Whether Miami Heat fans are willing to admit it or not, Erik Spoelstra bringing Tyler Herro off the bench since his return from injury sends a pretty clear message that the All-Star guard's future with the team is very much on thin ice.
At best, it's cloudy and full of uncertainty.
In the past, we've seen Herro return from injury and immediately be inserted back into the starting 5. The few times when Herro returned from injury and came off the bench initially, that didn't last long. But this time around, things do seem different.
This time, it feels like this is Herro's new role. For the foreseeable future.
Spo will ultimately prove that with his rotations, and you'd have to imagine that the health of Norman Powell will play a huge role in that, but especially with the way Herro was talking, this does seem like the plan moving forward.
There's been a shift in the Tyler Herro, Heat dynamic - and it's hard to ignore
Even though there's an argument to be made that Herro's best role on the Heat is coming off the bench, this small change does tell us a lot about where his standing is with the organization.
I wouldn't go all the way to say that he's no longer valued; he is. But the level at which he's valued is certainly shifting. I don't think you can argue with that. The fact that the Heat doesn't feel the need to force-feed him as a starter anymore is all the evidence we need.
Herro still needs to be especially successful and productive if this iteration of the Heat is going to accomplish anything this season, but this team is no longer living and dying by him. And that's a stark change from last season, after the Heat traded Jimmy Butler.
And that shift or change started last summer when Spo decided to revamp the entire offense. Was this a move he made with Herro in mind? Not necessarily, but it was a priority for Spo to help create an offense that wasn't too lenient on any one player.
The Heat not "needing" Herro became a small byproduct of the philosophical changes that Spo (and the Heat) have embraced over the last few months.
And now, Herro has to prove himself again. He's not a No. 1, and the Heat may finally be realizing that. So now, he needs to create value for the Heat in more diverse ways. Being a super sixth man could be one way to accomplish that, but it will be far more difficult.
He can still do that, but the margin for error has significantly shrunk, especially with how well Powell has played "in his place" and how quickly a few of the other young players are developing.
At one point, it seemed as if a Herro contract extension was a forgone conclusion. For the first time in a while, it does feel as if that's far from a certainty right now. And if you had to make a prediction right now, the overwhelming odds would probably favor Herro being on a different team in two years.
In an instant, it feels like everything has changed for the Heat and Herro, and you can honestly say that his future with the team is very much on thin ice.