Tyler Herro extension viewed as both living in moment and a bridge to Heat’s future

For Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat’s front office, the four-year, $130 millon extension for the fourth-year guard announced Sunday came down to salary-cap economics.

To Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, it also came down to demographics.

That balance, in the wake of agreement with Herro, left Spoelstra both confident about living in the moment as well as looking ahead, now that Bam Adebayo, 25, and Herro, 22, are locked into long-term deals.

“I felt very similar about Tyler when we were able to extend Bam,” Spoelstra said, with the agreement with Adebayo reached in 2020. “The cool thing about it is yes, they are the future, but they also are the present and that’s what makes this group unique. We have a lot of different age groups.”

To some, the issue with the Herro extension is that, because of salary-cap rules, it effectively removes the winner of last year’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award from the trade table, leaving the Heat with limited avenues to upgrade alongside 36-year-old point guard Kyle Lowry and 33-year-old shooting guard Jimmy Butler.

But to Spoelstra, such is the tradeoff for having bridges to the future.

“I think we have a good balance of the veteran experience, the guys that have been around the league a long time,” said Spoelstra, with his team opening the preseason Tuesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves at FTX Arena. “We have the mid-vets. And then we have the youth movement and the future, who also are really contributing to the now. And then we have our younger development crew.

“And if you could map it out, this is, ideally, how you would try to map out a roster. It doesn’t always work out that way. But Tyler’s really come a long way. It’s really a credit to his drive, his ambition. But his work ethic matches that, and that’s what’s important. And that’s what you’re excited about, because he’ll continue to improve.”

While Herro’s extension doesn’t kick in until the 2023-24 season, he still can be dealt without his current “poison pill” trade restriction as soon as July.

But Herro signed with the intent and desire to stay.

“It’s a really good feeling,” said the No. 14 pick out of Kentucky in the 2019 NBA draft. “When I came here, I had a dream of getting paid by the Heat and being here for a while and bringing a championship here. And we came close, but we haven’t gotten there yet.

“And to be locked in for the next five years means a lot to me, because the goal is still to win a championship and we feel like we can do that.”

Adebayo said it is comforting knowing that the window to make championship runs with Herro has been extended.

“I mean, it’s dope,” he said, “because I felt like he deserved it. He got his bread now. So it’s good to have him around for five more years. You know, the future’s bright for us.”

For now, Herro will play out the season with the $5.7 million that already is on the books from his rookie-scale contract.

Then, Adebayo said, the pressure will rise, just as it did after Adebayo signed his five-year, $163 million extension.

“I told him welcome to the club of whatever we do wrong is his fault,” Adebayo said with a knowing smile. “He’s stepping into that realm now.”

Glad, Herro said, to have such an opportunity.

“To get the extension from the Heat after my third year and be one of the few guys out of my draft class to get extended, it means a lot,” Herro said of the exclusive extension club from the 2019 first round that so far includes himself, Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, Darius Garland, R.J. Barrett and Keldon Johnson. And it’s just the beginning. We’ve got to continue to put the work in and continue to get better.”

To Spoelstra it is an investment on an investment already made.

“It is gratifying for everybody involved, everybody in our organization, for Tyler and his family, his representation,” Spoelstra said. “He’s improved every single year. And this is what we’re about, developing players and then hopefully trying to keep them in our program and to be able to take care of them and compensate them. His ceiling, we don’t know where it’ll be, the way he just continues to improve.”

No sooner was the agreement announced, than Herro posted a GIF of Bugs Bunny counting cash.

“I was just having some fun,” he said. “One of my boys had it ready for me. It was just fun, I was just having fun.”

But there also was a line drawn when it came to humor from one teammate amid the congratulations.

“They all reached out, which meant a lot,” he said. “And then Caleb [Martin] said I have to buy the whole team Rolexes now. I shut that down quick.”