MIAMI — The rounds at media day tend to be uniform, and for more than checking in with the equipment managers. A week from Monday at Kaseya Center there will be the typical circuit for Miami Heat players through the annual gauntlet of interview sessions, social-media requests, promotional videos taped in September that will run through April.

Whether there also will be a stop at the cashier’s cage (look it up, Zelle and Venmo kids) is less certain, but assuredly will remain part of the conversation when training camp opens the following day at Florida Atlantic University, and as the preseason proceeds.

For a team very much with an uncertain future, there is plenty to be said about prudence and restraint. With Jimmy Butler gone, there remains legitimate question of whether there is a playoff leading man in the house.

On one hand, that has never stopped the Heat with Bam Adebayo. At each turn when eligible for an extension, the Heat have been there with a contract and pen in hand for the maximum.

But that also was when the Heat had their leading man to build around.

And then last season, when faced with an extension decision arguably more significant than any at hand, the Heat paused with Butler.

No, that did not go well.

Season torpedoed.

Now comes the continuation of that process, of whether to further clear the deck or double down on what is in place.

Doubling down will be curious in light of the Heat coming off a 37-45 season and a third consecutive season in the play-in round.

For now, there are three prime protagonists in the extension equation – Tyler Herro, Nikola Jovic and Norman Powell – with each eligible to lock in future salary in coming days and weeks.

And so . . .

Tyler Herro: Yes, Herro will miss the start of the season following Friday’s ankle surgery. But, remember, a Herro extension doesn’t kick in for two more years, so it’s not as if it is a cost-benefit analysis based on the coming season.

If there was a long view to be taken before this latest, short-term setback, it still comes down to where the Heat believe Herro will be when an extension starts in 2027-28. He is 25 now, only will be 27 then.

Unlike with Jovic and Powell, there is an extremely limited extension window with Herro, because of the timing of his previous extension and the timing of the start of the season.

So either something gets done between Wednesday (the three-year anniversary of his previous extension) and Oct. 20 (the day before the start of the NBA 2025-26 regular season) or it is off to free agency next summer.

With Herro, this stands as a Heat referendum on commitment.

With Adebayo it has been ironclad: Adebayo eligible; Adebayo extended.

With Herro it long has been more nuanced, as is the delineation between All-Star and superstar. For Herro, a maximum extension would be three years for $149.7 million total.

Such numbers draw General Manager Andy Elisburg and his long-term cap sheets into the equation, as well as Nick Arison and the prudence required of a CEO.

While Herro might not be viewed in the same light as Adebayo from a foundational Heat standpoint, he also is not viewed in the same light as Butler from a petulance perspective.

When back, Herro will go hard, get along and double down on his worth.

Verdict: No extension now unless a concession is made by Herro due to the surgery, but plenty of open-mindedness from the Heat for next summer.

Nikola Jovic: While eligible for a rookie-scale extension up to the max, no one is going there with Jovic, nor could there be any such expectation of anything in the Herro or Adebayo ranges.

But there is the possibility for Jovic to lock in guaranteed money going forward rather than deal with restricted free agency next summer.

Considering how poorly restricted free agency largely has gone this offseason (save for Josh Giddey), there is something to be said about getting a deal done.

Jovic’s extension window has been open since the start of the offseason, closing in terms of a rookie-scale extension at the end of October.

There is a value deal to be made here, in the range of the mid-level exception, that protects the Heat should Jovic’s career arc be that of a reserve.

Something along the lines of, say, $50 million to $60 million over four years (we’ll let the parties sort out any option year) hardly would upset the salary scale or others on the roster seeking their fair share.

Verdict: Extension impending.

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Norman Powell: Not quite sure how this became a talking point, since it hardly came off that way when the expiring contracts of Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson (and his non-guaranteed 2026-27 salary), were sent out for Powell.

Since moving on from Butler, the sense had been of the Heat cleaning up the books and resetting, which Powell’s $20.5 million expiring contract allows.

Further, for all the expectation of Herro likely to be the good soldier without an immediate extension, going forward and instead extending Powell would come across as an affront.

After James Johnson, Dion Waiters and a few other Heat rash rushes to judgements, patience with Powell would equal prudence.

Verdict: No Powell extension, unless Herro first is extended … or is traded. Or unless Powell has such a breakout in Herro’s absence that the Heat’s priorities shift in regard to Powell/Herro.

IN THE LANE

HERE’S WHY: As the Heat’s winner-take-all play-in game in Atlanta went into overtime last season, the Heat’s playoff/lottery future hung in the balance. Eventually, Davion Mitchell loaded up on 3-pointers and the Heat moved into the playoffs. At the time, as there was for most of last season, there was consternation whether the Heat would have benefited by simply dropping into the lottery and taking their chances in the Cooper Flagg draft. The risk was by falling into the 2025 lottery and  keeping the lottery-protected 2025 pick, the Heat first-round pick due the Oklahoma City Thunder would have therefore conveyed into an unprotected 2026 first-rounder. Now flash forward to the latest Tyler Herro injury news, his Friday foot surgery, and the significant time he will miss on a roster that cannot afford such significant missed time. Yes, the Heat’s lottery seed in May, had they not made the playoffs, would have been No. 10 seed that led to the slot for Flagg. But nothing was assured and who knows how the balls otherwise would have bounced? Now consider going through the entire coming season amid the possibility of an unprotected Heat first-rounder lottery pick going to the Thunder. So, instead, the Heat keep their 2026 first-rounder, no matter where it lands, and the Thunder got the Heat No. 15 pick last June that was turned into Georgetown big man Thomas Sorber. The injury irony there is that Sorber will miss the entire 2025-26 season due to a torn ACL.

TALKING TURKEY: Although he came up short while representing Turkey in last weekend’s championship-game loss to Germany at EuroBasket, former University of Miami guard Shane Larkin told HoopsHype there has been no second thoughts about his commitment to playing in and for Turkey. “I had a few incredible seasons over here and I had opportunities to go back to the league and I was like, ‘Nah I’m cool, like I’m good where I am,’” Larkins said. “And when people hear that, they don’t understand what it is like to be one of the better star players in Europe. You have to really experience it to fully understand it.” He cited the breakout of former Heat guard Kendrick Nunn in Greece as another example. “I’m not comparing myself to any star player in the NBA at all,” Larkin said, “but like the way I’m sure Kyrie Irving was being treated in Cleveland is the same way that Kendrick Nunn is now being treated in Athens, the way that I’m treated in Istanbul.”

SPEAKING OF: Speaking of Turkey, journeyman NBA big man Kai Jones, who had a tryout last month with the Heat at Kaseya Center, will be joining Larkin’s team there, signing with Anadolu Efes. Jones reportedly has an out clause that can be triggered in January, which is also when the Heat could have a decision to guarantee the final dollars on Terry Rozier‘s contract … or open a roster spot. Anadolu Efes’ loaded roster also includes former Heat forward Cole Swider, as well as former NBA players PJ Dozier, Rodrique Beaubois, Vincent Poirier and Nick Weiler-Babb.

MINOR MOVE: Despite his share of impressive moments with the Heat’s summer roster, Javonte Cooke ultimately was bypassed when the Heat offered their camp tryout contracts. Instead, Cooke took a tryout deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. Cooke starred last season for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s G League affiliate, now with an opportunity to compete for a two-way spot with the Blazers. Instead, of those who auditioned for the Heat in July, the decision was made to bring back only undrafted Memphis forward Dain Dainja and former Magic G League prospect Myron Gardner.

NUMBER

4. Jersey numbers immediately put back into play by the Miami Heat from players not retained from the end of last season, with Dain Dainja getting Kevin Love‘s No. 42, Trevor Keels getting Josh Christopher‘s No. 8, Norman Powell getting Haywood Highsmith‘s No. 24 and Ethan Thompson getting Duncan Robinson‘s No. 55.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/09/20/ira-winderman-extension-equation-higher-math-for-heat-heading-into-camp/