It sure looks like Trae Young’s trade rumors were perfectly timed to snag Tyler Herro

Tyler Herro was a healthy scratch in the Miami Heat’s game on Sunday, just one day before Trae Young was officially announced as a legitimate trade candidate. 

Coincidence? I think not.

The Heat are in a tricky situation. GM Pat Riley outright refuses to tank, but his team isn’t ready to compete. After Jimmy Butler painfully forced his way out of Miami, the team embraced a radical offensive scheme to revitalize the team by setting almost no ball screens.

This novel strategy worked initially, as the Heat jumped to an unexpected 13-7 record to start this season. After opposing teams had a large sample to gameplan for, however, the magic vanished. Miami is just 7-9 since December 1st – a clear indication that their early-season success was not representative of the team's true quality.

To make matters worse, the Heat are 5-1 over their last six games, during which Herro was sidelined. Perhaps they finally realized they have all the pieces to be a contending team, except for their offensive engine.

A Herro-Young trade would fix both teams

The Hawks’ biggest issue regarding Trae Young is that they just don’t need him anymore. While his impact on the offense is clear, Atlanta unexpectedly found primary creation from Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, and Jalen Johnson this season. When Young was sidelined, the Hawks' offense continued to hum under these three ball handlers.

If the Hawks don’t need him to run the offense, his status as a defensive liability is not worth the offensive punch.

In Miami, however, there is no point guard. Herro ranks in the 14th percentile of combo guards in potential assists, yet he is the de facto leader of the offense. He is a fantastic scorer, but the Heat has other scorers they can lean on. Norm Powell is averaging 24.4 points per game, and three other non-Herro players are averaging over 15 points a night. Like Young, Herro is an impactful player on a team that doesn’t need his specific skill set.

Miami would instantly become a much better offensive team with Young, and his defense isn’t that much worse than Herro’s. Likewise, the Hawks could use a dynamic outside scorer if Kristaps Porzingis cannot be relied upon on a nightly basis.

To be clear, there is no reporting indicating that Atlanta and Miami have entered trade discussions. Still, this does not mean they are not secretly working on a deal – there were no rumblings of a Luka Doncic trade before he was dealt. Could the rumored Wizards deal be a ploy by Onsi Saleh to drive up trade value for Young in the final stages of a potential Herro deal?