The ‘unfortunate’ Tyler Herro-Norman Powell situation that hurt the Heat

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The ‘unfortunate’ Tyler Herro-Norman Powell situation that hurt the Heat

Zachary Weinberger, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Fri, Apr 17, 2026 ·

5 min read

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The 'unfortunate' Tyler Herro-Norman Powell situation that hurt the Heat appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

MIAMI – With potential big changes coming to the Miami Heat this offseason after being eliminated from the play-in tournament at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday, there were many disappointing aspects to the team's 2025-26 season. One area was the Heat's guard duo of Norman Powell and Tyler Herro , one that head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke honestly about on Thursday.

Spoelstra would reflect on the pairing, which is one that arguably left a lot on the table, especially since each missed a chunk of time, especially Tyler Herro , who was absent for 48 total games. Powell would shine in the first half of the season, earning a first-time All-Star nod in Herro's absence, but the second half saw a myriad of injuries, mostly in the groin area, to go along with an upper respiratory illness that set back the veteran.

The two would only play 21 games together, which was a limited time for the two to work off each other, as both are offensive shot-creators and overlapped when on the floor together, recording a -1.8 when both played in the same lineup. There would be times late in the season where Herro started, and Powell came off the bench, as Spoelstra admitted that it was a "challenge," though more time could've made the duo "dynamic."

"It ended up becoming a challenge at the very end. I think we would have been able to do it. I think they would have been dynamic, just unfortunate," Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints at Thursday's exit interviews. "There's things that you can't control or predict. When one was dealing with an injury, the other one was in the mix and playing well, and then it would just flip-flop…but we would have been able to make that work."

Heat's Erik Spoelstra with more on Tyler Herro, Norman Powell challenge

Spoelstra would admit that the duo getting more time and figuring out how the two could've played together "would have helped" the team down the line, though the head coach wants to avoid making excuses. However, it's easy to see how the offense could benefit from two talented offensive scorers, as each averaged more than 20 points per game.

As mentioned, Powell would have an overall up-and-down season in his first year in Miami, though the first half included getting his first All-Star nod, which came when Herro was mostly out. There's no denying how jarring it might have been for Powell to have a sudden change of role late in the season, being an All-Star as a starter for the Heat, but then transitioning to the bench.

"But if you miss that many games, Tyler missed, that's a big hit, and our offense was able to put up some points, but Tyler is a unique offensive talent, that definitely would have helped," Spoelstra said. "You take your leading score off of your team for 40 games, that'll have an impact on any team fighting in the East, and then Norm played so well before the All-Star break, he was playing great basketball. That's why that was earned for him to be an All-Star this year. And then he started to go through his injuries and sickness after that, where he was never able to fully get in rhythm, even though the last two games, he looked a lot more like himself."

Heat's Norman Powell on the pairing with Tyler Herro

The sentiment also goes to Powell, who finished averaging a team-high 21.7 points per game, but the chemistry was off between him and Herro, due to the small sample size of time played together.

"I don't think we got a full chance to be able to figure that out," Powell said. "I think obviously Tyler's injury going into training camp makes it tough, especially implementing a new offense and being able to go through those six preseason games and fill it out and see how each other likes to play, and different spots and things like that and leading into the season, trying to figure it out on fly is always tough, trying to build that chemistry. You see that across the league with teams when they bring in new guys and are trying to make it all work and fit, you need a full training camp. You need a certain amount of games to go through it and figure out how to execute."

At any rate, it remains to be seen if both are retained on the roster as each is up for contract extensions, though if both are back, their pairing will once again be a storyline going into next season.

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