Herro adjusting, accepting role coming off bench
After a poor start, the Heat moved Tyler Herro to the bench, and Miami won 19 of its next 30 games.
It has been an eventful season for Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro.
Herro began his second NBA season as a starter after spending most of his rookie year in a bench role, missed seven games in January with neck spasms, was forced to sit out a Feb. 11 win against the Houston Rockets because of a false positive COVID-19 test and was unavailable for three games in late February with a right hip contusion.
All the while, Herro, 21, has been forced to transition back to a sixth-man role after starting in his first 14 appearances of the season.
“Definitely thought I would be starting,” Herro said in advance of Thursday night’s game against
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the Los Angeles Lakers at AmericanAirlines Arena. “But I think as the season goes on, things change and I’m OK with coming off the bench right now and just continuing to do that. It was a short period of time where I was trying to adjust to it because I was starting at the beginning of the season.”
In need of a shake-up with a 7-14 record, the Heat moved Herro to the bench after a Feb. 3 home loss to the Washington Wizards. Miami won 19 of its next 30 games and Herro has not started since.
Herro entered Thursday’s matchup averaging 14.7 points while shooting 41.2 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on threes, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 26 games off the bench this season. He has been especially efficient recently, averaging 16.8 points on 52.5 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting on threes in the past five games.
Among those around the league who have played in at least 25 games off the bench this season, Herro entered Thursday ranked fifth in scoring average as a reserve (14.7 points per game). Only Utah’s Jordan Clarkson (17.2 points), Dallas’ Tim Hardaway Jr. (16.4 points), Orlando’s Terrence Ross (15.7 points) and Los Angeles’ Montrezl Harrell
(15 points) are averaging more points per game off the bench than Herro.
“I think I can provide scoring off the bench, just come in with energy and try to really bring energy to the team and just try to keep going once that second unit comes in,” Herro said. “We got a lot of guys who can score, a lot of guys who can play. So once I get in, just try to keep the flow going and try to keep the rhythm of the team going.”
While Herro is not starting, the scoring punch he provides is still critical to the Heat’s formula. Despite playing as a reserve, Herro leads the team in fourth-quarter minutes since he was moved to the bench two months ago.
Entering Thursday, Herro had logged a teamhigh 276 fourth-quarter minutes since he began playing as a reserve. He’s
essentially relied on to play the entire final period, as he has averaged 11 fourth-quarter minutes per game in his bench role this season.
That consistent lategame opportunity has helped Herro accept the switch.
“I think they just trust me and I try to make winning plays,” he said. “I’m willing to take the big shots in the fourth quarter, and I think they have confidence in me and I think my teammates also trust me to go out there and try to win games.”
DEDMON SIGNS
The Heat announced the signing of center Dewayne Dedmon on Thursday afternoon. The move was required by NBA rules to be made Thursday, with Miami’s roster now up to 14 players on standard contracts.
Dedmon’s contract with the Heat is for the remainder of the season. Dedmon, who will wear No. 21 (Hassan Whiteside’s old number with the Heat), was not available to play Thursday against the Lakers.
With Dedmon (7-0,
245) signing Thursday, his prorated veteran minimum contract comes with a cap hit of about $433,000, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
That leaves Miami about $314,000 below the luxury-tax line, which would allow for the Heat to add a 15th standard contract to its roster starting on April 19 and still remain under the tax threshold.
Dedmon, 31, most recently played in the 201920 season, averaging 5.8 points and 5.7 rebounds in 44 games (18 starts) for the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings. He’ll help add to Miami’s frontcourt depth after the Heat dealt Kelly Olynyk, Chris Silva and injured Meyers Leonard in different trades recently.
“Really excited that a player of Dewayne’s caliber is available at this time of year,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday. “He started 116 games the last three years and that’s not the role that we have for him here. But his defensive ability and ability to defend the rim, play pick-and-roll defense in different coverages, rebound the basketball, provide size in the paint defensively I think really fit for us.
MEYERS LEONARD OUTREACH
The University of Miami Hillel is partnering with the Jewish Community Relations Council to hold a Zoom event Tuesday for students with Meyers Leonard titled “From Heat to
Healing.”
Leonard was suspended by the NBA after a video surfaced in March of him using an anti-Semitic slur while livestreaming the playing of a video game. About a week later, the Heat traded Leonard to the Oklahoma City Thunder to acquire Trevor Ariza.
Leonard never reported to the Thunder and was waived by Oklahoma City on March 25.
INJURY REPORT
Besides Dedmon, the only Heat player ruled out for Thursday’s game against the Lakers is forward KZ Okpala because of the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. It marked the ninth straight game that Okpala has missed while in protocols.
The Lakers remained without their superstar duo of LeBron James (right ankle sprain) and Anthony Davis (right calf strain), and Jared Dudley (MCL tear) on Thursday. Guard Talen Horton-Tucker was also unavailable, as he served a one-game suspension issued by the NBA for leaving the bench area during an on-court altercation in Tuesday’s win over the Toronto Raptors.
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