Heat guard Tyler Herro wanted to remind fans that he is the rare player who starts his game when the lights are brightest.
Much of the 2023 offseason for the Miami Heat was spent on thinking about a trade for Damian Lillard. After all, adding Lillard to a team that recently just made the NBA Finals with a core of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo
could have done wonders for their odds of getting over the hump and winning a championship. But now, with the dust having settled and with Lillard now a member of the Milwaukee Bucks franchise, the Heat will have to make do with the pieces they currently have on the roster.
That, however, may not be such a bad thing, especially with Tyler Herro back healthy from the hand injury that kept him out for the vast majority of the 2023 NBA playoffs. Herro, in an interview with Couper Moorhead of NBA.com, wanted to remind fans that he’s the rare player who steps his game up when the lights are at their brightest.
“I would say really to the people that don’t think I can play in the playoffs. I was 18-19 in the bubble and was the third best player on our team in the bubble as a rookie in the playoffs,” Herro said. “I know I can play in the playoffs, but at the end of the day it’s just about having that opportunity
That opportunity, however, did not come last year. Tyler Herro broke his hand in Game 1 of the Heat’s first-round clash against the Bucks, missing the rest of the postseason as a result. But Herro knows that he could have done plenty of damage, and perhaps made the NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets more competitive, had he been healthy
Last year I felt like I had that [opportunity] then obviously I hurt my hand. That was really heartbreaking for me because I was going to have a big playoffs and then that happened,” Herro added.
Still with the Heat despite his involvement in Damian Lillard trade talks, Tyler Herro may be in line for a big season, especially with the Heat backcourt being razor thin in the aftermath of Max Strus’ and Gabe Vincent’s departures, as well as Kyle Lowry’s continued battle against Father Time. And it looks like he’ll be ready to go especially once the games start to truly matter.
