Miami Heat star Tyler Herro, coming off a career year and looking for a new contract extension, will now miss the beginning of the 2025-2026 season after electing to undergo surgery on his foot.
After averaging 23.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists with a 60.5 True Shooting Percentage and earning his first All-Star selection, Herro was set to become eligible for a three year, $150 million contract extension with the Heat on the first day of October, with a deadline on the 20th.
However, it seems that the two parties might have been headed towards the alternative solution: waiting until summer 2026, when he becomes eligible for an extension of up to four years and $207 million.
“Not the biggest deal, but I would love to be here. The front office, the organization, the city, everyone knows how much I love Miami. I’ve been here since I was 18, 19. I’ve got two kids here. “This is really home for me. I love being here.,” Herro said during his exit interview with media. “Basketball is why I’m here at the end of the day. I want to win, and I know how badly this organization and city want to win. We will see what happens. If it doesn’t get done in October, then we can get it done next summer. It will just be a little bit higher of a price.”
Tyler Herro on possibly getting the extension in October.
“Not the biggest deal, but I mean, I would love to be here. Everybody knows how much I love Miami…if it doesn’t get done in October, I think we can get it done next summer but just be a little higher price…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/hsy1YvTO2E
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) April 30, 2025
“I think he answered that question perfectly last week,” Heat president Pat Riley said. “The numbers are getting big for a lot of guys. Max salaries in this league, who do they go to? If you’re gonna make $70 million a year, who are those five guys, or ten, that deserve that? But definitely Tyler is deserving of the talk of the extension, but are we going to do it? We haven’t committed to it. But we’re going to discuss it and we’re going to talk to him about it. He’s cool.”
Pat Riley says they’ve talked to Tyler Herro about his future and possible contract extension. He says it’s really “it’s pay me now or pay me later.”
Says Tyler deserves discussion but they haven’t committed to it yet. It sounds like Herro is clearly long term piece for Heat.
— Will Manso (@WillManso) May 9, 2025
There has been a lot of polarization among Heat fans regarding Herro and his impact over the last couple of seasons. After a rookie year that saw him contribute to the Heat’s Finals run in the bubble, Herro (like many of his teammates) didn’t perform well in the 2021 first round exit, and missed so much of the Heat’s following long playoff runs in 2022 and 2023.
In 2024, Herro averaged 16.8 points, 5.4 assists and 3.6 rebounds in the Heat’s five-game first round series against the Boston Celtics. This past season, Herro averaged 17.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in the Heat’s historically brutal first round sweep against the Cleveland Cavaliers. In both series, he finished with a substandard 51 True Shooting Pecentage.
Additionally, it’s also been well-documented over his career how often opposing team’s game-plans consist of attacking weaker defenders like Herro over and over. Although Herro had a very healthy season in 2024-2025, his career has been littered with injury issues as well.
Herro will, of course, be back at some point in the first half of the season, but it seems his chances of earning as much as he was eligible for may have taken a dip. It’s become increasingly difficult to speculate on what an agreeable extension outcome would look like for the two parties given the situation with Herro along with where the team itself stands and what they’re looking to prioritize.
The Miami Heat guard, coming off his first All-Star appearance, had surgery Friday morning for a foot/ankle injury that he and the team had hoped would heal enough prior to training camp to avoid the procedure. While an official timetable has not been released, it is known for sure that he will miss camp and also the start of the season, with several weeks likely after that.
The surgery was first reported by our sister outlet, Five Reasons Sports and its Five on the Floor podcast.
NEWS: Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro will miss time as he recovers from a procedure to his foot, multiple sources have told Five Reasons Sports and the Five on the Floor @5OTF_ podcast.
More information to come.
— Five Reasons Sports 🏀🏈⚾️🏒⚽️ (@5ReasonsSports) September 19, 2025
Herro’s injury is unfortunate for many reasons, not the least of which is that he proved to many that he could stay healthy last season, responding to team president Pat Riley’s characterization of him as “fragile” to play a career high 77 games. He averaged 23.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists.
Still, there was much to prove, to earn the contract extension that he seeks. When asked after last season what would happen if the Heat chose not to extend him before this season, Herro smiled and said it would get more expensive.
The Heat do have more depth in the backcourt than the frontcourt, and the presence of newcomer Norman Powell could ease some of the sting. But one of the hopes early this season was to get Herro and Powell blending together, to endure a brutal start to the schedule and also to evaluate what to pay each on their next contracts. Powell’s expires after this season.
Tyler Herro will undergo a procedure on his foot and is expected to miss time, per @5ReasonsSports pic.twitter.com/yjtCWj3bfb
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 19, 2025
This will put more of a burden on captain Bam Adebayo and small forward Andrew Wiggins, while providing opportunities for some young players, notably Pelle Larsson, who had a strong summer; and perhaps even rookie Kasparas Jakucionis, who doesn’t appear ready but may get more looks now.
The Heat also could turn to Terry Rozier for minutes as they still look to trade him, a task that has been made difficult thus far by the FBI investigation into gambling and also his poor play last season. But it’s risky if Rozier gets hurt.
What seems clear is that Davion Mitchell would project to be the first starter in Herro’s place. Mitchell will add a defensive backbone to the backcourt, but even with vastly improved shooting last season, he won’t be nearly the offensive threat.
Herro had improved on and off the ball, and his three-point shooting had improved even with volume. The next step was getting to the line more often, but that will now need to wait.
No matter what, this is not welcome news. The Heat lacked scoring as it was, and now their top scorer will be sidelined for a significant period of time. Erik Spoelstra has some work to do.
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