Tyler Herro hoping for extension with Heat, but willing to remain patient: ‘I know my worth’

There were trade rumors, there were challenges issued and there was plenty of uncertainty regarding Tyler Herro’s future with the Miami Heat. But Herro still found a way to enjoy the summer.

“It was fun,” Herro said to the Miami Herald after walking off the practice court this week, as the Heat continued training camp at Baha Mar resort. “It was a productive offseason for me. I got my work in, got my mind off the game. I like the offseason because it allows you to recoup and get re-motivated again and get ready for the season.”

As the Heat made a short-lived run at Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant in July, Herro’s name was seemingly at the center of every hypothetical trade offer for Durant. Just like he was when the Heat was linked to then-Houston Rockets guard James Harden prior to the 2020-21 season.

Not even that speculation bothered Herro, 22, this summer as he prepared for his fourth NBA season after becoming the first player in Heat history to win the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award last season.

“I mean, at this point, I don’t really care,” Herro made clear. “I can get traded or I can stay here, I don’t care. I just want to play. I want to play my game, have fun and I want to be wanted. Wherever they want me, I want to be.”

Even as Herro opens training camp with the Heat, there’s still a looming sense of uncertainty surrounding his future with the organization because of a fast-approaching mid-October deadline to agree to a contract extension with Miami.

Herro, who will earn $5.7 million this upcoming season in the final year of his rookie deal, is eligible to sign a contract extension with the Heat worth as much as $188 million over five seasons with a first-year salary (2023-24) of $32.5 million. He can sign for five years — instead of four — only if he gets a max contract.

The deadline for Herro and the Heat to strike a deal on an extension is Oct. 17 — the final day before the start of the regular season. If an extension isn’t agreed to, he will become a restricted free agent next summer.

“I want to be here. I want to be in Miami,” Herro said when asked if he hopes to sign an extension with the Heat in the coming weeks. “But I’m not rushed to sign anything. It’s got to make sense for me and my family. I’m not just going to sign anything. I see the market, I see what guys got paid and I know my worth. So I’m looking for the right number.”

Regarding conversations with the Heat about a potential extension, Herro said “my agent is talking to them.”

Recent history with players of or close to Herro’s caliber entering their extension window indicates his extension could fall in the range a four-year contract worth around $25 million per season. Jaylen Brown signed a four-year, $107 million extension with the Boston Celtics in the 2019 offseason and Mikal Bridges signed a four-year, $90 million extension with the Phoenix Suns in 2021.

Then there’s wing RJ Barrett, who signed a four-year extension worth as much as $120 million with the New York Knicks this offseason. Herro’s camp could also use Barrett’s deal as an example in negotiations with the Heat.

The issue is that if Herro signs an extension with the Heat, he would essentially be untradeable until the 2023 offseason. First-round picks (Herro was a first-round pick in 2019) who receive extensions before their fourth NBA seasons are subject to the “Poison Pill Provision,” which would make it difficult for the Heat to include Herro in a trade until July 1, 2023.

Through all of the noise, Herro dedicated this offseason to adding new layers to his game on both ends of the court while continuing to work on his body.

“I think I got a lot stronger in the weight room,” Herro said. “I think I can get to the rim at ease right now going by people. I think I got better everywhere, honestly. I’m just going to be a lot more efficient. I’m a lot stronger, so it’s easier.”

At 6-5, Herro is currently at around 198 pounds. He also entered last season at 198 pounds before losing 10 pounds once the Heat’s schedule started.

“I kind of regained the weight and then my body fat is like at 4.7 percent. I got the lowest on the team. Make sure everybody knows that,” Herro said with a grin.

To make sure he doesn’t shed the weight again, Herro said he’ll have a strength coach with him throughout the season.

The added muscle should help Herro meet Heat president Pat Riley’s offseason challenge.

Riley said in early June of Herro: “I saw improvement in his defense this year. He’s got great feet. He’s got quick feet. He just needs to get stronger again and another 10 pounds of muscle mass and he just needs to get stronger from a leverage standpoint because I think he still has a lot of upside.”

“I take it in like it was a challenge,” Herro said when asked how he viewed Riley’s challenge. “If somebody challenges me, I’m going to take it as a challenge. That’s how my personality is, that’s what I do. And it’s not coming from just anybody. It’s coming from Pat. He wants the best for not only his team, but at the end of the day he wants the best for us individually, as well. If he challenges me, I’m going to take it on.”

Herro closed last regular season as the Heat’s second-leading scorer with a career-high 20.7 points per game in a bench role. He did it while shooting a career-best 44.7 percent from the field and 39.9 percent from three-point range, while averaging a career-high four assists.

Now, Herro is looking to take the next step in his NBA career and play as a starter. Since last season ended, he has made it very clear that he hopes to be moved into the starting lineup.

“I think they know,” Herro said when asked if Heat coaches have been receptive to the idea of him starting. “I’ve been preaching I want to start since I came here. So I don’t have to say too much. They know I want to start.”

But Herro will need to earn that starting spot in the weeks leading up to the Heat’s Oct. 19 regular-season opener. Would he accept a bench role if coaches opt to again use him as a reserve?

“I’m trying to be a starter. I think they know that,” Herro said. “I plan on starting Game 1. But I don’t know what they think. So we’ll see what happens. I’m going to continue to play hard and continue to prove my worth as a starter and show that I can play off Jimmy [Butler], Kyle [Lowry] and Bam [Adebayo]. That we can all work and play together.”