The Miami Heat got off to a surprisingly robust start this season, posting a 14-7 record and looking like a pseudo-legitimate threat for a deep playoff run in the Eastern Conference. What made their early success all the more impressive was that the Heat were playing without All-Star shooting guard Tyler Herro.
The 25-year-old missed the first month of the season due to a September surgery he underwent for posterior impingement syndrome in his left ankle. He made his return to the roster for a 106-102 victory against the lowly Dallas Mavericks on November 24 and has been fitfully available since. Miami has gone 3-3 during the games Herro has played.
However, the Heat’s luck has taken a turn for the worse of late, having dropped their last five consecutive contests. Miami could get a bit of a schedule break in ending this skid, as they are set to face one of the East’s worst teams, the 7-18 Brooklyn Nets, on Thursday.
Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra has reinvented his team on the fly this season, adjusting for life without a half-court, ball-dominant superstar after Jimmy Butler forced his way off the team midway through the 2024-25 campaign. Whereas before the system was oriented around Butler’s deliberate approach to the game, Spoelstra’s amended club is all about speed.
New Miami guard Norman Powell has fit in nicely, helping augment the club’s backcourt scoring with Terry Rozier away from the team and Herro in and out of the lineup. Still, the Heat aren’t exactly looking like world-beaters anymore, and their vulnerabilities on both sides of the ball have been exposed as the season has worn on.
Miami ranks first in overall pace (104.6), but the club’s middling 114.9 offensive rating is just the 16th-best in the NBA. The Heat are a relatively infrequent 3-point shooting squad, making only 12.7 triples per game, which ranks 20th in the league.
On the defensive end, Miami boasts the No. 3 defensive rating so far, with three-time All-Star power forward Bam Adebayo and second-year center Kel’el Ware anchoring the operation.
For the second straight summer, Miami has failed to agree to a contract extension with a critical All-Star. Last year, it resulted in a trade demand from a disgruntled Jimmy Butler. This season, could the Heat’s decision not to agree to a long-term deal with Herro presage another separation?
Jake Fischer of The Stein Line suggests that such could indeed be the case. “The fact that the Heat did not come to a contract extension agreement with Tyler Herro, furthermore, would also appear to make his $31 million deal movable,” he noted.
As the season continues, all eyes will be on Miami to see how they navigate these challenges both on and off the court.
https://www.newsweek.com/sports/nba/heat-willing-to-cut-ties-with-all-star-in-the-right-deal-report-11224106