The Miami Heat have been one of the NBA’s best teams over the last three years, and one of the biggest reasons why has been guard Tyler Herro.
The 13th overall pick in the 2019 draft, he had a breakout season last year and won the Sixth Man of the Year award.
As he enters the final year of his rookie contract, there was some talk about whether he would sign an extension with Miami or if it would trade him elsewhere, perhaps in a deal for a big star such as Donovan Mitchell or Kevin Durant.
But Herro has remained put, and he has now agreed to a four-year, $130 million extension.
That translates to an average of over $30 million a year for the 6-foot-5 22-year-old.
Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat have agreed to a four-year, $130M contract extension, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/u8dzKFnsIA
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 2, 2022
Herro has become a very good player, but is he worth (or going to be worth) that much money?
Herro Has Become A Spark Plug For Miami
The University of Kentucky product came to the Heat at a time in which they were rebuilding.
Dwyane Wade, the greatest player in team history, had just retired, and it was thought they may be in for a prolonged rebuilding process.
Even when they traded for All-Star forward Jimmy Butler, not much was expected from them, as ESPN picked them to finish seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 43-39 record.
Instead, Miami went 44-29 and took the fifth seed in the conference, then went all the way to the NBA Finals where it lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Herro was a revelation for it, as he averaged 13.5 points in 27.4 minutes per game in the regular season while shooting 38.9 percent from 3-point range.
Last season, he increased those numbers to 20.7 points a game on 39.9 percent from downtown, in addition to 4.0 assists per contest, which was up from 2.2 his rookie year.
While he looked like a very dependable spot-up shooter a couple of years ago, he has emerged as something of a creator off the dribble.
Tyler Herro getting his extension before the season takes away a potential cloud that could have lingered in the next few months. The Heat are committed to him, & it's official. There is room for him to improve. No doubt about that. Now it's on him to make another leap. pic.twitter.com/iZNIEInCdu
— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) October 3, 2022
Of the NBA’s contending teams, the Heat are perhaps the most offensively challenged, and they desperately need someone like Herro to take that next step forward into legit All-Star territory in order to bolster their chances of winning a world championship.
Can Herro take that next step?
A Look At Herro’s Offense
For evidence of Herro’s growth, look no further than the percentage of his baskets that were assisted on.
That number went from 47.4 percent as a rookie to 33.4 percent last year on 2-pointers, and from 78.4 percent to 70.9 percent on 3-pointers.
Miami will play its first preseason game of the new season on Tuesday when it faces the Minnesota Timberwolves, and it will be interesting to see how much better Herro will be in his fourth year in the NBA.
If he shows continued improvement, especially as a shot creator, not just for himself but also for his teammates, head coach Erik Spoelstra will have to increase his workload and possibly even move him into the starting lineup.
In addition to occasionally making the All-Star team, that’s the stage Herro needs to get to in order to prove to everyone he’s worth every penny of his new extension.
NEXT: A Heat Star Knows His Worth On The Market
