One man who has had an eventful offseason is Tyler Herro. The former Sixth Man of the Year is currently still a member of the Miami Heat, but things could have been very different for him right now if only the Heat succeeded in their pursuit of Damian Lillard.
Ultimately, it was the Milwaukee Bucks who won the race for Lillard, which was an undeniably disappointing development for the Heat. This meant being able to keep Herro on their roster, which clearly wasn’t their first option.
Tyler Herro Spills on Aftermath of Botched Damian Lillard Trade
According to multiple reports, Herro was Miami’s centerpiece in their trade offer for Lillard. The Portland Trail Blazers reportedly wanted nothing to do with the 23-year-old, however, which is why they needed to bring in a third team in trade negotiations. Obviously, nothing materialized on that front.
It’s a poorly kept secret that the Heat have been wanting to cash in on Herro. You can only imagine what type of impact this would have on the 6-foot-5 shooting guard, knowing that he’s been deemed a dispensable asset by his squad.
In a recent interview on Sirius XM NBA Radio, Herro spoke out about how things went down after the Lillard trade fell through. According to the former Kentucky standout, head coach Erik Spoelstra immediately went out of his way to clear the air with Herro:
“Him reaching out and just wanting to connect — that was important to me,” Herro said, via David Akerman of Heat Nation. “Just being able to connect with him and understand that we’re both on the same page as far as what was going to happen at that point and just seeing Coach for the first time all summer was good.
“I haven’t saw him or really anybody from the organization all summer, so just to be able to connect with him was good, and then we spoke about the upcoming season and then just this summer and how everything went, so, obviously I put in a lot of work over the summer and really excited to get going and show my improvements.”
After the front office failed to move Herro, it was up to Coach Spo to do some damage control. The three-time NBA champion coach is one of the best shot-callers in the game today, and the fact that he’s able to connect with his players on a personal level is one of his biggest strengths. He’s also an excellent motivator, which was once again proven by how he was able to get Herro back on board after a summer surrounded by uncertainty.
Regardless of the fact that this wasn’t Miami’s Plan A, Herro will still be in a Heat uniform this coming season. You just know that this young man is going to be playing with a chip on his shoulder as he goes out to prove to everybody that he deserves a lot more respect to his name.
For More Wisconsin Sports:
Follow me on Twitter at @PaoloSongcoNBA, and follow us @WiSportsHeroics. Also, check out our Merchandise Here! Get 20% off with the code “WSH.” You can also reach out to Paolo Songco via email at pao.songco@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Wisconsin sports, click here! Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers.
