Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) dribbles as center Bam Adebayo (13) attempts to set a pick on Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) during the second half of Game 3 of the NBA Playoffs at Kaseya Center on Saturday, April 26, 2025, in Miami, Fla. D.A. Varela dvarela@miamiherald.com
The season is almost four weeks old and the Miami Heat is still waiting to be whole. But it appears the Heat will be much closer to whole soon.
The Heat’s leading duo of Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro returned to practice on Sunday after being sidelined by injuries, and they continue to move closer to a return to game action.
Adebayo has missed the last five games because of a left big toe sprain and his status for Monday’s matchup against the New York Knicks at Kaseya Center (7:30 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun) remains up in the air.
“That’s up to the training staff,” Adebayo said following Sunday’s practice in Miami when asked if he expects to make his return on Monday. “Obviously, they’re trying to protect me from myself. But it felt good just to be out there.”
Herro has yet to play this season after undergoing left ankle surgery in September and he’ll continue to miss time, ruling himself out for Monday’s matchup against the Knicks and the following few games as he works his way back into game shape. But Herro was just happy to take part in his first Heat practice on Sunday since last season’s first-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in April.
“It felt great just being out there with my teammates and being on the court with them for the first time all season,” Herro said. “So it felt great to be in the drills. My foot is getting better. I’ve been rehabbing around the clock every day since my surgery, trying to get back as soon as I can. I’m looking at [returning to games in] about a week or two, hopefully, barring no setbacks. So we’ll see what happens.”
“A week or two” would keep Herro out until at least the Heat’s Nov. 24 matchup against the Dallas Mavericks at Kaseya Center. The Heat has four more games left to play before then (Monday vs. Knicks, Wednesday vs. Golden State Warriors, Friday at Chicago Bulls and Sunday at Philadelphia 76ers).
Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) dribbles a ball on the sidelines during the first half of an NBA preseason game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Kaseya Center on October 6, 2025, in Miami. D.A. Varela dvarela@miamiherald.com
With Herro already missing the first 13 games of the season, sitting out the next four contests would extend his absence to 17 games. But this timeline is not far off from the initial timetable offered by the Heat that had Herro missing “around eight weeks,” with this past Friday marking the eight-week mark.
“There was no definitive timeline of when I would be back when I had the surgery,” Herro, 25, said. “Everyone was kind of just putting numbers and weeks out there. It all depends on how I feel and how my foot responds. Some people have taken three months to five months with this same surgery. So it just depends how my foot feels.
“I was hoping it would feel great at six weeks, but at six weeks I was just getting back on the court and starting to move. So ultimately it just depends how my foot feels. And like I said, I’m doing treatment around the clock to be back on the floor as soon as I can.”
The Heat’s offense will receive a boost when Herro returns, as he led the team in scoring (23.9 points per game) and usage rate (27.1 percent) last season. Without Herro, Heat guard Norman Powell leads the Heat in scoring (26.1 points per game) and usage rate (27.3 percent) this season.
But Herro will also return to a new-look Heat offense that entered Sunday averaging the second-most points in the NBA while playing at the fastest pace and using the fewest pick-and-rolls per possession in the league this season. For perspective, the Heat ranked 24th in points per game and 29th in pace last season.
What does Herro feel like he’ll need to adjust in his game to fit this revamped Heat offense when he returns?
“Nothing, nothing” Herro said. “I think I’m going to be myself, play how I played last season, the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that. Yeah, I know how to play fast. I’ve played fast my entire life until I came to Miami. I adjusted to play with other players and I know how to play in this offense. That’s the beauty of me. I can play in any offense. That’s just it, that’s what I can do.”
As for Adebayo, he averaged 19.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and one steal per game while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 16 of 47 (34 percent) from three-point range in eight appearances this season before missing time with his current toe injury.
The Heat has still found a way to score a lot of points behind its new offense while Adebayo has been sidelined, but Miami has also posted the NBA’s 23rd-ranked defensive rating and 28th-ranked defensive rebounding percentage (the percentage of available defensive rebounds a team grabs) over the last five games. Heat second-year center Kel’el Ware has started in Adebayo’s place while he has been out.
“A lot less pain that I had,” Adebayo said Sunday of his toe injury. “A lot less. So I’m working toward getting out there.”
While the Heat will try to snap a two-game skid and also bounce back from Saturday’s loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Miami also enters Monday’s rematch against New York in relatively good shape considering Adebayo and Herro have already missed time this season.
The Heat (7-6) began this season with a 7-4 record before dropping the last two games. Now, Heat coaches and players want to see what this mix looks like with Adebayo and Herro on the court.
“It’ll be good,” Heat forward Nikola Jovic said of eventually getting Adebayo and Herro back. “You add two All-Star. I don’t think I should say much more than that. It’s very easy to play with them. They’re unbelievable players.”
JAKUCIONIS TO G LEAGUE
With rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis out of the rotation, the Heat sent Jakucionis to its G League affiliate (Sioux Falls Skyforce) for some game reps.
Jakucionis, who missed the first seven games with a groin injury and has yet to make his NBA debut, will have plenty of opportunities to play in the G League in the coming days. The Skyforce plays four games in a seven-day span (Sunday at Windy City Bulls, Tuesday vs. Cleveland Charge, Friday at Wisconsin Herd and Saturday at Herd).