Miami Heat

Tyler Herro is sticking with the Miami Heat for the foreseeable future.

The young sharpshooter agreed to a four-year, $130 million contract extension Sunday:

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro – the NBA’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year – has agreed on a four-year, $130 million contract extension, his agents Jeff Schwartz and Mike Lindeman of @Excelbasketball tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/n1Z1IW73PX

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 2, 2022

Herro had some fun with the news on social media:

🤧 pic.twitter.com/usI8debi7Q

— Tyler Herro (@raf_tyler) October 3, 2022

Ahead of the 2022-23 season, Herro's fourth in the league, he was eligible to sign a designated rookie scale extension for five years and $186 million.

Given that Herro was voted the Sixth Man of the Year for the 2021-22 season after averaging 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while shooting 39.9 percent from three, it always seemed likely he'd get that bag, or at least close to it.

Not bad for the 13th overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft.

As a rookie, Herro was one of the key pieces for the Heat in the 2019-20 bubble playoffs, averaging 16 points per game as Miami reached the NBA Finals, where they lost to LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers.

While he was solid in the 2020-21 campaign (15.1 PPG), he took another big step this past season, serving as instant offense off the bench for the Heat.

"We trust in him a lot," Jimmy Butler told ESPN's Israel Gutierrez in April while speaking about Herro. "Obviously he has the ball a lot of the time, and obviously when someone does have the ball that much, you trust in them to take the right shots, which he does, and get everybody involved, which he does. But he's grown since he came into the league. He's going to continue to do that."

The Heat's core is a tale of two age brackets. There is the older, veteran bunch—Butler and Kyle Lowry are 33 and 36, respectively—and the younger duo of Bam Adebayo (25 years old) and Herro (22).

The latter two give the Heat a pair of excellent players to build around once the older core ages out, or they potentially give the organization the ammunition to trade for another superstar if the goal is solely short-term ring-chasing.

Given the financial commitment the Heat just made to Herro, however, it's clear they view him as a star in his own right (and he's now ineligible to be traded until Jan. 15 following his extension). After his fantastic 2021-22 season, he certainly looked the part.

Just over two weeks before the deadline for him to receive a contract extension, Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro believes he's been better than other players who have signed new deals.

Speaking to Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel about his contract talks with the Heat, Herro said there are "players across the league that have gotten paid who I know I’m better than."

Herro's career arc has been fascinating. He was the No. 13 overall pick by the Heat in the 2019 NBA draft.

Four of the top five picks from the same draft class (Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, RJ Barrett and Darius Garland) have signed extensions with their teams. It's hard to argue Herro has been better than any of those players, though he has at least been available more than Williamson has been for the New Orleans Pelicans.

During Miami's run to the Finals in the bubble, Herro appeared to establish himself as a core piece of the roster. He averaged 16.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game with a 37.5 three-point percentage in 21 playoff games.

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra tried to expand his role in 2020-21 by putting him the starting lineup to open the season. The University of Kentucky alum struggled in the role, connecting on just 32.5 percent of his three-pointers despite averaging 17.2 points per game in 14 starts.

Spoelstra moved Herro back to being the sixth man for the rest of the season, and his efficiency improved (37.3 three-point percentage).

Last season saw Herro continue to play primarily off the bench. He averaged career-highs in minutes (32.6), scoring (20.7) and assists (4.0) in 66 appearances.

While the offensive numbers have never been a problem for Herro, his defensive ability has become a concern for the Heat. Team president Pat Riley publicly questioned the 22-year-old for his limitations as a defender after Miami's loss to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.

"I think we’re seeing this in the league, if you want to win a championship, and you want to be a starter, you really have to become a two-way player today," Riley told reporters on June 8.

Herro has made it clear he wants to be a starter going into the 2022-23 season. He also said during Wednesday's press conference he hopes to stay in Miami, but "it’s got to make sense for my family."

As recently as August, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported there was "simply is no urgency" from the Heat to sign Herro because they might want to keep their ability to move him before the trade deadline in February.

Players who sign new deals are ineligible to be traded for six months. Herro will earn $5.7 million this season, the final year of his rookie contract.

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro believes he's an NBA All-Star.

"Yeah, I thought I should have been one last year," Herro told reporters Monday. "But with another jump in my game, I think I can this year."

The 22-year-old won the league's Sixth Man of the Year award last season after averaging 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. He was key in helping the Heat earn the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 53-29 record.

Despite the team success, Miami had only one All-Star last season: Jimmy Butler. Herro was left out in favor of other Eastern Conference guards like Darius Garland, Fred VanVleet and eventually LaMelo Ball.

The voting wasn't particularly close, either, with Herro ranking 11th in both the fan and player voting.

The former Kentucky star is now heading into the final year of his rookie contract and is eligible for an extension before the regular season begins, but he doesn't appear worried about the financials.

"I'll let my agent take care of it," he said Monday.

Without a new deal, Herro will become a restricted free agent next offseason.

The Miami Heat did not make any significant acquisitions via free agency or the trade market this summer, but it appears they are confident two of their new, lesser additions will succeed in 2022-23.

Miami has "privately expressed confidence" 2022 first-round pick Nikola Jovic and two-way player Darius Days, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

The Heat was linked to both Donovan Mitchell and Kevin Durant throughout the summer, but the Utah Jazz traded Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Durant rescinded his trade request to remain with the Brooklyn Nets.

Miami selected Jovic with the 27th overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft out of Serbia. He's pretty far down the team's current depth chart, but he could prove to be a solid player off the bench this year.

Days, meanwhile, went undrafted in 2022. He spent four years playing college basketball at LSU and should be a solid option behind Bam Adebayo and Dewayne Dedmon.

The Los Angeles Lakers have made all of the efforts to publicly back Russell Westbrook this offseason, but it's hard to ignore that a change of scenery would probably be best for both the player and organization.

And one team that might actually be a fit for Westbrook at this stage of his career is the Miami Heat.

"It makes sense," an Eastern Conference executive told Fox Sports' Ric Bucher. "Miami believes they can rehabilitate anyone."

Bucher wrote that "team executives and scouts could only come up with one potential landing spot" for Westbrook, and it was the Heat. He noted team president Pat Riley "has a history of cultivating fiery competitive players, from Alonzo Mourning to Brian Grant to Jimmy Butler."

But the same stylistic clashes Westbrook has faced with Los Angeles would be present with Miami.

Butler and Bam Adebayo spend a fair amount of time on the ball, much like LeBron James. Westbrook has traditionally been a ball-dominant point guard and offers little off the ball given his woeful perimeter shooting (29.8 percent from three last season, 30.5 percent in his career).

Miami also loves to bang on about its culture of hard work and defensive engagement. Westbrook's effort has never been called into question, at least on the offensive side of the ball, but his defensive intensity could be described as wavering.

And what would a trade even look like? The Heat could deal Kyle Lowry and Duncan Robinson to make the money work, but surely they'd want more than just Westbrook in return unless they've stopped believing in both players. (Robinson play just 12.2 minutes per game in the playoffs last season, so it's feasible the Heat would be comfortable moving on from him.)

And while the 36-year-old Lowry has struggled with injuries in recent years, his defensive willingness and ability to play off the ball (37.7 percent from three last season, 36.8 in his career) make him a much more natural fit with the Heat.

Plus, even if Miami believes it could get the most out of Westbrook, he would still have to acknowledge that his style needs to change so he can best fit on a contending team.

"It is not what he has left, it is how he will accept that he is not the player that he was," an Eastern Conference scout told Bucher. "It's similar to Carmelo [Anthony]. I'm not sure Russ has the awareness to accept a lesser role."

Something has to give. If Westbrook stays with Los Angeles, his best role may be coming off the bench, as the newly acquired Patrick Beverley is a more natural fit at guard alongside James and Anthony Davis.

"It's hard to see him as anything but a backup for the Lakers," a Western Conference scout told Bucher. "It's hard for him to play with [Davis] and LeBron. It might be OK if they let him go with the second unit. He has to play the only way he knows how unless he can miraculously learn to shoot."

Westbrook, however, has already bristled at such a role.

A change of scenery might afford him the opportunity to keep the role he's played throughout his career. But it's hard to find a landing spot for him with that in mind. The Heat certainly don't feel like a natural match, however much they might believe in the transformative powers of their oft-discussed culture.

Former Miami Heat forward Markieff Morris and the Brooklyn Nets agreed to a one-year contract on Tuesday, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

The news comes as little surprise after Chris Milholen of Nets Daily reported last week that the two sides had mutual interest.

Morris initially joined the Heat on a one-year deal ahead of the 2021-22 season following a year-and-a-half with the Los Angeles Lakers. He appeared in just 17 regular-season games for the franchise after suffering a whiplash injury on a shove from Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic during a game in November.

The 32-year-old was sidelined until March because of the ailment, and he finished the regular season averaging 7.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 17 games.

Morris also only appeared in one playoff game for the Heat. Head coach Erik Spoelstra sat him in favor of P.J. Tucker and a number of other players. The decision to bench the veteran wasn't a surprise after the team found so much success without him during the regular season.

Morris began his career with the Phoenix Suns after being selected 13th overall in the 2011 draft. He spent four-and-a-half seasons with the franchise before being traded to the Washington Wizards during the 2015-16 season.

The Kansas product has bounced around the NBA after spending just two full seasons with the Wizards. Since 2018-19, he has played for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Detroit Pistons, Lakers and Heat.

Morris is far from the player he once was, but he'll be a solid bench player for the Nets, who spent the latter half of the offseason searching for a backup center.

Nic Claxton will spend the majority of the time on the floor alongside Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons, but Morris will still be called upon to play important minutes. In addition to playing center, he could also see time as the team's power forward behind Durant and Royce O'Neal.

Despite his tour around the league, it's no surprise the Nets decided to bring him aboard for the upcoming season. He has been a contributor on every team he's played for over his lengthy career, and there's no reason to believe he can't produce in 2022-23.

Victor Oladipo believes he's one of the best players in the world.

The Miami Heat are reportedly going to give him a chance to prove it next season.

Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported Oladipo's role is set to "expand exponentially" in the aftermath of P.J. Tucker leaving for the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency.

Oladipo was widely expected to leave Miami this summer before surprisingly returning on a two-year, $18.2 million contract that includes a player option for the 2023-24 campaign.

The two-time All-Star has appeared in only 60 games since suffering a ruptured quad tendon in his knee in January 2019. He was limited to nine regular-season games with the Heat in 2021-22 as he recovered from another surgery on the same quad tendon, averaging 12.4 points, 3.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds.

While Oladipo was part of Miami's run to the Eastern Conference Finals, he struggled mightily to find a consistent rhythm in the pressure-packed playoff atmosphere. The 30-year-old shot just 36.8 percent from the floor and closed the conference finals out with three straight single-digit scoring performances as the Boston Celtics advanced to the Finals.

Despite myriad injury issues over the last three seasons, Oladipo's confidence in himself has not been shaken.

"I'm one of the best players in the world. Period. I think that my injury has kind of built a misconception of who I am as a player," Oladipo said this month on Vince Carter's podcast The VC Show.

Oladipo also said his recent issues were caused by a "messed up" surgery, and he's feeling back to his former All-Star self. His career peaked during the 2017-18 season, as he averaged 23.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists while leading the NBA with 2.4 steals per game.

The Miami Heat must look in a new direction after Kevin Durant agreed to "move forward" with the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.

Miami had been one of the "most serious threats" to land Durant along with the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics following the superstar's trade request in June, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. The Heat had been unwilling to meet the Nets' asking price, however, and the window to acquire the four-time scoring champion has apparently closed.

No other available players can make the same type of impact as Durant, but there are still ways for Miami to upgrade the roster with these targets.

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Donovan Mitchell, SG

If the Heat still want to add a star, Donovan Mitchell is the next best option after Durant.

The New York Knicks have consistently been linked with the Utah Jazz guard, while Charania named the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards as interested teams, but none have been able to match Utah's asking price.

Miami could beat the other packages by offering Tyler Herro, who won the league's Sixth Man of the Year award last season.

Zach Lowe of ESPN reported the Heat were "still trying and can never be counted out" regarding deals for either Durant and Mitchell. With only one of those still available, the team could become even more aggressive on the trade market.

Losing Herro could hurt, but Mitchell is an even better offensive weapon who averaged 25.9 points per game last year, his fifth straight season with at least 20 ppg. His all-around play helped him set a career high with 7.2 win shares in 2021-22, 34th in the NBA, per Basketball Reference. Herro's 3.8 win shares was also a personal best, yet ranked just 123rd in the league.

Adding the three-time All-Star could be enough to get Miami over the top toward a championship after losing in the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

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John Collins, PF

Even if the Heat aren't able to land a star, they can still add a difference-maker to the rotation.

Lowe reported (h/t RealGM) that Miami showed interest in John Collins and might "revisit" those talks.

The Atlanta Hawks haven't been shy about putting Collins on the trade block, including him in an offer for Durant. They were also "engaged" with several teams about a trade in June, per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, which indicates it might not take much to pry him away.

Collins' scoring has declined in each of the past two years, but he averaged 16.2 points and 7.8 rebounds in 2021-22 and is still just 24 years old. The 6'9" forward has made 37.6 percent of three-pointers in his career and would fit perfectly with the Heat's efficient outside shooting.

Though he's not the defender that P.J. Tucker was, he would provide a bigger offensive impact next to Bam Adebayo.

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Myles Turner, C

Another player who has been constantly included trade rumors, Myles Turner likely won't want to stay with the Indiana Pacers during their rebuild.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported in July there was a "good chance he's not going to be a Pacer next year."

With the Heat, Turner could play for a contender and form an intriguing complement in the frontcourt with Adebayo.

Turner is more of a rim-protector, twice leading the NBA in blocks per game while finishing last season with 2.8 per game. He is also a quality outside shooter, averaging 1.5 made threes per game in 2021-22.

Adebayo and Turner might both be called a "center," but their roles wouldn't overlap on either end of the court, and a trade could certainly strengthen the team ahead of 2022-23.

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LaMarcus Aldridge, C

Any trade would force the Heat to give up something, which might not be a smart plan for a team that is already a top contender to win a title. They finished first in the Eastern Conference during the regular season last year and only lost in Game 7 of the conference finals after an injury-riddled playoff run.

The team could instead look for incremental changes from the remaining free-agent pool to help get over the top.

LaMarcus Aldridge could be the best option available, even at 37 years old entering his 17th NBA season.

The veteran averaged 12.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game with the Nets last season, mostly coming off the bench. He remains a solid defender who can provide a boost offensively with the second unit.

Miami already has plenty of veteran leadership from Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry and even Udonis Haslem, but adding one more proven player in the locker room can't hurt.

Udonis Haslem will return to the Miami Heat for his 20th—and final—season in the NBA.

The 42-year-old announced his decision to sign a new contract with Miami during an appearance at his youth camp on Sunday.

Haslem also noted that he will retire at the end of next season:

Udonis Haslem added that this will be his final season. “One more year,” he said.

— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) August 21, 2022

Haslem appeared in 13 games for the Heat last season, averaging 2.5 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

Playing time has been limited for the veteran forward in recent years, appearing in just one game in 2020-21 and four in 2019-20. In the past six seasons, Haslem has just 58 total appearances and zero in the postseason.

The Heat still recognize his value as a locker room presence, giving him the option to return each season despite minimal on-court contributions. On the day free agency opened, the organization sent a "delegation of employees" to Haslem's vacation home to convince him to return for the 2022-23 season.

Despite the team interest, Haslem was unsure about returning as of last week.

"For me, it's just a lot going on," he told Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. "I have a lot of things that I had to really, really think about."

He is now ready to return, joining Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant as the only NBA players to spend an entire career of at least 20 seasons with one franchise.

Haslem has helped the Heat win three NBA titles, playing significant minutes during each of the playoff runs. He appeared in 44 combined postseason games, making 30 starts, in 2012 and 2013 as Miami won championships behind LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Even if it would be a smaller role, he is looking to earn a fourth ring with a team that reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

It appears the Boston Celtics and TD Garden might need to make some substantial upgrades to its locker room for visiting NBA teams.

Miami Heat veteran Duncan Robinson slammed the Celtics for having the worst locker room in the league for visiting teams.

"If you walked in and said, 'This is a high school locker room,' I would say that's a s----y high school locker room,'" Robinson said on his podcast, The Long Shot, per Sports Illustrated's Jayden Armant.

Milwaukee Bucks guard Pat Connaughton, who was making a guest appearance on Robinson's podcast, agreed with Robinson's comments.

"The Boston Celtics locker room is the worst visiting team locker room in the NBA," Connaughton said.

Both Robinson and Connaughton spent a significant amount of time in Boston's visiting locker room last season.

The Celtics eliminated the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in seven games before eliminating the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals in as many games. The Bucks had to play Game 7 at TD Garden, while the Heat played Game 7 in Miami.

If more opposing players speak up about Boston's locker room for visiting teams in the near future, then maybe the team will make some upgrades. But for now, it's likely it will remain the same.