The Los Angeles Lakers were having real conversations about bringing Tyler Herro to L.A. before the Miami Heat flipped him to Milwaukee in the Giannis Antetokounmpo blockbuster, according to league sources.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported that the Lakers and Heat held trade discussions centered on Herro and rookie center Kel’el Ware, with multiple first-round picks reportedly involved in the proposed package. Those talks happened before L.A. locked up Austin Reaves on a four-year, $185 million max deal and before Miami pulled the trigger on the Antetokounmpo trade that reshuffled the Eastern Conference.
It’s worth noting the Lakers never got far enough to close anything, but the fact they were kicking tires on Herro says something about how they viewed their backcourt depth behind Reaves and LeBron James. Miami, for its part, was clearly open to listening — they just found a bigger fish eventually.
Brooklyn also checked in on Herro’s availability
The Nets weren’t sitting this one out either. Brooklyn did its own due diligence on Herro’s price tag around the same time, per Scotto. That makes sense for a team still figuring out its direction after the Mikal Bridges trade and the Kevin Durant fallout. Herro on an expiring $33 million deal is the kind of asset a rebuilding team could flip or hold, depending on how the season shakes out.
ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel had previously reported that Kawhi Leonard was a backup option for Miami if the Antetokounmpo deal fell through. So the Heat clearly had multiple irons in the fire. But once Milwaukee put Giannis on the table, the Herro-to-Lakers possibility died fast.
Herro now heads home to Wisconsin, but for how long?
The Antetokounmpo trade sent Herro, Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, and a pile of draft capital to Milwaukee in exchange for Giannis and Bobby Portis. Herro is a Milwaukee native, so there’s a homecoming angle there. But the Bucks also just blew up their core. Antetokounmpo is gone. The roster around Herro and what’s left is uncertain.
Scotto noted that multiple executives around the league expect Herro to keep drawing trade interest. The question is whether Milwaukee trends toward a full rebuild or tries to stay competitive with the return package. That’s not decided yet. But Herro’s name is going to stay in rumors, especially with his contract expiring after this season.
For now, the Lakers moved on with Reaves. The Heat got their superstar. And Herro’s future is about as clear as it was before the trade — which is to say, not very.
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