Heat guard Tyler Herro has ankle surgery, expected to be sidelined eight weeks

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Sep 19, 2025

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Just when it appeared the Miami Heat were set with their roster for the Sept. 30 start of training camp, the team confirmed Friday that ankle surgery will have guard Tyler Herro out for the start of the season and beyond.

Coming off an All-Star season and positioned for a contract extension next month, Herro is the catalyst for an offense that otherwise has struggled in recent seasons.

Following Friday’s surgery, the Heat announced an expectation of Herro being sidelined eight weeks. Such a timetable would have him out for all of training camp, all of the preseason and the first four-plus weeks of the season, about 14 games.

In the wake of the surgery, the Heat issued a release Friday that said, “Tyler Herro underwent successful surgery today to alleviate posterior impingement syndrome in his left ankle. The 90-minute procedure was performed by Dr. Thomas San Giovanni and assisted by Heat team physicians Dr. Harlan Selesnick and Dr. Frantz Lerebours at Doctors Hospital Surgery Center in Miami. Herro is expected to miss around eight weeks.”

According to an NBA source familiar with the situation, Herro has been dealing with an impingement for weeks, but hoped treatment on his ankle would help avoid surgery. When those injections failed, the decision was made to move forward with Friday’s procedure.

Like many teammates, Herro had been working during informal sessions at Kaseya Center in advance of the start of training camp, with the foot/ankle ailment having lingered to what proved to be a point of no return.

The immediate options for the Heat will be additional reliance on newcomer Norman Powell as the team’s starting shooting guard, with a likely expanded role for Davion Mitchell, who re-signed in free agency in the offseason.

Other options for increased roles in the absence of Herro are second-year Pelle Larsson and third-year Jaime Jaquez Jr. Veteran returning guard Dru Smith also could factor into that equation, although he continues to work back from the Achilles tear suffered in December.

There also is the question of whether Terry Rozier could now find a renewed opportunity, after last season’s struggles and then Heat attempts to unload the final year of his contract during the offseason. Rozier has been participating in the team’s informal workouts at Kaseya Center.

In addition, the absence of Herro could have the Heat leaning into rookie Kasparas Jakucionis, the No. 20 pick in June’s first round out of Illinois. The initial expectation had been of a developmental season for Jakucionis, with time with the team’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

The absence of Herro at the start of the season could potentially alter the thinking of coach Erik Spoelstra when it comes to lineup combinations. With Herro out of the mix, it is possible Nikola Jovic is given greater consideration as a starter, to inject the shooting and playmaking lost with the absence of Herro.

Based on the Heat’s position against the punitive luxury tax, they currently are not in position to sign a 15th player to a standard contract, the NBA regular-season limit. The Heat currently have 21 players under contract, the NBA offseason maximum.

The Heat currently have one opening on their roster for a player under a two-way contract, potentially leading them to reconsider more of a veteran presence in such a role. Josh Christopher, who was featured in just such a role last season, no longer is eligible for a two-way deal due to his NBA tenure.

Herro last season averaged a career-best 23.9 points, as well as a career-best 5.5 assists, shooting a career-best .472. In all, he played a career-high 77 games, the first time in his six seasons playing 70 or more.

Herro’s extension window runs from Oct. 1-Oct. 20, eligible for an extension of up to $150 million over three seasons. Regardless, he still has two years left on his current deal, for the coming season as well as 2026-27, those salaries already locked into place.

The Heat are scheduled to hold their annual media day Sept. 29 at Kaseya Center, followed by four days of training camp at Florida Atlantic University, before their Oct. 4 preseason opener against the Orlando Magic in Puerto Rico. The Heat open the franchise’s 38th season on Oct. 22 in Orlando.