The Miami Heat should follow their Jimmy Butler blueprint with Tyler Herro. They should not pay him until he proves he can remain healthy. Because right now, Herro can't seem to shake the injury bug.
And it's not just this season, though this year has been bad.
Herro has only played six games this season and is set to miss another game against the New York Knicks on Sunday night. Overall, Herro will have missed 23 games through the first 29. Not ideal, especially considering he's essentially playing for a new contract.
Tyler Herro has a durability issue
But Herro's injury issues are nothing new.
Over the last three seasons, Herro has missed a combined 68 out of 193 regular-season games. If you work out the math, Herro has missed 35 percent of the games he could've played in over the last three seasons. That's not good enough, certainly not considering the level of extension Herro is seeking.
And if we remember, the lack of availability is one of the big reasons (probably amongst others) that the Heat were hesitant to pay Jimmy. At least that's the story Pat Riley ran to the media with.
If that is indeed the truth, Riley should run that same blueprint back with Herro. The Heat should refuse to sit down and seriously discuss an extension until Herro can prove that he can remain healthy, something he clearly has failed to do this season.
Miami must avoid the big mistake
The last thing the Heat needs to do is prematurely pay Herro a huge contract without the guarantee that he can remain healthy.
Considering that's been one of the biggest issues for the Heat this season, they'd put themselves into a bigger hole going down this route. Not to mention that they'd look like huge hypocrites to give Herro a big extension when they weren't willing to do so with Jimmy. It looks even worse considering Jimmy is clearly the better player.
So, as the Heat inches closer to decision time for Herro, the answer is simple. They need to continue to play out. There's no rush to make a decision now. There's just not enough of a reason for the Heat to be pushed one way or another.
Heading into the start of this season, one thing was clear: for all parties involved, Herro just needed to get healthy and get on the floor. Unfortunately, things haven't broken that way for Herro.
No matter what happens moving forward, the fact that Herro hasn't been healthy this season is incredibly frustrating for everyone involved. And until that changes, the Heat need to keep on pushing this decision down the road.
It's what they did with Jimmy, and what needs to happen with Herro.