5 Tyler Herro trade ideas that could improve the Heat next season

After the Miami Heat committed to a Tyler Herro four-year $120 million contract extension a season ago, it has not gone as planned. Herro has struggled with availability and consistency in his performances as a 24 year-old combo guard for the Heat. He was the winner of the 2022 Sixth Man of the Year award and seemed poised to continue making individual leaps.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case, as he has had a rocky last couple of seasons ever since winning that award. First, Herro missed the entire 2023 postseason run that featured the Heat reaching the NBA Finals as an eighth seed without the help of his services. He was in their perfect position to put together a prove-it type of year at the start of this season, but it was derailed by injuries.

Herro missed extended time with an ankle and foot injury, respectively, in two different stints this year. He only appeared in 42 out of the 82 game schedule. The problem here is that even when he was available, he was inconsistent and just simply has not developed into an All-Star caliber player like the team had hoped by now.

During the two play-in games and five postseason games for the Heat, Herro only played well in two of them. Miami was recently just gentlemen swept out of the first round to the rival Boston Celtics; a game 5 performance from Herro that had totals of just 15 points and 3 assists on an abysmal 6/19 shooting and ⅛ from deep.

His $29 million annual salary takes up a big chunk of this Miami cap space, and he has not been able to justify it. One could argue that Herro should have been used as a trade piece by now, but it is never too late. 

Let’s fire up the trade machines and go over five Herro-based trade ideas that could improve the Heat’s roster for next season.

5. Trae Young

Another season of mediocrity for the Atlanta Hawks came with the team not able to make it past the NBA play-in. The Hawks reached the Eastern Conference finals back in 2021, but haven’t sniffed that level of success since. There are already reports coming out that team’s like the LA Lakers and San Antonio Spurs could eye Trae Young.

Being the Hawks franchise player and a multi-time NBA  All-Star, Young surely has the reputation worthy for some teams to take a big swing on him. A Heat/Hawks swap centered around Herro and Young could make sense for both teams; considering each player has been involved in trade rumors over their young careers. 

Young has the proven postseason capabilities that Herro doesn’t have. For the Hawks, Herro is a player that they can properly start a rebuild around.