in the postseason, but their ability to get their teammates involved and make sure Miami’s role players stay aggressive has been crucial to the team’s playoff success, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

While Butler and Adebayo have combined to average 48 points per game in the playoffs, Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin, Max Strus, Kyle Lowry, and Duncan Robinson have exceeded that figure as a group, averaging a total of 55 points per contest.

“They could easily take every shot they wanted to now, with guys down, guys like Tyler (Herro) that are out,” Martin said of the Heat’s stars. “That just shows the belief they have in us. And asking where the confidence comes from, a lot of it stems from those two guys, just believing in us and getting us open looks and believing we’ll knock them down, whether we make or miss, continue to make the right plays.”

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The NBA announced in a brief press release on Tuesday afternoon that Butler has been fined $25K for violating league rules related to media interview access. Butler didn’t take part in his required post-game media availability following Game 3 on Sunday.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra may prefer to give his players the credit for Miami’s deep playoff run, but he deserves major recognition for the part he has played, William Guillory writes for The Athletic. “I can’t say I’ve been coached by somebody who moves like him,” Heat forward Kevin Love said. “He’s so committed to every facet. There’s no detail left unturned. His attention to detail is there, and he’s not a micromanager at all. He lets us play free. He lets us do our thing and allows us to be unapologetically ourselves.”
Heat guard Tyler Herro was cleared to resume non-contact basketball activities on Tuesday as he continues to make his way back from a broken right hand, according to Chiang of The Miami Herald. When Herro underwent surgery on April 21, the team announced he would miss at least six weeks — the six-week mark would be on June 2, while the NBA Finals will tip off on June 1. Still, while the possibility of Herro returning in the Finals hasn’t been ruled out, it’s not necessarily considered likely, Chiang says.

Heat Notes: Vincent, Robinson, Love, Motivation, Herro

May 22nd, 2023 at 9:51am CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat were ready when the Celtics started throwing double teams at Jimmy Butler on Sunday night, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Although the strategy was effective in slowing down Butler, who was limited to 16 points after coming into the game averaging 31.1 PPG in the playoffs, it created open opportunities for his teammates.

Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 29 points while shooting 11-of-14 from the field and 6-of-9 from three-point range. Duncan Robinson hit 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and contributed 22 points off the bench as Miami connected at 54.3% on three-pointers during the game.

“We’ve been dealing with this for a little bit, not just in the postseason,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of the double teams on Butler. “There were a handful of key games going down the stretch where teams were committed to trying to take the ball out of his hands. So that gave us some things to work on during the regular season.”

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Kevin Love didn’t return to Sunday’s game after leaving midway through the first quarter with a left ankle injury, Chiang adds. He was back on the bench in uniform and warmed up for the second half, but Spoelstra decided not to risk putting him on the court with a commanding lead. “He says he’s fine,” Spoelstra told reporters after the game. “He was a little bit, like, scared about it. He said he probably could have gone in in the second half, but I just wanted to re-evaluate. We were up 15. I was like, all right, let’s make sure we know what’s going on.”
The Heat entered the series determined to get revenge on the Celtics for beating them in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Miami is motivated by the memory of its Game 7 loss when Butler’s late three-point attempt bounced off the rim. “I just think that we got the matchup we wanted,” Caleb Martin said. “We got to see the team who took us out last year. … We are playing like we have something to prove.”
Tyler Herro, who had surgery after breaking two fingers on his shooting hand in Miami’s playoff opener five weeks ago, had his brace removed, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Herro still hasn’t been medically cleared to resume shooting.

Southeast Notes: Herro, Wizards, DSJ, Magic

May 16th, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

An unlikely run to the Eastern Conference Finals for the Heat has increased the likelihood of Tyler Herro playing again this season. However, he still hasn’t begun to shoot or dribble as he recovers from a fractured right hand, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

After Herro broke his hand in Game 1 of the Heat’s first round series vs. Milwaukee, reports indicated that he likely wouldn’t be able to return unless Miami made the NBA Finals. When he underwent surgery on April 21, the sharpshooter was ruled out for six weeks.

At the time, it seemed safe to conclude Herro’s season was over, but the No. 8 Heat have since won two series, giving him a chance to make it back this spring. Still, as Jackson observes, that six-week timeline would mean Herro will be sidelined until at least Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, so Miami will still need to win a few more games to have any hope of seeing him again this postseason.

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Wizards owner Ted Leonsis will be asking the questions when he interviews candidates for the team’s top front office job, but six high-ranking executives around the NBA who spoke to Josh Robbins and David Aldridge of The Athletic said they’d have questions of their own they’d want Leonsis to answer if they met with the Wizards. “The biggest one would be: ‘Are you willing to start over and build from the bottom up?'” one exec said. “‘Can you stomach three to four years of struggle in the win column in order to position the team to win (at) a high level in the long run?'”
Within a mailbag for The Charlotte Observer, Roderick Boone says he expects the Hornets to re-sign Dennis Smith Jr. in free agency this offseason, referring to the union between Charlotte and the veteran guard as a “perfect marriage.”
The Magic are working with the City of Orlando on a bid to host the 2027 NBA All-Star Game, according to Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link), who confirms reporting from Richard Bilbao of The Orlando Business Journal. The team last hosted the All-Star Game in 2012.

Heat Notes: Martin, Lowry, Herro, Defense

May 8th, 2023 at 9:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Caleb Martin is listed as questionable for Monday’s Game 4 with a back contusion, but there’s little doubt that he’ll be ready when the Heat call on him, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Martin was also questionable on Saturday after hurting his back when he slid into the Knicks’ bench while chasing a loose ball in Game 2. He managed to play 23 minutes, even though he was seen grabbing his back in pain a few times.

“You kind of got to,” Martin said. “I think you don’t really have a choice. We’re going to do everything in our power, especially me. If you can play and if you can go, then that’s what you got to do. It’s that point of the season, everybody is banged up.”

Chiang notes that Martin missed 10 regular season games due to injuries, but nine of those were concentrated in a 14-game stretch starting in mid-December. Coach Erik Spoelstra indicated that even when Martin was most banged up, the team “had to take that decision out of his hands” to prevent him from trying to play.

“He’s such a competitor,” Spoelstra said. “He doesn’t want to miss time and he doesn’t have an off button except for like off the court, he’s pretty chill. It’s a pretty good balance he has there. But once he steps in between those four lines, he’s a savage competitor. That’s what we love about him.”

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Kyle Lowry has become a valuable part of the Heat’s reserve unit since Spoelstra decided to bring him off the bench when he returned in March after sitting out time with knee pain, per William Guillory of The Athletic. Lowry had started 677 straight games when he was active, but he was so effective in the new role that it became permanent. “One of the things we’ve found is you’re bringing a Hall-of-Fame mind off the bench,” Spoelstra said. “Our second unit was struggling for much of the year. Shift him (to the bench) and a lot of the things we were working on endlessly just kind of get taken care of. … He is an ultimate winner. What drives him more than anything is winning.”
Tyler Herro could also find himself in a reserve role if the Heat are able to keep playing long enough for him to return from a broken right hand, suggests Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Herro underwent surgery April 21 and is expected to be sidelined until early June.
Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald examines how the Heat’s defense has shut down the Knicks through the first three games of their series, holding them to 99.3 PPG on 42.1% shooting from the field.

Heat Notes: Vincent, Butler, Love, Herro

April 30th, 2023 at 9:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Gabe Vincent‘s performance in Wednesday’s close-out victory over the Bucks should help make him a popular free agent this summer, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The Heat guard had 22 points and six assists and delivered two clutch plays that contributed to Miami’s improbable win. He sank a three-pointer with eight seconds left that cut Milwaukee’s lead to one point and threw the pass that Jimmy Butler converted to send the game to overtime.

Vincent also shut down All-Star guard Jrue Holiday, limiting him to 4-of-11 from the field while defending him. He held Bulls star Zach LaVine to 1-of-7 shooting in their play-in game, and Jackson notes that Vincent has been one of the league’s best defensive point guards throughout the season.

“Guys were feeding him a bunch of confidence at the shootaround (before Game 5), telling him we needed him to score, be aggressive, be assertive,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “When Jimmy and Bam (Adebayo) are telling you that, you feel like you can conquer the world.”

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Tom Thibodeau, Butler’s first NBA coach, will try to find a way to limit him as the Knicks prepare to host Miami in Sunday’s series opener, notes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Thibodeau believed the rookie had a bright NBA future when he first arrived in Chicago, but he’s surprised by the level Butler has been able to reach. “I’ll be honest — I didn’t see this,” Thibodeau admitted. “I saw the things that stood out were his toughness, his competitiveness. He played a lot of power forward (in college). But when you look at him, you say OK, I felt like we were getting a rotation player. I didn’t know how good he would become.”
Kevin Love is enjoying his first playoff experience since he reached the NBA Finals with Cleveland in 2018, per Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. The 34-year-old big man was confident that he picked the right team after his buyout with the Cavaliers. “I wanted to come. I wanted to win. I wanted to be a part of winning. I wanted to be a part of this and help make these guys’ lives easier,” he said. “And I felt like in a lot of cases I was able to do that. But I was definitely, even in my 15th year, trying to find my way. Us being here, advancing to the second round, beating a one seed after being in the play-in, yeah, I think it checks a lot of boxes. Obviously we have a lot of work to do, but, again I felt like I could still play, still contribute, and potentially be a part of something special.”
Tyler Herro‘s absence may be more significant in the second-round series than it was against the Bucks, Winderman suggests in another Sun Sentinel story. Winderman notes that Herro averaged 23.0 PPG against the Knicks during the regular season, and his creativity was vital in breaking down New York’s defense.

Tyler Herro Out At Least Six Weeks After Hand Surgery

April 21st, 2023 at 4:46pm CST by Rory Maher

Heat guard Tyler Herro is expected to miss at least six weeks after undergoing successful hand surgery on Friday, the team announced in a press release.

The news was expected, as Herro said on Tuesday that his surgery was scheduled for Friday. The fourth-year sharpshooter broke the middle and ring fingers on his right hand during Game 1 against Milwaukee on Sunday.

Being out a minimum of six weeks means Herro won’t return to the court until early June. The NBA Finals start on June 1, so obviously the Heat will have to make a very deep playoff run in order for him to have a chance at returning this season.

Herro averaged 20.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists on a .439/.378/.934 shooting line in 67 games (34.9 MPG) in 2022/23. His 93.4% free throw percentage led the NBA.

Miami, the East’s No. 8 seed, won Game 1 of its first-round series with the top-seeded Bucks, but Milwaukee evened things up in a blowout victory in Game 2.

Players like Max Strus, Duncan Robinson and Victor Oladipo have received more playing time with Herro sidelined. Game 3 will be on Saturday night in Miami.

Southeast Notes: Brey, Hawks, Murray, Herro, Magic

April 18th, 2023 at 1:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Mike Brey, the longtime head coach at Notre Dame, will be joining Quin Snyder‘s Hawks coaching staff for the 2023/24 season, sources tell Tom Noie of The South Bend Tribune. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN has since confirmed the news.

Noie’s report suggests Brey will be an assistant coach for the Hawks, though Wojnarowski says his specific role hasn’t yet been finalized and won’t be until sometime after Atlanta’s season ends.

Brey coached the Fighting Irish from 2000-23, stepping down from his position earlier this year. He previously served as an assistant coach at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski from 1987-95. Snyder played his college ball for the Blue Devils from 1985-89, so his relationship with Brey dates back approximately three-and-a-half decades.

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The Hawks hope to re-sign Dejounte Murray when he reaches free agency in 2024 — a quick playoff exit this spring won’t do them any favors from a recruiting perspective, writes Jeff Schultz of The Athletic. Murray brushed off comments about his contract situation, but agreed with the suggestion that money wouldn’t be the most important factor in his decision. “Winning,” Murray said. “Winning. That’s it. Winning. That’s it. Winning.”
Speaking on Tuesday to reporters, including Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter links), Heat sharpshooter Tyler Herro said that he’ll undergo surgery on his broken right hand this Friday. Herro added that, based on his recovery timeline, he has been told the earliest he could potentially return would be for the NBA Finals. While Miami won Game 1 of its series with Milwaukee, the Heat are an extreme long shot to make that sort of playoff run.
The Magic finished six games out of a play-in spot this season and 11 games back of the No. 6 seed in the East, but they’ll be “very upset” if they’re not a playoff team next season, according to guard Markelle Fultz. Many of Fultz’s teammates agree with that sentiment, as Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “Guys don’t like to look at it as, ‘We got to make the playoffs,’ or ‘We got to win a (title)’ to be successful,” Wendell Carter Jr. said. “But we’re at a pretty good point where we can say that now. Guys want to win now. That comes with winning — making it to the playoffs.”