A Tyler Herro nightmare scenario, similar to what transpired between the team and Jimmy Butler last year, could be playing out right before the Miami Heat's eyes. In many ways, what happened with Jimmy could be exactly what's happening with Herro.
The hope is that the end result isn't the same, but the Heat are doing themselves no problems in avoiding another potential disaster with one of their most important players.
While there's a chance the Heat and Herro agree to a contract extension before he enters the final year of his deal, the overwhelming expectation is that the team will wait until next summer to make an ultimate decision on his future with the team. And this is where the big problem could lie.
The Heat challenged Jimmy, and Jimmy won
Looking back, the Heat asked Jimmy to play out the final year of his deal (similar to what they could be asking from Herro), and we saw how that played out. Maybe Herro doesn't have the same response as Jimmy, but the Heat is certainly taking a risk if this is indeed the path they elect to take.
Herro becomes contract extension eligible on October 1. Herro can sign up to a three-year, $150 million max extension with the team. You'd imagine that the Heat will approach Herro with a team-friendly extension, and if he were to decline it (which everyone seems to expect at this point), then that's when the ball falls in the Heat's court.
At that point, they'd have to decide whether they should meet Herro and his expectations for a new contract, or if they should roll the dice on allowing him to test free agency next summer. Herro's early extension window ends at the end of October.
In fairness, I do suppose the Heat could decide to trade Herro between now and the 2026 NBA Trade Deadline, but that does seem to run contrary to how this team has operated recently.
Either way, the Heat are not in a great spot. Realistically speaking, they're either going to have to pay Herro above his likely market value (in October), trade him for pennies on the dollar in the final year of his contract, or take the risk of losing him for nothing by allowing him to test unrestricted free agency next summer.
Especially if the Heat don't have a general idea of what they plan on doing next with Herro, this team is continuing to prove that they've learned nothing from the Jimmy situation last year.
Maybe the Herro situation ends up working out better than Jimmy's, but the fact that this front office is in almost the same situation as last season with one of their key players has to be extremely frustrating for the fan base.