Insider Makes Compelling Pitch for Blazers to Add Heat’s Tyler Herro in Damian Lillard Trade

Miami remains the primary destination for a potential Lillard trade.

As the NBA season approaches, point guard Damian Lillard remains with the Trail Blazers despite requesting a trade in the offseason. While the Heat are still Lillard’s primary choice, the two teams have not come close to agreeing to deal.

If a trade does get done between the Portland and Miami, it is likely that Heat guard Tyler Herro will be a core piece heading to the Blazers. However, the two sides may differ in opinion over how valuable Herro is on the court.

For Marc J. Spears, Herro is being undervalued in the public. The ESPN insider explained his position on The Oregonian‘s Sports by Northwest podcast:

“When he’s on the floor—There’s some shooters that are on the floor that put fear in your heart, and he’s one of them, and those are hard players to find,” Spears said. “There’s a lot of guys shooting threes, there’s not a lot of guys you fear shooting threes. This Tyler Herro hate from the beginning has been really confusing to me.”

“When [Tyler Herro’s] on the floor—There’s some shooters that are
on the floor that put fear in your heart. And [Tyler Herro’s] one of them. Those are hard players to find. This Tyler Herro hate from the beginning has been really confusing to me.” - @MarcJSpears via @Oregonian pic.twitter.com/C4EQIrVgzG

— Dru (@dru_star) August 31, 2023

Last season, Herro averaged 20.1 points per game, the second straight year where he surpassed 20 points a game. Over his four-year career, Herro has produced a 38.3 three-point percentage, and last year he led the league with a 93.4 free-throw percentage.

Heat guard Tyler Herro is at the center of traded discussions for Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard :: Dale Zanine/USA Today network

After a stretch of eight-straight playoff appearances, Portland missed the postseason in each of the last two seasons and won just 50 total games in that span. Spears believes that means the Blazers have to just be worried about adding talent regardless of position,

“If you could get Herro and [Jaime] Jaquez, and somebody was like ‘Well they got [Anfernee] Simons,’ so what? Add pieces,” Spears said. “You can make other moves later, but I’m trying to get more depth. Are you convinced that everybody on that roster is better than Tyler Herro? He’s pretty good.”