Herro sets record straight on Butler, on-court priority, possible extension. And Heat notes
Following the best season of his career, Heat guard Tyler Herro on Wednesday touched on many topics, setting the record straight about comments attributed to him about Jimmy Butler, reflecting on the highest-scoring season of his career and addressing a potential contract extension.
Herro – who is already under contract for $31 million and $33 million the next two seasons – can sign an extension between Oct. 1 and Oct. 20.
The Heat, during that window, could offer Herro a three-year, $150 million extension, with a salary of $46 million in 2027-28 and $50 million and $54 million the following two seasons. Miami also could offer an extension at less money.
If the sides don’t agree on a new contract in October, Herro would become eligible for an extension again in 2026. By waiting until next year, Herro would be eligible for a four-year, $207 million extension through 2030-31.
Asked if it’s a big deal to him whether he gets the extension this October, Herro said:
“Not the biggest deal, but I would love to be here. The front office, the organization, the city, everyone knows how much I love Miami. I’ve been here since I was 18, 19. I’ve got two kids here.
“This is really home for me. I love being here. Basketball is why I’m here at the end of the day. I want to win and I know how badly this organization and city want to win. We will see what happens. If it doesn’t get done in October, then we can get it done next summer. It will just be a little bit higher of a price.”
Herro also attempted to extinguish an eyebrow-raising remark that The Athletic attributed to him over the weekend. The publication quoted him as saying:
“Obviously, I know I need Jimmy [Butler] to win. If we had Jimmy right now, I feel like it’d be a completely different situation.”
On Instagram on Wednesday, Herro said: “Dude asked me a question in the timeframe of Jan-Feb when the ‘jimmy saga’ was happening. I said I had came into the season thinking I was playing off of Jimmy, to him getting traded and I had to switch my mindset from needing Jimmy to me being the lead guy, and I spoke about the things I learned from JB. Never said I need anyone to win games. Y’all tripping [and] buddy from the Athletic who wrote the story is a goofy.”
Asked about that again during his media availability on Wednesday, Herro said: “It was obviously taken out of context. I was asked a question after Game 2. The question was asked as if it was February, December, January.
“If we were 0-82, I would never come out and say I need someone else to win. That’s who I am as a competitor. I think I can do it, with my teammates and coaching staff. I would never come out and say I need somebody else to win in this league.”
Though Herro shot 1 for 10 in Monday’s season-ending 55-point loss to Cleveland, he overall had a very good season, averaging a career-high 23.9 points per game (17th in the league) and assists (5.5/37th in the NBA), making an All Star team for the first time and scoring 30 points in play-in wins at Chicago and Atlanta - victories that propelled Miami into the postseason.
“Personally, I came in thinking it would probably be my lowest usage rate,” he said. “I thought I would average the least of my career. I ended up averaging 24, having the best season of my career. I really do think it was because I came in thinking I was going to play off the ball. I was letting it come to me. I was going to let [Butler and Bam Adebayo] handle and make all the plays and I would be off the ball and be a glue guy a little bit in that starting unit.
“It changed quick [when Butler was suspended and traded] and I was able to reap the benefits of it. Making the All Star team. I won the three- point contest. A lot of personal positives that came out of the season. I can’t let the last two games define my season but also understand that’s not what I want out of this league. The personal growth is cool, but... I want to win and be known as a winner. We have to do some things this summer to help put us back in that position.”
The Heat was 14-28 in clutch games (games with a margin of five points or fewer in the final five minutes), and Herro said the priority this summer is “improvement [in] how I can help this team win games at the end, whether it’s making plays for myself or making a play for a teammate…
“That’s what I will be working on this summer, a lot of film, a lot of studying what went wrong this year, so that if we’re in those situations next year, we can turn those into wins instead of losses.”
Others weigh in
Duncan Robinson, Terry Rozier and Andrew Wiggins declined to speak to reporters on Wednesday. Quick hits on what some others said:
▪ Kel’el Ware, who finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting (with four third place votes), said that award didn’t matter to him and getting stronger physically will be his priority this summer.
▪ Adebayo said he was begging Erik Spoelstra to play Ware earlier this season. Ware became a starter in mid-January. Adebayo said Ware is “a great player in this league. He’s one we will be constantly be talking about every year, could be in contention for [Defensive Player of the Year].”
▪Asked if he has seen enough to move forward with an Adebayo/Ware starting power rotation, barring a trade for an All Star power forward or center, Spoelstra said:
“I was encouraged by the minutes they had and progress they made. They found a way to complement each other and heighten each other’s strengths. This will be a really important summer for Kal’el.”
▪ Point guard Davion Mitchell, who can be a restricted free agent if the Heat extends him an $8.7 million qualifying offer as expected: “I don’t know what the future holds. I’m not going to get into that. I haven’t thought or talked about that with my representation.” But he said he enjoyed the experience here.
The Heat can match any outside offer if it extends that qualifying offer. Otherwise, he would be an unrestricted free agent.
▪ Jaime Jaquez Jr. said this season, which was a step back for him, said: “Sometimes you need that in your life to get humbled to propel you forward.” Jaquez will focus on improving his 31 percent three-point shooting.
▪ Guard Alec Burks, the team’s only impending unrestricted free agent, said: “Hopefully I can come back.”
This story was originally published April 30, 2025 at 3:43 PM.
