Heat’s Haslem, wearing TV hat, offers idea for Herro and says what needs team must fill

Apparently, the view that the Heat might be better off with Tyler Herro coming off the bench isn’t only an opinion espoused by some of the team’s fans.

Udonis Haslem, the team’s vice president of basketball development, expressed a similar viewpoint during an ESPN appearance on Thursday.

Haslem, who moonlights as a broadcaster, spoke candidly on two ESPN programs on Thursday.

In the morning, he cited the need for the Heat to add more scoring and size during an appearance on Stephen A. Smith’s “First Take” on ESPN.

And during a cameo later Thursday on ESPN’s “NBA Today,” he said something that nobody from the organization has said publicly in the past two years: It’s better for the team if Herro comes off a bench.

Asked by Kendrick Perkins about Herro, Haslem said: “Tyler will continue to get better every day. For Tyler, his role, he’s great as a sixth man. When he won Sixth Man of the Year [after the 2021-22 season], that’s a great role for Tyler.

“Moving into the future, in today’s NBA, you can still be sixth man, you can still get all your money, still get All Star in today’s NBA, you can still do all that in today’s NBA. Tyler’s role for us, and the best role for him, is to probably be a sixth man.

“That’s taking nothing away from what Tyler does as a basketball player. But for our chemistry, we are better when we got Duncan Robinson in the starting lineup, making plays, being that trigger for us and spraying and creating for other guys.

“Tyler can come off in that second group, doesn’t have to worry about getting other guys involved. He can just play basketball, score and be who he is.”

Asked by Smith where specifically the Heat needs help, Haslem said: “Definitely need another scorer. If [Terry Rozier] was healthy, we could see him filling that role. With [Rozier] not being healthy, we don’t really know. If ‘he’s healthy, then he fills that role. Without T-Ro, we didn’t really have that.”

Haslem, whose No. 40 jersey was retired by the team during a ceremony in January, also said “I think we need another scorer and maybe another veteran guy, a big, a big fellow who can go down there and help Bam. I think Bam can play four [power forward] and move around a little bit. If we get a center, maybe in the draft or through free agency, then we can move Bam to the 4.

“He can guard all five positions but he would have even more of a matchup at the 4 position where we can post him up and do different things with him. Go for a center and possibly another scoring guard.”

During the NBA Today appearance, Haslem was asked by Perkins if Butler can continue to be a No. 1 option.

“Who says he has to continue to be the No. 1 option?” Haslem said. “As guys get a little bit older, they move to the side and they let the young guys take over. Jimmy is still a great player. Jimmy can still take over the game. Asked where the team goes from here, Haslem said: “To the hospital first to get healthy.”

But in all seriousness, “we’ve got to get in the lab. If I know anything about Riles [Pat Riley], his job is to put the team in the best position to win a championship. We all understand we don’t have that right now.”

Asked if Riley, 79, might be leaving soon, Haslem said: “He damn sure ain’t going nowhere after that loss last night. I’ll tell you that. If I know him, he was up until 4 or 5 a.m. trying to figure out how this goes.

“This man literally told me when I got in there, ‘hey, there’s two things, there’s winning and there’s misery. There’s no in between.’ He’s miserable right now; he’s trying to figure out a way to win…

“Right now we’re all miserable. We can’t live like this. So we’re going to figure it out.”