There have been plenty of ups and downs in Tyler Herro’s seven-year career. From putting together a 37-point barrage in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals as a rookie to unfortunately breaking his hand diving for a loose ball moments into the 2022-23 postseason.
It hasn’t been perfect, but growth isn’t always linear. The 25-year-old has experienced his most growth, parlaying that into his first career All-Star game this season.
Despite having a career year, Tyler Herro is fifth in the Most Improved Player award odds–behind Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels, Cade Cunningham, Austin Reaves and Christian Braun–according to Caesars Sportsbook. If you want to try your luck, you can take advantage of this Caesars Sportsbook promo code if you sign up here!
Why Tyler Herro should be considered for Most Improved Player Award:
Each of the aforementioned players have very strong cases to win the award.
Daniels, the clear frontrunner, is one of the NBA’s best defenders and is smashing the deflections record with good efficiency from the floor; Cunningham, another first-time All-Star, has led the Pistons to a top-6 seed in the East after a historically bad season; Reaves has continued to improve as a secondary creator alongside LeBron James and newly-acquired Luka Doncic while Christian Braun has been arguably the Nuggets’ third-best player this year.
Herro has also grown as much as any one of those players–even though the Heat still possesses a bottom-third offense in the NBA.
I’ve been openly critical about Herro’s play in the clutch and his decision-making, but the 6-foot-5 guard deserves plenty of credit for completely altering his shot diet and becoming more efficient in doing so. He’s averaging career highs in scoring (23.8 PPG) and passing (5.5 APG) with the highest field goal percentage (47.0).
Additionally, he owns the highest assist percentage (26.5), assist-to-turnover percentage (14.9%), assist-to-usage percentage (0.9), true-shooting percentage (60.3) and effective field goal percentage (56.2). He’s also finishing at the rim as well as he ever has while also getting to the rim at a career-best rate.
His growth can’t be denied. He’s still taking lumps as a primary creator, but his processing continues to improve. He’s also becoming more comfortable taking any defender off the bounce with his added strength and quickness.
Not to mention, the Heat offense is 7.4 points better (94th percentile) whenever he’s on the floor versus when he’s not, according to Cleaning The Glass. The team’s effective field goal percentage also increases by 3.9 percentage points (96th percentile), including 2.4 percent from 3-point range (85th percentile) and 7.1 percent from the short mid-range area (7.1 percent).
While the other candidates are deserving, Herro deserves to be more in the conversation than he currently is, point blank. Who do you think should win the award?
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