Miami Heat legend Udonis Haslem made a few appearances on various shows on the ESPN network Thursday and gave his thoughts on the current state of the team after they were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. One of the many interesting talking points that was brought up was the role of Heat star Tyler Herro and where he fits on the team.
On the show “NBA Today,” he was asked by former player and current basketball analyst Kendrick Perkins if Haslem sees players like Herro and teammate Bam Adebayo taking that big leap next season. He would confidently say that Adebayo would as well as Hero, but as a “sixth man.”
“Moving into the future, in today’s NBA, you can still be sixth man, you can still get all your money, still get All Star in today’s NBA, you can still do all that in today’s NBA,” Haslem said. “Tyler’s role for us, and the best role for him, is to probably be a sixth man.”
Haslem says that sixth man role should take nothing away from Herro
Herro has actually won Sixth Man of the Year back in 2022 where in that season, he averaged 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and four assists per game. However, he has been a mainstay in the starting lineup the past few seasons since he has developed as a basketball player.
On the other hand, the conversations of Herro being the sixth man again came back up this season among fans as ways to unlock the University of Kentucky's best. For Haslem, he said that for the Heat's best “chemistry,” it involves Duncan Robinson in the starting lineup and Herro on the bench.
“That’s taking nothing away from what Tyler does as a basketball player. But for our chemistry, we are better when we got Duncan Robinson in the starting lineup, making plays, being that trigger for us and spraying and creating for other guys,” Haslem said. “Tyler can come off in that second group, doesn’t have to worry about getting other guys involved. He can just play basketball, score and be who he is.”
Hearing this from Haslem speaks volumes as not only is his voice well respected in the franchise, he also has been a teammate to Herro for a long time, and has a front office role with Miami. While those talks are present, there was no room for him to be on the bench as of recent, as he was needed in the starting lineup this postseason.
Adebayo and Herro talk about how Celtics held down the Heat guard
With the injuries to Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier, Herro was called upon alongside Adebayo to be the main engines for the team. While Adebayo had a solid series, it was a frustrating one for Herro as besides an exceptional Game 2, the Celtics held him down for the most part as the big-man talks about what their rivals did to him.
“They definitely got him out of his rhythm,” Adebayo said. “Sending him different coverages, pressing him full court. They just took him out of his rhythm.”
This past season, Herro has averaged 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game while shooting 44.1 percent from the field. Herro himself spoke after the game and talked about how he looks upon the series and what it will unlock to make him a better player.
“I obviously haven’t looked back on the whole series, it just ended, but feel like I’m going to be able to take away a lot from how they guarded me throughout the whole series,” Herro said. “The face guards, double teams, switches, really crowding the paint when I did get in the paint and then really making it tough on me at all times, not allowing me to kind of see one go through to catch a rhythm. But, at the end of the day, it’ll make me better. So I’m excited to get in the work this offseason.”
Haslem on the Heat's dire needs
After being eliminated in the playoffs, a year prior to making the NBA Finals as an eighth seed, Haslem was asked where the Heat need help for next season. He would say another scorer, while mentioning if Rozier was healthy that he fills in that role, and a veteran big-man so that Adebayo can move to the power forward spot.
“Definitely need another scorer. If [Terry Rozier] was healthy, we could see him filling that role. With [Rozier] not being healthy, we don’t really know. If ‘he’s healthy, then he fills that role. Without T-Ro, we didn’t really have that.”
“I think we need another scorer and maybe another veteran guy, a big, a big fellow who can go down there and help Bam,” Haslem continued. “I think Bam can play four [power forward] and move around a little bit. If we get a center, maybe in the draft or through free agency, then we can move Bam to the 4. He can guard all five positions but he would have even more of a matchup at the 4 position where we can post him up and do different things with him. Go for a center and possibly another scoring guard.”
Haslem on what needs to happen this off-season for Miami
He was also asked about Butler and if he can continue to be the No. 1 option on the Heat like he has been for the past five seasons. Haslem would respond first with a question insinuating that it's much more complex than him being the No. 1.
“Who says he has to continue to be the No. 1 option?” Haslem said. “As guys get a little bit older, they move to the side and they let the young guys take over. Jimmy is still a great player. Jimmy can still take over the game.
The Heat had a frustrating season filled with a bunch of injuries, especially at the worst time being in the postseason. Haslem said before anything else, Miami has to “get healthy” and also talked about the motivation of Pat Riley amidst a disappointing finish.
“To the hospital first to get healthy,” Haslem said. “We’ve got to get in the lab. If I know anything about Riles [Pat Riley], his job is to put the team in the best position to win a championship. We all understand we don’t have that right now.”
“He damn sure ain’t going nowhere after that loss last night,” Haslem continued. “I’ll tell you that. If I know him, he was up until 4 or 5 a.m. trying to figure out how this goes. This man literally told me when I got in there, ‘hey, there’s two things, there’s winning and there’s misery. There’s no in between.’ He’s miserable right now; he’s trying to figure out a way to win…Right now we’re all miserable. We can’t live like this. So we’re going to figure it out.”
Miami finished with a 46-36 record and have an interesting off-season upcoming to say the least.
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