Herro plans to have boot removed soon

CHICAGO — Miami Heat rookie Tyler Herro was in good spirits despite not being able to play in Friday’s Rising Stars game due to injury.

One reason is because he’ll be able to support his five Heat teammates, who will be competing in various All-Star Weekend events up close.

But Herro also received good news earlier this week about the injury that kept him off the floor for the team’s five-game road trip leading into the All-Star break.

“I think I get my boot off next week, hopefully by Wednesday,” Herro said on Friday during the Rising Stars media availability in Wintrust Arena. “Whenever I’m feeling right I’ll be able to come back out and play.”

Herro clarified that he has a right foot

injury, not right ankle soreness as the team had previously listed, and said that he doesn’t have any more pain at this point.

While he didn’t provide a specific timetable of when he expects to return to the floor, it was a sign of progress in the healing an injury that was at first thought to be more serious.

“At first, they said it was going to be worse,” Herro said. “They thought I was going to be out for almost until the playoffs. So, it was good to hear that I can get my boot off this upcoming week and just take it day by day and see how I feel once I get out of it. I’m trying to do my best to get out there as fast as possible.”

Herro missed the Heat’s past five games after his early exit from a Feb. 3 game against the Philadelphia 76ers. The rookie out of Kentucky said he played on the foot injury for nearly two weeks before it got worse during the Heat’s game against the Orlando Magic on Feb. 1.

Cleveland Cavaliers second-year guard Collin Sexton replaced Herro on the U.S.

Team in the Rising Stars exhibition game of first- and second-year players.

Herro also gave his thoughts on the veterans the team acquired before the trade deadline earlier in the month.

“[Heat President Pat] Riley picked those two [Andre Iguodala and Jae Crowder] and Solomon [Hill] for a reason,” Herro said. “Obviously, the rotation will look different with [Iguodala and Crowder] able to make such an impact off the bench. With Jae, how he has been playing on the road trip, I don’t remember him missing a three. He definitely is going to help us a lot. Then having Dre as a vet off the bench will definitely help us.”

Herro said he hates that he couldn’t play Friday, but that didn’t stop him from supporting fellow Heat rookie Kendrick Nunn. He planned to sit on the bench for Friday’s game and go to Milwaukee on Saturday so he could see his family before rejoining the Heat next week.

“This is something I really wanted to play in,” Herro said. “Growing up, I didn’t really play in a lot of All-Star Games. I wasn’t always the highest-ranked recruit or anything like that. So to make this one was special to me.”