Free Agents the Miami Heat could target until Tyler Herro returns

On Friday, Miami Heat fans and observers everywhere were surprised when news came that star guard Tyler Herro will miss about eight weeks after undergoing a procedure to address the posterior impingement on his ankle.

INJURY UPDATE: Tyler Herro underwent successful surgery today to alleviate posterior impingement syndrome in his left ankle. Herro is expected to miss around eight weeks.

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With just ten days remaining until training camp begins, the team is now put in a somewhat uncomfortable position, where they have to ask for more from the likes of Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jovic, Davion Mitchell and offseason acquisition Norman Powell to make up for the loss of Herro.

When you try to project a possible rotation with Herro out, Mitchell seems to be the most likely candidate to start alongside Powell, who averaged 21.8 points last season. The Heat can start Jovic instead of Kel'el Ware if they want to add another playmaker and spacer into the unit, or have him do those things off the bench.

Either way you look at it, even with Herro out, the Heat do still have a bit of a jam in the guard rotation. They invested their first round pick on Kasparas Jakučionis, who was long considered the second best at his position in the class. As a natural pick-and-roll playmaker and someone who showed off some defensive chops during Summer League, Jakučionis makes sense in theory to soak up some backcourt minutes off the bench.

Over the summer, they brought back defensive guard Dru Smith, a longtime favorite of Erik Spoelstra's. With reports that he has been way ahead of schedule on his recovery from a torn achilles, Smith is a likely candidate for backup guard minutes once he's healthy.

Terry Rozier's performance last season, featuring a drastic, almost unexplainable decline, led to him losing his spot in the rotation in the back-half of last season. Second-year player Pelle Larsson, more of a wing, will likely get plenty of minutes at shooting guard.

With just one roster spot available and sitting $1.6 million below the luxury tax threshold, a line the Heat are not willing to cross for this roster, it seems more than unlikely the Heat sign a free agent outright.

However, if they have truly lost faith in Rozier's ability on the floor, as well as his salary-matching value in a potential trade, one option the Heat can consider is to waive him. In that case, they would get $1.7 million further away from the tax line, due to 'unlikely incentives' in Rozier's contract, which would give them enough space ($3.3 million) under the tax to sign a young free agent to a veteran minimum contract.

Alec Burks, the veteran guard who shot 42.5 percent for the Heat last season, has been vocal about returning the Heat. With Herro's shooting removed, he would make sense for the Heat to look at. Unfortunately for them, his minimum contract, along with other veterans like Russell Westbrook and Seth Curry, for next season would put the Heat over the luxury tax line, making them very unlikely solutions.

Jalen Hood Schifino, a 22 year-old point guard, was the 17th pick in the 2023 draft. He averaged 7.8 points, 2.8 assists and two rebounds per game in 13 games for the Philadelphia 76ers last season after playing about 1.5 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers and remains unsigned.

Dalano Banton, a 25 year-old slashing guard with a solid amount of NBA experience and playing time would make some sense for the Heat to consider. The 2021 second round pick averaged 16.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 0.9 steals with the Blazers in 30 games with the Blazers in 2023-2024 before he was traded to the Celtics. Last season, back with the Blazers, he played about half as many minutes per game as he did in his first stint with the team, averaging 8.3 points, 2.4 assists and two rebounds per game.

Both players have been subpar three-point shooters in the NBA, (Hood-Schifino 26.2 percent, Banton 30.4 percent) and have imperfect skillsets. Both have shown off flashes of driving and playmaking talent, and could be sneaky additions to a young core if it works out. Neither one of them would be a shoe-in by any means for rotation minutes but with the Heat's revered development program, there could be some potential to uncover.

Free Agents the Miami Heat could target until Tyler Herro returns

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