ASK IRA: Is Heat’s Tyler Herro the coal in Joe Cronin’s Blazers’ stocking?
Q: Tyler Herro is now in the rarefied air of being an elite talent who makes everyone he’s playing with better. You’d have to blind not to see the hard work this kid has put in in the gym. His body has transformed since his rookie year. I sure hope Micky Arison sends Joe Cronin a Merry Christmas card with one word, “Thanks!” – Brian, Fort Lauderdale.
A: And that’s the thing about trades and trade rumors, sometimes you wind up singing a different song about maximizing the payoff for the Damian Lillard trade from the Blazers. As the song goes. “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone?” Hmm, Robert Williams, Malcolm Brogdon and a few middling draft picks . . . or Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and the possibility of a better pick pool from the Heat? Oh, and, yeah, Portland also got the indifference in the middle that is Deandre Ayton. Joe Cronin wouldn’t take the Heat’s calls. So the Trail Blazers general manager never truly could give Blazers ownership an accurate picture of what might be available. For the Heat, quite possibly a net grain, although also don’t underestimate what Damian Lillard might have meant for the Heat.
Q: Ira, if the Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Duncan Robinson dynamic can continue, big if, but might a Jimmy Butler/Kyle Lowry maintenance program be the prudent path until the playoffs? Either way the Hawks win was encouraging. – Jim, Columbia, S.C.
A: I think mandatory or scheduled rest is overstated. Players are paid to play. They sit if injured. I don’t think you could or should chart out scheduled rest days, save perhaps for back-to-back sets that involve travel. What the Heat need is everyone on the court and available at the same time to sort through what works best, preferably ahead of the Feb. 8 NBA trading deadline.
Q: Please give your take on Jaime Jaquez Jr. being one of the better inside (post) options on the Heat. I think that is a very underrated aspect of his game and on a team with lots of mid-range and long-ball players, I’d like to see a couple of packages getting Jaime inside using the great footwork of his. While Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro will likely take the shots at the moment of truth, I think Jaime can get some relief baskets when we need to slow down the other team’s run. Your thoughts. – Mike, Pembroke Pines.
A: Which is what has been happening. But instead of waiting for play calls for such post-ups, Jaime Jaquez Jr. has been seizing advantages in transition, taking less-bulky wings into the paint. That, ultimately, probably is the best means for both Jaime and the Heat to establish post play from the rookie.