The Miami Heat have been without their best offensive player, All-Star guard Tyler Herro, for the early portion of the new NBA season and managed to flash significant offensive improvement, anyway. The way head coach Erik Spoelstra sees it, Herro should be a hand-in-glove fit for this motion-based offense and up the production even further.
"That's easy to figure out," Spoelstra told reporters of Herro's fit. "He's doing well. And his skill level, I mean, come on, he's one of the most skilled guys in the league. It's going to fit, it's going to add. We miss him dearly."
Spoelstra is bullish for good reason, even if adjustments must be made once Herro makes it back from left ankle surgery. The Heat have looked short on perimeter scoring at times, and no one can better scratch that itch than Herro.
If Herro adapts to the new offense, he could be better than ever.
Miami's offense has emphasized two things: pace and movement. While doing so, it has de-emphasized pick-and-rolls and a lot of the tasks typically assigned to ball-dominant backcourt players.
This could, at least in theory, help Herro. So long as these quick-strike passes and perpetual movement can hold the defense's attention, Herro's scoring chances should be cleaner than last season—when he torched opponents to the tune of a career-high 23.9 points on 47.2/37.5/87.8 shooting.
That volume could still be available, too. Norman Powell has been a phenomenal fill-in, and Bam Adebayo has been more potent than ever, but it's not like Miami is suddenly swimming in net-shredders. If everyone else dials things back even a bit, Herro should be able to find a roughly similar workload.
How he handles that, of course, will go a long way toward establishing the Heat's place within the Eastern Conference pecking order. Again, you'd think he benefit from both the up-tempo nature and ball movement. He has never shied away from launching in transition, and he's a good enough shooter that he could improve upon last season's 37.5 splash rate with a few more open catch-and-shoot chances added to his menu.
Then again, he probably won't handle as many touches as last season. And the ones he does get will be different than what he's used to. When the old offense clearly wasn't a problem for him, it's certainly possible there'll be a bit of resistance in embracing the new one.
Chances are, though, Spoelstra is right. This should work for Herro, and that should elevate things for the offense as a whole. It's hard to imagine that an offense-first player is going to have a problem with a system that gives a neon-green light to shoot at will.
The Heat have done a good job handling his absence. If Spo's hunch is correct, they'll be even better upon Herro's return.