On this week’s Heat Check: Any concerning Miami Heat signs during this recent stretch? How has Tyler Herro fit in? And more. By Pierre Taylor
Less than two weeks after returning from offseason surgery on his left ankle, Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro is now dealing with a right foot injury.
Herro will miss Friday night’s matchup against the Orlando Magic at Kia Center with what the Heat is listing as “right big toe irritation.” Herro is scheduled to undergo an MRI on his injured toe on Saturday after the team returns to Miami for Saturday night’s home game against the Sacramento Kings.
“Let’s just find out what it is, and then we’ll put together a plan,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about Herro following Friday’s morning shootaround in Orlando. “Right now, he’ll be day-to-day. Obviously, we’ll get a scan tomorrow.”
Herro hurt his toe early in Wednesday’s loss to the Mavericks in Dallas, colliding with Mavericks guard D’Angelo Russell while making a 6-footer and being fouled on an and-one play with 1:06 left in the first quarter. Herro went on to go scoreless in the second half after a 20-point first half.
“I remember the exact play it happened, it was on that and-one,” Spoelstra said. “There was a little bit of a collision there. But we’ll move forward.”
Herro was less sure on how his toe injury happened.
“I know about as much as y’all,” Herro, 25, said Friday. “I’m just day by day right now. Not really too sure what happened. I got a little soreness in my big toe. Obviously, I got kicked in like the first quarter the other night in the back of my calf. And then I woke up and my big toe was hurting.”
Herro already missed training camp, the preseason and the first 17 games of the regular season after undergoing surgery on his left ankle in September. Now, he’s being forced to miss more time because of his toe injury.
“It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is,” Herro said.
Herro has played in just five games since returning from ankle surgery to make his season debut last week, averaging 23.8 points per game while shooting 52.4% from the field and 15 of 31 (48.4%) on threes in his first five games of the season. He has started in all five games.
“I pray for him, man, because I know it’s tough on the mental,” Heat captain and three-time All-Star center Bam Adebayo said. “Obviously, you fight your way throughout the summer. And then you have surgery, and then you come back, and then it’s another injury. So I know it’s tough on the mental. But as you know, we’re all family. We’re all here to be by his side and be with him as he gets healthy again.”
Adebayo knows how debilitating toe injuries can be, as he was sidelined for six games in November because of a left big toe sprain.
“Listen, you don’t realize how gratifying it is to have a functional toe until it’s not functional, and you got to actually walk around, push off,” Adebayo said. “People don’t think we got to push off screens, we got to run, jump. So it plays a big part in our sport.”
Making this injury even more painful is the fact that it could cost Herro some money.
With Herro missing his 18th game of the season on Friday, he won’t reach the league’s 65-game threshold in order to have a chance at meeting the criteria for the more lucrative supermax extension this upcoming offseason. For players to become eligible for postseason awards that trigger the supermax, they must play in at least 65 regular-season games or play in at least 62 regular-season games before sustaining a season-ending injury and have played in at least 85% of the regular-season games played by his team prior to that injury.
Herro can sign an extension this offseason with the Heat this upcoming offseason, as that negotiating window opens July 1, 2026, and closes on June 30, 2027. He’ll be eligible to sign an extension worth as much as $206.9 million through four seasons during that window and would become supermax eligible (five years, $380 million) if he’s selected for an All-NBA team or receives a few other postseason honors this season.
Now that Herro is ineligible to make an All-NBA team or receive most postseason awards because he won’t meet the 65-game threshold, the supermax extension will no longer be an option.
“I was already disappointed [about missing games] to start the season,” Herro said when asked about no longer being eligible for postseason awards. “So this doesn’t really change much.”
POWELL SET TO RETURN
While Herro out for Friday’s contest, Heat starting guard Norman Powell will return to play against the Magic after missing Wednesday’s loss to the Mavericks because of a sprained left ankle.
Along with missing Herro, the Heat will also be without Myron Gardner (G League), Vlad Goldin (G League), Kasparas Jakucionis (G League) and Terry Rozier (not with team) against the Magic in Orlando.
The Magic will get star forward Paolo Banchero back on Friday against the Heat. He missed the last 10 games with a strained left groin.