Heat’s Tyler Herro on lessons learned from Suns’ Devin Booker. Also, Butler returns to Miami

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro has faced off against Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker six times during his NBA career. Friday night’s game between the Heat and Suns will mark their seventh matchup..

Even five seasons into his NBA career, it’s a challenge Herro still looks forward to.

“He’s obviously a good friend of mine, somebody I see in the summers,” Herro said ahead of Friday’s matchup against the Suns at Footprint Center, which marks the end of the Heat’s five-game trip out West. “So it’s always good to compete against people that you once looked up to and now is one of my peers. So to be able to compete against him now is great, it’s fun.”

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There are plenty of similarities between Booker and Herro, who have developed a friendship that began when Herro committed to Kentucky in 2017 and has continued growing ever since. Both are gifted scorers, both played college basketball at Kentucky and both were the No. 13 pick in their respective drafts.

For those reasons and more, Herro has believed for years that Booker is his best NBA comparison. Herro said this week that Booker and Golden State’s Stephen Curry are the two players he watches the most when trying to incorporate things into his own game.

“It’s really just him and Steph, for real,” Herro said. “... I think Book is somebody who I’ve always watched closely and was able to pick up some things from his game, for sure.”

Booker is ahead of Herro in his NBA journey. Booker, 27, is in the middle of his ninth NBA season and Herro, 23, is in the middle of his fifth NBA season.

So, Herro continues to watch Booker’s evolution as he grows and adds layers to his own game.

“We’re both scorers, but I think when he took the next step was really just playmaking, making the right play and making his teammates better,” Herro said of Booker, who is a three-time NBA All-Star and made the 2021-22 All-NBA First Team.

Herro, who has yet to play in an All-Star Game or make an All-NBA team, is also working to take that next leap by improving as a playmaker.

“That’s what I want to try to make my next step,” Herro said. “My next step is just trying to make my teammates better.”

Herro entered Friday averaging career highs in points (23.3 per game), rebounds (5.6) and assists (4.4) while shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point range this season.

“Tyler is one of the very few in this association that whatever the team is doing to try to scheme against him,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “if they’re trying to take him out of pick-and-roll basketball then he can just go off the ball and he can also do things in transition. And I think all great players evolve and just add more based on scouting reports. That versatility is, I think, really important to him and also for us.”

It’s a unique versatility Booker and Herro share. But the difference is Herro has been doing it lately in Booker’s first signature shoe, wearing the “Nike Book 1” in recent games after the sneaker was released in December.

“He sent me a pair, he’ll send me all the pairs he gets hopefully,” Herro said with a smile. “He’s somebody I’ve always looked up to.”

BUTLER RETURNS TO MIAMI

Heat star Jimmy Butler is not with the team in Phoenix for Friday’s game against the Suns, instead returning to Miami from Los Angeles after Wednesday’s win over the Lakers to continue treatment on his injured foot.

Friday marks the third game in a row that Butler has missed with a right foot injury, which the Heat has now labeled as “right toe MP joint irritation.”

“The diagnosis is still the same,” Spoelstra said following Friday’s morning shootaround, held on the campus of Arizona State University, when asked about the decision to send Butler back to Miami. “We felt it would be better for him to train in our facility and do things around the clock.”

With Butler also missing four games recently with a strained left calf, Friday marks the seventh game that he has sat out in the last eight games. Butler, 34, is considered to be day-to-day, with his next chance to return coming when the Heat opens a four-game homestand on Monday against the Houston Rockets.

“We’ll treat him day to day and we’ll see how he’s doing when we get back to Miami,” Spoelstra said.

The Heat will also be without Haywood Highsmith (concussion protocol), Caleb Martin (right ankle sprain), Orlando Robinson (G League) and Dru Smith (right knee surgery) on Friday against the Suns.

Meanwhile, the Suns ruled out Kevin Durant (right hamstring strain), Eric Gordon (right knee soreness), Damion Lee (right meniscus surgery) and Nassir Little (left knee soreness) for Friday’s game against the Heat.

ANOTHER ONE

The NBA on Thursday announced that Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. was again selected as the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month, this time for games played in December. It marked the second consecutive month that Jaquez has earned the honor, receiving the first two East Rookie of the Month awards handed out this season.

While Spoelstra called the accomplishment “definitely impressive,” he said the team did not mention it during Friday’s shootaround.

“The most important thing is that his play has impacted winning,” Spoelstra said. “He’s earned his minutes because it’s impacted winning. It’s a good nod. We didn’t mention it today. It’s not something that we’re going to celebrate. But it’s nice to have a young player ready to help us win right away.”