3 Reasons Miami Heat should cut bait with Tyler Herro
When Tyler Herro was drafted back in 2019, he quickly burst onto the scene for the Miami Heat. Even as a rookie, he showed a fearless mentality in big moments and clutch situations. His long-range shooting and playmaking quickly became an intriguing asset to the team.
Unfortunately, years have passed since that rookie season, and Herro has yet to finally make that leap. There could be an argument that he reached his peak in the 2021-22 season, where he earned the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award. Herro averaged 20.7 points during that season, but has yet to eclipse the 20-point mark in each of his next two season averages.
Injuries have ultimately halted Herro’s progression for the Heat.
He has not played in more than 67 games in each of his five seasons. Two of the Heat’s recent playoff runs featured him missing most, if not the entirety of the postseason due to injury. In 2022, he suffered with a hamstring injury that limited him and kept him out of most of the Eastern Conference finals. In 2023, he missed the entire playoffs after suffering a broken hand in the opening game of the first round.
His absences haven’t stopped the Heat from winning games over the years, giving fans reasons to believe Herro may not be as crucial in the team’s success. Here are three reasons why the Miami front office should finally pull the plug on the Herro timeline.
1. Unwilling to play as a sixth man
The Heat are 93-49 in games that Herro comes off the bench throughout his five-year career. As a starter, they have a mediocre record of 73-67. That is a big sample size for each scenario of Herro’s role in Miami, with stats proving that the team could be better off with him as a sixth man.
After all, Herro ran away with the league’s Sixth Man of the Year award a few seasons ago. This is a role that he knows how to play and impact Miami in the winning column. That same season where he played that role, the Heat finished as the East’s top overall seed. It was clear that Herro’s scoring added some much-needed balance to the second unit, with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo manning the starting group.
Each of the two seasons after, with him as a starter, the Heat have limped their way into the postseason as a play-in team. It could be obvious what is best for the team at this point, but Herro has shown an unwillingness to embrace a sixth man’s role, noting several times in recent years that he knows he is a “starter in this league."