We found out on Friday morning that Tyler Herro is going to be forced to miss the start of this coming season after undergoing surgery on his left foot. I think now with Herro on the sideline for an undetermined period of time, the Heat would be wise to roll with either Kasparas Jakucionis or Jaime Jaquez in the starting lineup in his place.
This is certainly an unfortunate position Miami finds itself in, but it's ultimately not a new set of circumstances. This team, and Herro included, has had their fair share of injury troubles the last several years. This is simply the latest obstacle they're going to have to work around on the injury front.
But it's also not a secret that the Heat are kind of in a perfect position to do some experimenting right now. There's one train of thought that would say the solution here is to simply plug in a veteran that can fill the hole left behind by Herro temporarily. However, I think the alternative option here is the better one.
Since you know you're going to be without Tyler for an extended stretch here, what's the reason not to experiment a little bit? The worst thing that can happen is that you learn more about another player and it's not quite what you wished you'd learn. The best-case scenario is one that would completely transform this team's trajectory.
The Heat can turn this unfortunate situation around with swiftness
With that in mind, I think Jakucionis and Jaquez are the two most obvious candidates to fill Herro's minutes. If you're thinking to tinker with the guy who has the most upside and chance for his talent to pop, Jakucionis is who you're looking for.
The University of Illinois product got Heat fans excited on draft night due to his college tape where he showed an impressive ability to orchestrate an offense while bringing legitimate size to the table as well. His Summer League campaign maybe wasn't quite as dominant as fans had hoped, but you can never put too much stock into that.
A smart move would be to go ahead and get Jakucionis some early reps now. Expectations are going to be low with Herro out, and biting the bullet here could prove a smart developmental gamble. We're all wondering what this kid can become, so why not try to start searching for the answer now?
If you would rather see Jaquez get more reps instead, I can see the thinking there as well. It would give Jaime the opportunity to shake off his sophomore slump from last season early, and ideally get back to his prior level of confidence.
Whichever direction the Heat go here, this is a clear opportunity to take an unfortunate injury and turn it into something that could still benefit the team in the long run. Getting more questions answered now will help Miami strengthen their long-term outlook.