Miami Heat sixth man Tyler Herro is in the spotlight this summer as his team flirts with making a blockbuster trade for either Donovan Mitchell or Kevin Durant. Miami’s trade options are heavily dependent on how other teams view Herro’s potential and, at the moment, reviews are quite mixed, according to ESPN senior writer Zach Lowe.
“Ask 50 executives and coaches, and the gap between answers (about Herro’s potential) will be wider than for possibly any other NBA player,” Lowe wrote.
Some NBA insiders believe the 22-year-old Herro, who was named the league’s “Sixth Man of the Year” this spring, will grow into an uncontroverted All-Star. But others worry about his speed and durability, especially after watching him struggle in the Heat’s recent postseason runs.
“We’ve seen his warts,” Lowe said.
Compounding concerns about his defensive skills and athletic ability is the fact that Herro could be owed a lot of money very soon. Lowe noted that “Herro is up for an extension that could start at a maximum salary north of $30 million.”
“Signing a deal close to that level would further blur his trade value, and introduce complex base-year compensation rules,” he said.
Although Lowe believes it’s entirely possible for Herro to up his skills in the coming years and become a “second option on decent teams (or) third option on great ones,” he wrote that lingering uncertainty about his future could doom Miami’s efforts to secure a new superstar this offseason.
“If Miami pulls off a superstar trade, it’s going to be in part because the team on the other end is higher on Herro than consensus,” he wrote.
Miami has been brought up as a potential landing spot for Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell multiple times in recent days, but the New York Knicks remain the Jazz’s most likely trade suitor. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said Monday that the Knicks remain motivated to get Mitchell, as the Deseret News reported.