The Miami Heat need to find a way to escape mediocre island. With two straight non-competitive first round exits, the current product is clearly not close to Heat standard. One of the many important decisions the Heat have to make is extending Tyler Herro and if they feel he is a core player for years to come.
Starting on Oct. 1, Herro will be eligible to sign a three-year, $150 million extension. It's fair to say that Heat Nation is split on committing that much money to Herro. But the catch is that if Miami decides to wait, he could be more expensive to retain. Herro seems more than fine with revisiting contract talks after next season.
"If it doesn’t get done in October, then we can get it done next summer. It will just be a little bit higher of a price,” Herro told reporters at exit interviews.
If they wait until next summer, Herro will become eligible for a four-year, $207 million deal.
With the full roadmap laid out, let's take a look at the pros and cons of a possible Tyler Herro extension this offseason.
Pro: Constant growth
Beyond saying Herro got better by only looking at his season statistics, it's the way he changed his play style and how reliable he was when it came to availability. Herro upped his 3-point attempts to nearly nine a game and upped his frequency of shots within 10 feet of the rim from 27.9% to 31.5%.
Herro also took Pat Riley's "fragile" comments personally and played in a career-best 77 games. Not only did Herro show growth in his game, but he also displayed that he could sustain a heavy workload for a long portion of the season and stay healthy.
Herro was the only guard on the Heat who could get their own shot, and he saw the best perimeter defender on the opposing team every game. He responded to the challenge and deserved to be an All-Star for the first time in his career.
Pro: Fit with teammate
The other positive aspect of keeping Herro is his fit with potential players down the road if the Heat can strike big.
With his ability to be an elite floor spacer who can create shots for himself and teammates, Herro's skill set can gel with almost any player.
Con: Reaching a potential ceiling on team success
Miami already gave Bam Adebayo his three-year extension last offseason that will pay him more than $50 million annually. In a world where the Heat decide to reward Herro with his money, there will be a lot tied up in two players with questions about whether they can be the No. 1 option on a contending team.
From the sample size we saw with Jimmy Butler out of the picture, the answer was a resounding no. With Herro, he's had two rough playoff outings against the top-seeded Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland was face-guarding Herro with the likes of Max Strus and Sam Merril, and Herro had no answers when one of the best defenses in the league geared up to stop him.
We already know about his limitations defensively as they were put on blast by Darius Garland after Game 2. But the elite guards who aren't known for defense can at least still contribute offensively no matter what defenses are thrown at them.
This postseason showcased that although Herro did take a step forward as a player, he is still a tier under the top guards in the league such as Donovan Mitchell and Anthony Edwards. I'm not saying Herro has officially hit his ceiling, but the Heat need to assess if he can get to that level.
It's not all Herro's fault that the Heat had a down year. A major roster reconstruction is needed if the Heat want to be a contender again.
The last thing the Heat need to do is pay Herro and leave the roster as is, and hope that another year of development will be enough to gain ground on the top teams in the East. If the Heat do extend Herro, they better have more up their sleeve.