Herro: Fresh face can be a lift
The candor flowed as freely from Tyler Herro in the wake of the NBA trading deadline as his 19 shots did in Thursday night’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Yes, the second-year Miami Heat guard said, a roster shakeup just might be what his team needed to emerge from a midseason malaise.
“It helped last year, that’s for sure, with the move we made,” Herro said as the Heat turned their attention to Friday night’s game against the Charlotte Hornets, at the start of a three-game trip. “It’ll be good to get some new guys in here and change up the feel, the atmosphere a little bit.”
Last season, in the wake of sending out Justise Winslow, James Johnson and Dion Waiters at the 2020 trade deadline for Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill, the Heat advanced to the NBA Finals.
This time, the reshuffle had Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley, Chris Silva and Moe Harkless going out in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Nemanja Bjelica.
And yes, Herro said, the angst in the locker room was tangible.
“Just been a lot going on in general,” he said. “Not even really just trades. My agent told me I was good either way, so I wasn’t really worried about a trade. There’s a lot going on either way, with injuries, being in and out of the rotation.
“But I’m just continuing to stick with the grind. It’s a long season and I feel like big games are played in the playoffs, so just going to continue to stay with it and stick to the grind.”
That grind now comes with one fewer concern, with the passing of the deadline.
“It’s the nature of the business,” guard Duncan Robinson said. “We’re very privileged to be professional basketball players and it comes with the territory. You know, interesting day. Really my first experience really counting the clock down to the deadline. But I was just thinking about it. There are more than a handful of players that go through it every single year.
“This time around, obviously it happened to me and a few others. But regardless of what happens, I’m happy to be here in Miami. I want to keep helping this team try to win.”
Heat President Pat Riley said he could appreciate the relief among those who remain, as well as from coach Erik Spoelstra and his staff.
“I get neurotic during this time, Spo does, the players all get neurotic,” Riley said. “I mean, you can’t blame ’em. Really, back in the day, prior to social media, when everything is so instantaneous, and present moment, like ‘right now,’ I mean you could talk till you’re blue in the face about trades and nothing would ever get out. And so the players would just keep playing, even though they knew there was a date.
“But what happens today is really over the top, and the hypo-theticalizing, if that’s a word. But when there’s that much conjecture out there about what might happen, and the creation of trades by people and names pop up left and right, yeah, it has an impact. It really has an impact, I think, on the psyche of players. Not as much veterans, but young guys, it could.”
Now, Riley said, the reset is set. “And the players can now move on,” he said. “They know they’re here. They’re not going anywhere. And let’s just put our team together and try to get in synch so you can do something special, if that’s possible.”