NBA Trade Rumors: Tyler Herro Only Offered by Heat for Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant

Amid all the trade rumors surrounding Damian Lillard and the Miami Heat, no one has taken more slander and libel through the process than Tyler Herro.

Reportedly at the Heart of Miami's offer for Lillard, Herro hasn't been viewed as a good enough piece to be involved in the same breath—much less the same trade—as the seven-time All-Star by most NBA circles.

Mostly because the Trail Blazers don't seem too keen on adding him to their young mix, likely requiring a third or fourth team to get the deal done.

And while, it may seem like the Heat view the former Sixth Man of the Year as easily expendable, more context is needed. Herro has only been included in offers for two players during his career, Kevin Durant and Lillard, two of the NBA's greatest ever talents, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel's Ira Winderman.

Always in search of the next big whale around the league, when Kevin Durant asked out of Brooklyn last summer, the Heat included Herro in their trade package. The Nets were ultimately uninterested and opted to keep Durant until they traded him to Phoenix ahead of the deadline.

So, despite what many people think of him, Herro is seen as a much more essential piece of the Heat's core over the past few years, only being a part of talks for the NBA's elite.

Still, the 23-year-old has been hearing and feeling the disrespect. He removed the words "Miami Heat guard" from his Twitter bio a few weeks ago, showing he's tired of taking all the rumors surrounding him while being one of better young talents around the league the last few seasons.

Herro is coming off back-to-back 20-point campaigns, winning Sixth Man of the Year in 2022. Last season he averaged 20.1 points per game to go along with 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists on 43.9 percent shooting from the field and 37.8 from three-point range.

He'd be an excellent second or third scoring option for most teams around the league, including the Heat. But when the opportunity to acquire someone like Lillard comes around, the organization needs to give up the budding star and his large contract to make the deal work.

Herro is about to enter the first year of his four-year, $120 million contract extension that he signed last offseason.

That's why there are several suitors that are interested in acquiring Herro for a first-round pick, giving Miami enough draft capital to get Lillard. Among the potential landing spots are the Brooklyn Nets, Utah Jazz and Toronto Raptors, per HoopsHype's Michael Scotto.