It's time for Pat Riley to grant many jaded Miami Heat fans their wish of trading Tyler Herro. It's become quite clear, especially after the Trade Young trade fiasco, that it's time for the team to move on from Herro.
If the Heat wants to avoid falling into the same situation as the Atlanta Hawks found themselves with Young, scrambling to break even on a return for their star guard, much less get anything of substance in return (which they failed to do), Riley must make the difficult decision to pull the trigger now.
Miami can't afford to wait much longer. With every passing day, there's reason to believe that Herro's trade value gets worse and worse. That's exactly what happened with the Hawks, in which they were forced to trade him in a salary dump.
Tyler Herro is not Trae Young, but the Heat have a very similar headache
Sure, Herro is probably viewed as the better player between the two right now, and he's younger than Young, too, but I can't imagine there are going to be many teams lining up to give Herro that huge contract extension he could be expecting in a couple of years.
Even less so after a season in which he's only played seven of a possible 37 regular-season games (so far). You'd expect Herro to be healthier during the second half of the season, but it's incredibly difficult to suggest that his trade value is significantly higher than Young's right now.
In fact, Herro just has one full year left on his contract (after this season) before he can hit the free agency market. If the Heat waits another six months, they are going to be right in the same position as the Hawks were this season with Young.
The only way Riley could seemingly avoid falling into that situation is by trading him before the deadline or signing him to an extension after the season. Anything in between, and the Heat are going to find themselves in no man's land with Herro.
Especially with what we know now, the Hawks probably shouldn't traded Young a year ago. They waited, and they were burned because of their indecision.
Miami could fall into that same trap if they're not careful.
If there's any inkling that Herro may not be a long-term mainstay in Miami, they need to make a move now to avoid a potential disaster in a few months.
But, hey, if the Heat believes that Herro is a fundamental part of their blueprint, then that's fine too. However, if that is indeed the case, I'd ask, "Why didn't they re-sign him this past offseason"?
It may be time for Riley to make a big move. This team is in desperate need of a change. Maybe that includes a trade of Herro. If that is indeed the case, it needs to happen now.