Miami Heat: Tyler Herro deserves an extension; pay him now or later?

Tyler Herro has developed into a really good player for the Miami Heat. He deserves a contract extension; should the Heat pay him now or later?

The Miami Heat seems to be waiting for a big fish, but they do have some in-house work to do when it comes to one of their own rising stars. Tyler Herro is entering the final year of his rookie contract with the Heat and is eligible for an extension.

He wants one and coming off the season he just had – in which he averaged 21 points, five rebounds, and four assists per game en route to winning the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award – he likely will be in line for a healthy-sized extension.

In fact, I would say that it would be surprising if he didn’t seek – and ultimately get – a max extension.

Nevertheless, the big question is whether the Heat should pony up the money now or if they should wait until next summer when he hits restricted free agency.

Both options make sense for the Heat to a certain extent.

On one hand, holding off on paying Herro would help the Heat on the trade front. Even though Herro is a valued trade piece, having him still on a rookie deal would make it easier for Miami to fit him in a big deal.

Additionally, at this point, there’s not much Herro can do to raise his contract value. He’s likely already going to receive the max extension and even if he has an even better year this season, that can’t raise any higher.

At the same rate, the Heat could lose some good faith if they hold off on extending Herro now. They risk ruining a relationship between Herro and the Heat and it could make for some difficult conversations over the next few months – not to mention the awkwardness of what we saw this summer between Deandre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns.

The Heat may want to see if Herro could replicate some of the same success he showed last season (in a starting role?), and perhaps may even want to see him do it in the playoffs. Holding off on an extension now would help the Heat achieve that. Though, that would be a tough sell to Herro’s camp.

There’s no question that Herro has done enough to deserve a contract extension. Whether he deserves max money or not is an entirely different conversation. But he has done enough to warrant a pay raise.

Question is, should the Heat pay him now or later? We should find out the answer to that question sooner rather than later.