(Photo via Imagn Images)
Despite Tyler Herro’s offseason ankle surgery supposed to sideline him for the first near-15 games of the new season, he remains arguably the most talented player on the Miami Heat roster.
Norman Powell’s addition, along with the impacts from guys like Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins and Nikola Jovic, should help keep things afloat while Herro recovers. But Herro is expected to retake a heavy offensive role again once he returns.
At the age of 25, he is still a few years away from his prime. However, his career growth in Miami has been undeniable.
In the 2021-22 campaign, Herro secured the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award. He dealt with some unfortunate injury luck in the two seasons afterward, but he played in a career-high 77 games last season. Putting together his first fully healthy year paid instant dividends.
Herro emerged as a first-time league All-Star, along with securing the 3-point contest champion honors at All-Star weekend. And he isn’t done yet, regardless of his current injury.
Once he is ready to make his 2025-26 season debut, there isn’t expected to be any limitations to work him back into the lineup. He should be a full-go, and he has already expressed excitement and optimism on bringing an impact to the Heat that shows in the win column.
Tyler Herro is poised to continue developing into the true superstar that the Miami Heat need.
As a natural combo guard, Herro is a proven elite and clutch three-level scorer. He is capable of putting the ball in the basket anywhere on the court. Last year, he saw his efficiency numbers increase after altering his shot diet to feature mainly 3-point attempts and rim drives.
That offensive adjustment led to the best year of his career. The seven-year veteran posted nearly 24 points, 5.5 assists and 5.2 rebounds on 47/38/88 shooting splits. He even saw an uptick in his defensive activity, averaging nearly 1.0 steal per game, as well.
It hasn’t just been the outside shooting touch and scoring. Herro has grown into an impressive playmaker for both himself and others.
His passing and rebounding numbers have each increased every year he has played in South Beach. There is still plenty of room to improve as an individual defender, but even on that side of the ball, he has shown a commitment to keep getting better and stay active in passing lanes.
He has all the ability in the world to continue developing to a superstar level. Herro has the work ethic and mindset, and ever since Jimmy Butler’s departure— the Heat have needed a true tier one star to lead the way.
Herro is one of, if not the only player on the roster capable of becoming that homegrown talent to do so.
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Another idea that is easier said than done. When Ty can score and carry a team in crunch time, that’s when we can start calling him a top tier player. And that doesn’t even require him to be stellar on defense. It would be enough if he was our go to guy in the last five minutes, and won us some games. I’d love to see it.
Last year, it was easy to focus on Herro because the team had no one who could close out games/step up in the clutch. This year, other teams won’t be able to focus just on Herro with Powell, a healthy Wiggins and other players available. If they can free him up on offense, it will make the whole team better.
Superstar? Can he play any defense?
Herro has become an average defender. There are several high scoring guards who are worse defenders than Herro (e.g., Young, Morant, Beal, Booker, Ball, Lillard, etc.).