Tyler Herro’s Season in Jeopardy: What Does His Foot Surgery Mean for Miami Heat’s Championship Hopes?

The Miami Heat are gearing up for a brutal opening slate—imagine this: 11 of their first 15 contests against last season’s playoff contenders, and a whopping six out of the initial eight games away from the comfort of home. That’s a tall order for any team, but the Heat face an added complication this year. Their All-Star guard, Tyler Herro, fresh off what was arguably his finest NBA campaign, won’t be hitting the floor as the season kicks off. Surgery on a nagging foot injury has sidelined him indefinitely, shaking up Miami’s game plan just as the intensity cranks up. Herro’s absence leaves a gaping void, especially since he carried much of the Heat’s offensive weight with nearly 24 points per game and stellar shooting efficiency. Who steps up now? Norman Powell, a recent acquisition with a knack for scoring beyond the arc, will likely shoulder the load, while Terry Rozier — a player the franchise tried hard to move on from this summer — unexpectedly finds himself in a pivotal role despite inconsistent shooting last year. It’s a gritty start—no doubt about it—with a roster forced to adapt and overcome from the get-go. LEARN MORE

The Miami Heat open the season with a tough stretch of the schedule: 11 of their first 15 games are against playoff teams from a season ago, and six of the team’s first eight are on the road.

Miami will have to navigate that stretch without its All-Star guard, Tyler Herro, who will miss the start of the season as he recovers from foot surgery, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN. While there is no timetable yet for his recovery, he will miss the start of the season, according to multiple reports.

This is not a new injury (the details of which are not public) but an ankle injury during offseason workouts added to it. Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald detailed what led to Herro’s decision.

Herro, 25, first felt discomfort in his left ankle during a workout earlier this offseason, according to a league source. Herro received platelet-rich plasma and cortisone injections in recent weeks in hopes of avoiding surgery, but the discomfort never subsided and surgery was deemed necessary to avoid more issues down the road.

Herro is coming off his best NBA season and his first as an All-Star, averaging 23.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, with a 60.5 true shooting percentage fueled by him shooting 37.5% from beyond the arc. He was the heart of the Heat attack.

That role likely now falls to Norman Powell, who the Heat acquired this summer. Last season with the Clippers, Powell had a career year (but was not an All-Star in the deep West). Last season, Powell averaged 21.8 points a game while shooting 41.8% from 3-point range.

Miami spent the summer trying to find a trade away Terry Rozier, who is owed $26.6 million — $24.9 million of that is guaranteed — but could find no takers, and buyout talks went nowhere. Now, that may turn out to be fortunate, if more expensive than the Heat hoped, because the veteran moves into a key rotation role until Herro returns. Rozier averaged 10.6 points a game last season but struggled with his shot, hitting 29.5% from 3 and with a true shooting percentage of just 49.7 (for comparison, the league average was closer to 57).