To be fair, the desperation to see a team upgrade can be decidedly unfair.

A current case in point is Tyler Herro, a quality scorer and former All-Star who largely has done just about anything and everything asked by the Miami Heat these past seven seasons, from playing on the ball, to playing off the ball, to adjusting, and readjusting, his shot profile.

Yes, the injuries and time lost also stand as factors in the equation. But when he plays, he plays hard. And for all the questions about defense, it’s not as if he stands alone in that regard, with the likes of James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell, among others, still receiving their flowers for largely one-way contributions.

So if there is to be a Herro trade this offseason, if he has played his final Heat game, then consider that final moment.

April 14. Spectrum Center. Play-in round opener vs. Charlotte Hornets.

Herro is subbed in with 26 seconds left in overtime and the Heat down 125-120.

The play-by-play from there:

23.5: Herro 23-foot turnaround fadeaway 3-point shot. Hornets 125-123.

8.7: LaMelo Ball three-shot foul foul, Herro three free throws, Heat 126-125.

If Ball doesn’t score on a driving layup to close the scoring with 4.8 seconds to play to give Charlotte the 127-126 victory, Herro’s six points in 14.8 seconds would have been the stuff of Heat lore.

Such has been the story of Herro’s Heat tenure.

— Dynamic rookie contributor in the Heat’s run to the 2020 NBA Finals (where if not for injuries in that series to Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic, possibly a ring as a rookie).

— NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2022.

— Heat scoring leader in 2024-25.

— NBA All-Star 2025.

— Sixth-fastest NBA player to 1,000 career 3-pointers, in his 368th game in January.

Yes, the injuries and absences often have clouded the overall contributions, but the contribution has been real and deserves recognition if this, indeed, is the endgame.

Taken at No. 13 in 2019 out of Kentucky, a re-draft of that year’s first round would have Herro going no worse than fourth, and that’s only if there were to be, beyond No. 1 pick Zion Williamson, grudging respect for Ja Morant, R.J Barrett and Darius Garland. Of the first 13 players in that draft, only Williamson, Morant and Herro ended this past season on their drafted teams.

And yet there never truly seemed to be a complete embrace, not with Erik Spoelstra a defense-first coach, not with the Heat hard up against the cap when Herro stood up for contract renewal.

In the end, the four-year, $120 million extension Herro signed in October 2022, the one that will pay $33 million next season, proved to be, at worst (from a team perspective) market value. (Garland, for example, is due $42.2 million this coming season.)

Then came this past October, when the Heat deferred extension talks with Herro until this summer, as in a window now just 10 days away. Considering there were only 33 appearances this past season, such Heat prudence hardly could be viewed as insulting.

The reality is that at February’s trade deadline, Herro was the most marketable chip the Heat could put into play for Giannis Antetokounmpo, so the Heat put him in play, just as they have done at the moment.

Just as he was in play for Harden at one point, and Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard at others. All the while, the Heat’s reassurances were that he only has been put in play for Hall of Famers.

Each time, that made business sense for the Heat. And each time, Herro bounced back, continued to do what he does best, standing as an elite offensive talent.

But now it feels different, as if the card has been played too often, the Heat consistently looking over his shoulder to see if someone better could be in the room.

And that’s fair, too, considering the Heat have been in the play-in round the past four years, just missed the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons.

But that shouldn’t detract, with perspective in order.

Among the most beloved players over the Heat’s 38 seasons was Goran Dragic, universally embraced for his Heat contributions. Fair enough.

Goran Dragic: 391 Heat career regular-season games, 16.2 points per game, 5.2 assists per game, 3.6 rebounds per game, on shooting splits of .457 from the field, .365 on 3-pointers, .786 from the line.

Tyler Herro: 394 Heat career regular-season games, 19.5 points per game, 4.1 assists per game, 5.0 rebounds per game, on shooting splits of .450 from the field, .382 on 3-pointers, .878 from the line.

And you know what? Dragic was hunted as much defensively as Herro.

Dragic has been cheered on every Kaseya Center return since.

Herro, should it come to that, has earned as much, as well.

Because for all the players Spoelstra over the years has referenced as “ignitable,” the truest measure of that might have been those final 26 seconds two months ago in Charlotte, the six points in 14.8 seconds.

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