Tyler Herro will have to prove the critics wrong all over again
The Miami Heat have ranked among the bigger surprises at the start of the 2025-26 NBA season while managing to make strides without injured All-Star guard Tyler Herro. With his debut
Because it'll fall on his shoulders to find his fit with what this team is already doing, not the other way around. The Heat have
It's up to Herro to raise the Heat's ceiling.
While it's clear the Heat have exceeded expectations to this point, they haven't exactly changed their fortune or dramatically improved their standing in the hoops world.
They've done well to top out as pretty good, given the challenges they've faced—not having Herro for any games just yet and being without Bam Adebayo for basically half of them. But no NBA team wants to get stuck in the middle class, and that's exactly where the metrics put Miami:
This looks like a club that could be a handful for a higher seed in the opening round of the playoffs. Erik Spoelstra is a coaching genius, this offense
The organization's ambitions go far beyond that, though. Which is probably why the franchise is forever connected to seemingly any and every possible superstar pursuit. Because the brightest stars in basketball are almost always the biggest winners. And conventional wisdom holds that the Heat don't have that type of talent on their roster.
That's why a realistic look at Herro's return paints him as more of a helpful piece than a transformational one. He had his best season as a pro (by far) in 2024-25, and even then, he couldn't make Miami more than first-round fodder. And that was without having to bounce back from ankle surgery and adapt to an entirely new offensive scheme as he'll be doing now.
Is it asking too much for Herro to single-handedly change the Heat's fate? Probably—but that's also kind of a moot point. Because unless Miami embarks on an in-season whale hunt
So, does he have more to his game? Can he be the kind of player who paves the Heat's path from pretty-goodness to full-fledged greatness? There aren't a lot of reasons to think that he will, but Miami's entire season hinges on his ability to quiet the doubters once again.
Bulls guard likely to attract trade offers
The Chicago Bulls continue to win in unconventional fashion. Against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, their bench completely dominated, outscoring Denver’s second unit 66–9.
The Bulls achieved this despite losing key players who usually drive their bench production. Coby White missed the second game of a back-to-back while continuing his recovery from an offseason calf strain. Normally a starter, White came off the bench in Chicago’s prior loss to the Utah Jazz and still poured in 27 points and dished out eight assists in his season debut.
Tre Jones missed the Bulls’ matchup against Utah as well. With White out, Jones stepped into the starting lineup for every game this season, a role he likely would not have held if White had been healthy. He has
Tre Jones with the Bulls
Jones, who inked a three-year, $24 million deal this offseason, will be eligible for a trade starting December 15. With his strong production while earning only $8 million annually, he is likely to attract attention from several teams looking for a reliable point guard.
Consider the Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and Minnesota Timberwolves. At least three of these squads could be viewed as contenders, each with uncertainty at the point guard spot.
The Bucks need more point guard depth for their lineup. The Hawks rely heavily on Trae Young but do not have a solid backup true point guard. Meanwhile, the Mavericks, Rockets, and Timberwolves have all experimented with lineups lacking a traditional point guard this season.
Trading Jones probably isn’t a top priority for the Bulls, but it will almost certainly be discussed. His salary and production give no reason to move him. However, if Chicago can acquire a player who better fits their needs, such as a perimeter stopper or interior defender, Jones could be the player they are willing to trade.
The Bulls appear to value Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White more highly than Jones. Jones has been a steady contributor, but he lacks Dosunmu’s scoring ability and defensive range, and he falls short of White’s offensive output. Because of this, Jones could be the player the Bulls consider moving to streamline their deep guard rotation.
