Pat Riley makes a shocking declaration about Miami Heat star Tyler Herro and his future with the franchise in a recent press conference.
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It seems that the 2020 NBA off-season affected the Miami Heat far more than what many expected. The team lost high-value role players in Jae Crowder and Derrick Jones Jr., stacking its future largely on its younger players.
And while players like Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn have stepped up big time in recent times, Tyler Herro has fallen off quite a bit since last season.
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Countless Heat fans probably still remember what caused the franchise to put so much trust in their lottery pick in the first place. A stellar regular season, which was eventually followed by some massive contributions to the franchise making the NBA finals.
Since then, however, the player has reportedly let his lifestyle get to him. At one point, he was even punished for his behavior by having to play garbage minutes even during the most important games.
Seeing this, many expected Pat Riley to trade the young player away before his value hit rock bottom. But, it seems it couldn’t have been further from reality.
Pat Riley makes it clear that Tyler Herro is going to be an integral part of the Miami Heat’s future
To call Tyler Herro a non-factor in this year’s postseason would be an understatement. The 21-year-old averaged just 9.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists.
And worse yet, many of his minutes came in garbage time against the Bucks. Frankly, it is hard to see why the franchise held onto him at the cost of potentially acquiring James Harden.
Hindsight being 20/20 it initially seemed that the franchise simply wanted to move on from the star. But Pat Riley recently gave the NBA a massive shock, saying this about Herro.
“He’s a core player. That’s all there is to it.”
To be fair to Riley, he could be seeing something we simply can’t right now. At the end of the day, there is a reason he is one of the best at his business.
However, will Tyler Herro be able to prove the organization right for trusting him? Or will this become a mistake that the franchise regrets for the next decade? Only time will tell.
