Tyler Herro's stunning injury, which is expected to keep him out through the start of the regular season, is truly unfortunate. However, it may emerge as somewhat of a blessing in disguise for the Miami Heat. With this injury, they can now push back the Herro contract extension decision to next summer without any regrets.
Eligible for a huge three-year, $150 million max contract extension in October, the Heat can now elect to shelf those extension talks. Miami doesn't have to feel the pressure of agreeing to an extension now with Herro, giving the Heat some much-needed roster and future flexibility to work with for the next calendar year.
Tyler Herro's extension must wait now
Even though there could still be talks in October, you'd have to imagine that this most recent injury to Herro will almost certainly stall a final decision on a contract extension.
I'm not sure how the Heat can give Herro the big extension that he's going to be seeking while injured. It wouldn't be a great look, and, perhaps most importantly, it'd be considered bad business. In a way, though, this injury to Herro could be exactly what the Heat needed from a business standpoint.
Depending on who you ask, there was an argument to be made that the Heat were being pushed into a corner that was beginning to feel as if they needed to give Herro some sort of extension. Especially if the team wasn't ready to consider trading him, signing him to an extension would've been the next best thing.
But now, the Heat has an easy out if they genuinely want to participate in the high-risk game of letting him play out his contract in exchange for roster and financial flexibility.
I believe that's what will end up happening now.
A blessing in disguise
And this is not even because the Heat wants to see how he returns from injury. Is there some element to that? Sure. However, this is more about the Heat maintaining financial flexibility heading into next offseason. If they could hold off on giving Herro a contract extension now, there are two big advantages for the Heat.
First, he remains trade eligible. Even though the Heat don't necessarily have plans to trade him, that could be useful if an unexpected superstar suddenly becomes available. And secondly, they maintain control of their financial future, even if it is just for another few months.
That's something the Heat have clearly been prioritizing of late, and you'd imagine the team would much rather wait to extend Herro if they can to keep their options open next summer.
From a pure basketball perspective, the injury to Herro is absolutely devastating for the Heat. However, in an unexpected way, it may have given the Heat the lifeline they needed to push the Herro extension decision down the road.