Pat Riley discusses Tyler Herro’s Heat exit and trade rumors

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Turning the page on the Tyler Herro era was inevitable for the Miami Heat.

After years of being dangled in trade talks and rumors, Herro was finally shipped out as part of Miami’s Giannis Antetokounmpo package at the start of this summer. Unfortunately, he may have burned bridges on his way out— as breaking news of a physical altercation between Herro and Heat captain Bam Adebayo unfolded just weeks after the trade.

Sources said that the incident occurred at a Las Vegas practice court, where Herro and Adebayo coincidently were there at the same time. Herro attempted to speak to Adebayo for the first time post-trade, but instead the Heat big man hit him without hesitation, sources said. This came after the new Milwaukee Bucks guard spoke negatively on Adebayo’s game and contract value publicly on social media.

In a recent episode of The Dan Le Batard Show, Heat president Pat Riley guest starred and spoke on a variety of topics. He discussed the Antetokounmpo trade, Miami’s current LeBron James pursuit and his thoughts on how the Herro departure and drama with Adebayo unfolded.

Pat Riley did not like hearing about the Herro-Adebayo news.

“I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it for Bam… Social media has consequences and he got offended by it. I don’t think they had time to talk about it.”

“Both of them are very competitive men. I was sorry to see it happened, more sorry to see what happened with Bam. It was over with, that’s it. League’s not going to do anything about it… some day they’ll patch it up.”

– Pat Riley via Dan Le Batard Show

ESPN’s Shams Charania released a follow up report on the incident, noting that the league has decided to move forward from the altercation and will not be taking any further action. “After discussing with the players involved and the NBPA, everyone would prefer to move on from this unfortunate circumstance, and no further action will be taken by the league,” Charania tweeted the words from an NBA spokesperson.

Pat Riley shared that being in trade rumors bothered Tyler Herro over the years.

Despite ultimately being part of the Giannis haul, Herro was in trade rumors for practically every single star linked to Miami since he was drafted. That list includes James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Durant (twice), Damian Lillard, just to name a few.

Riley iterated that being never-ending involved on the trade block did affect Herro, and detailed the tougher business side of the NBA in that regard.

“The ultimate contradiction in leadership and sports is while you’re preaching loyalty and trust, in the same sentence you will tell them ‘I will have to trade you one day.’ If your name pops up in a trade, and it’s just a rumor— because everything is a rumor today. It’s from social media… I tell them it’s going to happen. Don’t get upset. It affected Tyler for many years. Every single trade had him in it.”

– Pat Riley via Dan Le Batard Show

The unfortunate circumstances with Herro constantly being in those rumors stemmed from his salary situation and availability. Pulling off any trade for a star needs to align financially, and it was often Herro’s contract that was needed to match. His constant injuries and availability concerns made him an easy choice to sell off. Out of the seven seasons Herro played in Miami, he was healthy in just one of them.

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