Q: Ira, after what happened with Jimmy Butler, do you think the Heat step up right away with the extension for Tyler Herro? Doesn’t Pat Riley have to show that the organization will do right by its best players? – Gary.
A: First, the Heat have stepped up right away before, in fact doing it twice with Bam Adebayo as soon as he became eligible for his last two extensions. So that, right there, is a counter to the Jimmy Butler situation. With the Butler situation, it wasn’t as much Pat Riley rejecting the possibility of an eventual extension, but rather wanting to wait to see if attendance would be an issue. An advantage with Tyler Herro is that his extension window does not open until October, so the Heat, in his case, will have time to sort out their offseason first. which also could afford a better read into how a Herro extension would factor into future payrolls. And then there is the matter of the money. Just because a player is eligible for a maximum extension doesn’t mean he has to get the max (although it does tend to wind up that way in today’s NBA). Based on Tyler’s current contract, he will be eligible for a three-year, $150 million extension that would start in 2027-28 at a salary of $46.2 million. So it comes down to whether the Heat view Tyler going forward as a $50 million player. But also appreciate that if Tyler opts to wait, he would be eligible to extend in the 2026 offseason for $207 million over four seasons, to be tacked onto the end of his current deal. So, as always, the dollars have to make sense.
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Q: This team reminds me of the 2003- 24 Heat when Rafer Alston hit a big shot with .5 seconds to go to win a game against the Dallas Mavericks on national television. The Heat started the season 0-7, but won 17 of the last 21 games. The players all seemed to be having fun. – Stuart, Miami.
A: Hmm, Davion Mitchell as Rafer Alston? That works for me, both with their gregarious personalities and high degrees of confidence. And, yes, this does now feel like many of the Heat’s underdog seasons. It almost makes you wonder what might have been with that 11-30 and then 30-11 team in 2016-17 had there been a play-in round back then.
Q: Ira, it’s a shame Nikola Jovic hasn’t been able to make it back. What’s next? – Lawrence.
A: That will be interesting. At the time he broke his hand in February in Milwaukee, Nikola Jovic had just been able to re-emerge, making himself not only a rotation piece for Erik Spoelstra, but also a potential asset in a trade. Now the question is whether the latter remains true. And that’s significant for the Heat, given their lack of assets in terms of personnel. No one is taking Terry Rozier at this point, Jaime Jaquez Jr. certainly is a diminished asset and Duncan Robinson likely would be most valued as an expiring contract. So when it comes to sweeteners beyond the Heat’s main assets, it could be Nikola or bust on the trade market.