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Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro wants to start next season.

The freshly minted Sixth Man of the Year award winner made that clear Tuesday during his exit interview with the media.

“Yeah, for sure,” Herro said. “In some way, I would like to start. I think it’s my fourth year, so I think I’ve earned it and we’ll see what happens.”

Herro averaged 20.7 points, five rebounds and four assists this past season while helping the Heat to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Herro, who is in line for a big contract extension this offseason, said he is unsure whether a deal will happen prior to the October deadline.

“I’m not sure yet, honestly, what’s going to happen,” Herro said. “We’ll see what happens this summer. My agent (Jeff Schwartz) will talk to who he needs to talk to and we’ll see what happens.”

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After playing very well throughout the regular season, Herro struggled to find consistency in the postseason, averaging 12.8 points in the quarterfinals against the Atlanta Hawks, 14.7 points in the semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers and just 9.3 points in the conference finals against the Boston Celtics — a series in which he continued to deal with a lingering groin injury that forced him to miss three games and be very limited in Game 7.

“The playoffs for me were kind of a weird ride,” Herro said. “Ups and downs throughout the whole thing, but I think it was a learning curve for me. I think people forget I just turned 22 and it’s still only my third playoffs, and as I made a jump this year I continue to get better and I think throughout my career there’s gonna, especially early on throughout my career, there’s going to be small setbacks where I learn.

“It motivates me, it gets me better and teaches me what I need to work on to get better and next time I’m in that situation I’ll be more prepared and better.”

Herro said the key for him will be to continue to add strength to his frame over the summer as he continues to recover from the groin injury. Herro played just seven minutes in Sunday’s 100-96 Game 7 loss.

“Going into Game 7, I was kind of on the fence whether I should play or not,” Herro said. “And I felt like I was healthy enough to play. Me and [Heat coach Erik Spoelstra] had a good conversation, and he just felt like it was all-hands on deck and whether I was going to play or not just depended on how the game was going.

“But we liked the way that my groin [rehab] was progressing and we thought we’d get Game 7 and I’d be close to 100 percent for Game 1 of The Finals, so just unfortunate the way that the season ended but I thought I’d be ready to go for Game 1.”

The Heat dealt with a variety of different injuries to key players at the end of the season, including a hamstring injury that limited veteran point guard Kyle Lowry throughout the playoffs.

“I think Kyle will come back in the next training camp in the best shape of his career,” Spoelstra said Tuesday. “That certainly is important as you get further along in your career and into your 30s, conditioning and keeping your body right. That’s your ultimate opponent is father time and Kyle understands that as well as anybody. He trains hard, he really works at it behind the scenes and he does that during the season as well.”

Lowry, 36, averaged 13.4 points a game over 63 regular-season contests. The Heat don’t have much choice other than to hope he can stay on the floor and produce more given he still has two years and $58 million dollars left on the deal he signed before last season.

“You have to take into context everything,” Spoelstra said. “The missed games, injuries, it’s not all apples to apples. And then trying to ramp up as quickly as you possibly can in the middle of a series — these are not excuses, it’s just the reality. I thought Kyle was in an incredible groove about six weeks before the playoffs, I think for his example if we could have started the playoffs then it would have been a perfect, perfect time for him. And then next year, all our vets, the challenge will be how they can each come back better, maybe add a couple different things to their game.”

For his part, Lowry admitted after Sunday’s game how frustrating it was to be dealing with the hamstring injury throughout the playoffs.

“I wish I would have been able to play a little bit better, at a higher level, but I didn’t,” Lowry said. “It just adds fuel. You don’t know how many more opportunities you will have to get back to this, so for me, honestly it was a waste of a year.

“I only play to win championships. It was fun, and I appreciate the guys, my teammates, and I appreciate the opportunity. But for me, it’s a waste of a year. You’re not playing for a championship — you’re not winning a championship, it’s a wasted year.”

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TORONTO — The Chicago White Sox put shortstop Tim Anderson on the 10-day injured list because of a strained right groin Tuesday and activated outfielder Luis Robert off the COVID-19 injured list.

Anderson’s IL stint is retroactive to May 30. The 2019 AL batting champ left the win over the Cubs on Sunday, going down in the outfield after fielding P.J. Higgins‘ fifth-inning grounder and throwing to first for the out.

A first-time All-Star in 2021, Anderson ranks among the league leaders with a .356 batting average. He has five home runs and 19 RBIs in 40 games.

The struggling White Sox have been hit hard by injuries this year. Right-hander Lance Lynn (right knee) and outfielder Eloy Jim?nez (right hamstring) are also on the injured list.

Robert last played May 22 against the Yankees. He’s batting .285 with six homers and 17 RBIs in 33 games.

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Renting in the US has become increasingly expensive, despite still being cheaper than buying a home. Rent has risen across the nation, with the biggest cities seeing the highest increases. With this in mind, many people are looking for a city that they can afford to live in.

It will come as no surprise that Chicago is a lot cheaper in terms of rent than NYC and LA. Even when you take into account renters insurance in Chicago and other monthly expenses like utilities, Chicago remains far less expensive. However, is price the only reason you might choose to rent in Chicago?

Actually, Chicago has a better renters market in a number of other ways as well. Take the following into account if you are deciding where to rent.

Apartments are available

There is an obvious reason that apartments in big cities are more expensive than elsewhere. Space is at a premium and is therefore highly coveted. If you want a place that meets all your needs, you’re going to have to pay for it.

However, the problem in NYC and LA has gotten worse, to the point that being willing to pay a bit extra is not enough. You may struggle to find a place to live even once you take off the filters.

Recent reports have suggested that there are more Airbnb listings in New York than long-term rentals. When it comes to LA, the Los Angeles Times recently called finding a place to rent a competitive sport.

Chicago, on the other hand, has options. You may struggle to find something that perfectly suits your needs, and there is a housing crisis throughout the country, but it won’t take too long to find somewhere you can feel comfortable.

There’s more space (and comfort)

Even in times when apartments are readily available in NYC, what you are able to get is generally inferior to what you can get in Chicago. This is because space is not at such a premium, and apartments are therefore more spacious and comfortable. Instead of being cramped into a tiny studio apartment and being thankful to have found anything at all, you can spread out a little more.

This is not to say that you’re going to have acres of room in Chicago. It is a busy city, after all. But the confines are not comparable to a place like NYC.

Living with roommates is easier

For the same reason, living with roommates is easier in Chicago. You may have little choice but to find roommates if you are not earning enough to rent a place on your own. Whether you are in Chicago or anywhere else, chances are you’re not actually staying in the same room as them. Nonetheless, the common spaces in Chicago will be larger and more accommodating than elsewhere.

This is especially important if you prefer not to socialize with your roommates daily but still want some space outside of your room.

Rent is not just cheap but affordable

One of the problems with looking at cost-of-living stats and comparisons of the cost of rent in different cities is that earnings differ across the country. What you are able to earn in NYC or LA may far exceed what you can earn in Chicago. So, saying that rent is cheaper in Chicago means nothing without context.

However, if you do take context into account and look at what people earn in Chicago, the ratio is still far superior. Your rent in Chicago will eat significantly less of your salary than your rent in NYC or LA. What you spend on your basic necessities such as bedroom sets will not drain your salary either.

You can look at this from the opposite angle as well. Many people think that moving to a city like New York will allow them to earn more money. But once you take the cost of rent and the cost of living into account, living in New York may ensure that they actually save less. Rather than having some cash left at the end of the month, they struggle to make ends meet.

These are just some of the reasons renting is easier in Chicago than in other big cities. You may just find that Chicago is the place you’ve wanted to be all your life.

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SAN FRANCISCO — The Boston Celtics are back in the NBA Finals for the first time in more than a decade, but first-year coach Ime Udoka said that is no cause for celebration.

“We’re not hanging a banner [for that] here,” Udoka said, referring to winning the Eastern Conference. “It’s a bigger picture. I think guys’ mindsets have flipped pretty quickly.

“Enjoy it. Guys relish that, and you have this time off. Even [Sunday] night in the media sessions [after Game 7], and obviously with us in the locker room, guys are already talking about what’s next and the bigger picture at hand.

“This isn’t what we came to do. You enjoy it and move on pretty quickly to the task at hand.”

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That task, of course, is finding a way to beat the Golden State Warriors, who won three championships and made five straight trips to the NBA Finals from 2015 to 2019 before missing the playoffs each of the past two seasons.

As a result, Golden State enters this series with 123 games of collective NBA Finals experience. Boston, on the other hand, doesn’t have a single player on its roster who has appeared in a Finals game.

Udoka, however, said he isn’t concerned about the experience gap, pointing to the experience he and his assistant coaches have in Finals, including assistant Ben Sullivan winning a title with the Milwaukee Bucks last year and Udoka himself winning a title having coached in multiple Finals with the San Antonio Spurs, and the amount of playoff experience his players have.

“I can say, being there, I know what’s going on and we’ve already shared some of those stories as well as some of the other coaches on my staff that have been there and won championships,” Udoka said. “So from that standpoint, it is what it is. We’ll have some meetings with the group and talk about those things. But I think, in general, we have a very mature group, especially with our younger guys. Al [Horford] and Marcus [Smart], and our veterans are always very level-headed and keeping us in line as far as that. And then I’m not really worried about Jayson [Tatum], Jaylen [Brown] and the younger guys that haven’t been on this stage. Like I said, they got to the Eastern Conference finals multiple times and took that step, so we know what’s in front of us.

“We know what we’re here to play for, and I don’t think any of our guys are awed or intimidated by the moment at all. We understand what it is. We know the opponent in front of us. And for us, as always, this year it’s been business as usual. Going on the road, not fazed by that at all. We’re really looking forward to it. Not a lot of anxiousness or nervousness. We have this time that we’ll take advantage of, as far as rest and preparation, and be ready to go by Game 1.”

As part of that rest and preparation, the Celtics will also get a chance to allow Robert Williams III to manage the left knee soreness that has plagued him throughout the playoffs, and for Smart to get a breather from a variety of ailments up and down his right leg, including his quad, ankle and foot.

Williams missed three games against the Bucks in the conference semifinals and Game 3 against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals after suffering a bone bruise in that left knee — the same one he had meniscus surgery on in late March, which caused him to miss the end of the regular season and the beginning of Boston’s first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets.

Udoka said the rest would be beneficial for Williams, but that — as the coach has said previously — Williams will have to manage the knee throughout the rest of the playoffs.

“Rob’s all right,” Udoka said. “He’s good. He felt good. His minutes were low, only played 14 in [Game 7 against Miami]. We tried to keep him in the lower portion if we could. Obviously, that’s beneficial for him going forward, but the days off as well. So he should feel better in general. Getting looked at today and will continue to get his treatment and rehab and in order to get swelling down and some of the pain and mobility back. And so it’s going to be an ongoing thing, like I mentioned. He’s day-to-day pretty much throughout the playoffs.”

Udoka added that Williams, in particular, should benefit from the spread-out nature of the NBA Finals, with two days off between every game except Games 3 and 4 in Boston.

“[He] should feel better with time in between, especially with these two days off in between games, as opposed to playing every other day. And I think, going back to the Milwaukee series, we had played 17 days straight every other day, and so that’s going to take a toll on you coming off a surgery. We keep his minutes down and get him back to feeling better, obviously that will benefit us going forward.”

As for Smart, who missed Games 1 and 4 against Miami — first with a midfoot sprain, then with an ankle sprain — Udoka said he’s fine after playing heavy minutes in Boston’s Game 7 win over Miami.

“Marcus, there’s no concern about that,” Udoka said. “The swelling is what it is. That will dissipate as time goes by.

“The pain tolerance thing, he can obviously play through a lot, and he did that [in Game 7] and played heavy minutes.”

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Golden State’s Stephen Curry has never won an NBA Finals MVP award, but oddsmakers believe this is his year.

Curry is the consensus favorite to be named MVP of the Finals between the Warriors and Boston Celtics at sportsbooks around the nation. He’s the even-money favorite at Caesars Sportsbook.

Boston’s Jayson Tatum is the second-favorite at +180, followed by Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown (+1000). Golden State’s Klay Thompson (+1500) and Draymond Green (+1800) are next. The bulk of the action, though, is on Curry, who has not won MVP in his five previous Finals appearances.

Curry has attracted the most bets and nearly half (44%) of the total money that’s been wagered at Caesars Sportsbook, including a pair of $2,500 wagers that were placed by a bettor in Colorado when the Warriors point guard was 10-1 to win MVP. Curry also has garnered the most bets and most money wagered to win MVP at BetMGM sportsbooks, where he is the bookmaker’s largest liability.

The largest payout on a single MVP bet at Caesars Sportsbook, however, is on Golden State’s Jordan Poole. On April 16, as the playoffs were beginning, a bettor in Colorado bettor placed a $500 bet on Poole to win Finals MVP at 200-1 odds. Poole’s odds have shortened to 30-1 entering the Finals, which tip off Thursday in San Francisco.

Around the same time, a bettor in Colorado with sportsbook PointsBet placed a $3,333 bet on Thompson to win MVP at 100-1 odds. That bet would pay a net $333,300 if Thompson wins in his return to the Finals.

Curry was named MVP of the Western Conference Finals and, with a Finals MVP, would join an illustrious list of seven players who have been named MVP of the Finals and regular season and won a scoring title: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Wilt Chamberlain.

But Curry now faces one of his toughest defenders in Boston’s Marcus Smart. According to ESPN Stats and Information, the Warriors have their second-worst offensive efficiency when Smart guards Curry. Smart is +3,500 to win Finals MVP at Caesars Sportsbook.

Golden State began the week as a 3.5-point favorite over the Celtics in Game 1 on Thursday (9 p.m. ET, ABC).

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