As the Miami Heat inch closer to the humungous Tyler Herro decision, two NBA experts basically echoed what Heat fans may already realize about their All-Star guard. It's this idea that he's more valuable to the Heat than any other team in the league, and he's pretty untradable at this point.
There's a very good chance the Heat may be "stuck" with Herro because of that.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps perfectly laid out why the Heat are in a spot where they essentially have to extend Herro, or trade him for pennies on the dollar. They restated that the trade market for combo guards, such as Herro, is pretty nonexistent at this point.
In the Heat's defense, being "stuck" with Herro is not necessarily a bad thing.
Of course, the problem is, it may not be a great thing either.
The Heat may be stuck with Tyler Herro
The bigger "problem" for the Heat if they are indeed "stuck" with Herro is this idea that they have to extend his contract. If Miami isn't willing to trade him for pennies on the dollar, and there's no reason why they should do that right now, unless they're absolutely sure they'll be able to fill that role with a star player in the near future, then extending his contract has to be a huge priority in the October window.
Herro becomes eligible for a contract extension starting October 1 and must strike a deal before the end of October. If Herro and the Heat can't agree to an extension, they must wait until the summer to negotiate again.
At that point, Herro would be better off testing unrestricted free agency altogether. That is one dangerous game that the Heat may not be willing to play.
That's why striking an extension in October, especially if the Heat have no desire to trade him, may be an essential next move for the Heat.
How much do the Heat value Tyler Herro?
In many ways, we're going to find out just how much the Heat values Herro. It can't really be argued that the Heat aren't fully invested in Herro. If that wasn't the case, he would've been traded years ago.
The Heat clearly values Herro. The question is, how much? And that's the difficult part of this entire equation.
Because, in theory, if the Heat values Herro, he'll be signed to an extension before the start of next season. The issue is, it'd be insane to extend Herro to the contract extension he'll likely be asking for. And not just lunacy, but the Heat can't afford it, period.
Herro is eligible to sign a three-year, $150 million extension in October. Coming off an All-Star season, you'd have to imagine Herro, and rightfully so, is going to ask for that. The Heat, as much as they may value Herro, simply cannot afford to make that type of misstep.
Essentially, Herro wants to be paid like a face of the franchise. And honestly, Herro is not there yet. Who knows if he can get there at all? I'd have to believe the Heat realize that, and there lies the biggest problem for Miami.
But the Heat must make a decision soon. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. And, for those of us who can read the tea leaves, it does seem like the fan base may already know how this all ends. Let's just say the fan base will be split even more in a few months.