The Miami Heat had a tremendous regular season, earning the top seed in the East, and looked dominant through the first two rounds before getting bounced from the playoffs in a hard fought seven-game series against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Health played a role in their pre-Finals exit, as some of their top players were banged up, but there are also real questions about whether this roster has enough offensive firepower to beat the best teams in the league. Finding ways to get more out of their offense without sacrificing too much on the defensive end where they were incredible is among the biggest tasks for Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra this offseason. One of their best offensive players, Sixth Man of the Year winner Tyler Herro — who was limited with a groin injury in the Boston series — has one idea for how to inject some more life into the offense: start him.
At his exit interview, Herro was asked if it was a priority this offseason to become a starter (3:36 of the above video) and offered this response.
“Yeah, for sure. In some way, I would like to start. I think it’s my fourth year, so I think I’ve earned it, and we’ll see what happens.”
It’s an interesting situation for the Heat, and one Spoelstra and his staff will have to work out. The Heat preferred Herro coming off the bench this season to ensure both units had some kind of creation when Jimmy Butler rested, and when Kyle Lowry’s at full strength it makes sense to have the shooting of Max Strus (or Duncan Robinson, before he got benched) between them. However, Herro clearly sees his fourth year as an opportunity to make the leap into being a starter and that role matters, particularly in terms of how much he’ll get paid next offseason when he becomes a restricted free agent.
The Heat can mitigate that by working out an extension that pays him like a starter and possibly keep him in a bench role where it wouldn’t matter as much to him if it benefits the team, but if an extension can’t be reached before the season, Herro likely won’t be quite as willing to hop back into that sixth man role. On Herro’s end, he’ll need to prove he can hold up defensively, as he is always the opposition’s target on that end — albeit the Celtics took the same approach against Strus — and also to be a consistent three-point threat in spot-up situations as that is clearly the thing Spoelstra wants out of that role when Butler and Lowry are out there together.
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