Inside The Heat

Tyler Herro teases his now rich teammate

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There were three Miami Heat players who entered this season with the possibility of a contract extension from the franchise.

One down, two to go?

Nikola Jovic has agreed upon a four year, $62.4 million deal that could conceivably keep him with the Heat through his 26th birthday. The deal was not entirely unexpected, after the way Erik Spoelstra has praised Jovic's development and professionalism this offseason... though the number was maybe a tad higher than some thought. It's a bet on Jovic's potential, as a playmaker who is now nearly 7-foot-tall, and can shoot from behind the arc.

That leaves Norman Powell (entering the last year of his deal) and Tyler Herro. Herro is out for at least the first month of the season, and maybe a bit longer, after ankle surgery.

So Herro won't be able to make his case in the scoring column for a bit. But that doesn't mean he can't eat.

Especially if someone else picks up the check.

This comes just days after Herro said that Jovic would be the one to benefit most of the court in his own absence, getting a more prominent role. So maybe Herro has a point, though we tend to think this deal was well in the works prior.

Even so, Jovic will still make about half what Herro makes per season, after Jovic's raise kicks in next season -- and before Herro gets any extension of his own. Thus, if Jovic doesn't splurge, it's understandable. His friend remains more than capable of paying for himself.

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Ethan J. Skolnick
ETHAN J. SKOLNICK

Ethan has covered all major sports -- in South Florida and beyond -- since 1996 and is one of the longest-tenured fully credentialed members of the Miami Heat. He has covered, in total, more than 30 NBA Finals, Super Bowls, World Series and Stanley Cup Finals. After working full-time for the Miami Herald, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Bleacher Report and several other outlets, he founded the Five Reasons Sports Network in 2019 and began hosting the Five on the Floor podcast as part of that network. The podcast is regularly among the most downloaded one-team focused NBA podcasts in the nation, and the network is the largest independent sports outlet in South Florida, by views, listens and social media reach. He has a B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University and an M.S. from Columbia University. TWITTER: @EthanJSkolnick and @5ReasonsSports EMAIL: fllscribe@gmail.com

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