The Miami Heat may have gotten a steal at the 14th pick of this past NBA Draft in Tyler Herro. Mike Schmitz of ESPN seems to prescribe to that notion as well.
The Miami Heat exited last season with the disappointing taste of not making the playoffs in their mouths. This was obviously tasted by the players and coaches, but it was apparently tasted by team president Pat Riley and the rest of the decision-makers as well.
This Miami Heat team was bereft of shooting, scoring in general, and overall star power as last season closed, and that would be more emphasized this season with the retirement of Dwyane Wade following last season. This was something that the beginning of the offseason saw immediately addressed as Pat Riley did whatever was necessary to go out and land prized free agent Jimmy Butler.
On top of landing the big fish in Butler though, who would bring shooting, scoring, and star power along with him to Miami, Riley decided to double down on all three of those things in the NBA Draft. With the Miami Heat’s first-round 14th selection, Pat Riley took Tyler Herro out of Kentucky. The sharpshooting sniper lit it up in the NBA Summer League, becoming somewhat of a national and social media sensation, while definitely becoming a fan favorite amongst the Miami Heat Faithful.
Based on his performance in the summer league, what we saw from him at Kentucky, and if you follow along with anything Heat-related on social media or in the news, you might would already have the belief that Herro could and should be a huge part of things for the Miami Heat in just his rookie year, but others are seemingly starting to come around as well in case some of you haven’t heard already.
Based on a list created by Mike Schmitz of ESPN, he expects Herro to be the second-best rookie in 2019-20 when it comes to outperforming their draft slot. He is only second to Michael Porter Jr. who was drafted in the same number 14 spot, but a year ago, meaning one year earlier than Herro. Although he has the natural advantage, being in an NBA system, program, and atmosphere for a full year more than Herro, he will technically still be a rookie considering he didn’t play all of last season due to injury.
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While you might want to argue that Herro is really number one on this list based on the conditions surrounding Porter Jr., semantics semantics semantics would be the words to follow here. Even with the conditions as they are with Porter Jr.’s status as a rookie, Herro still has a good shot to finish higher in this particular area than Porter Jr. based on the fact that Herro should get a bigger opportunity with his team.
With the lack of outside shooting in Miami, Herro should be called on from day one to play at least rotational player minutes, while players ahead of him and working fully back from injury may have an impact on Porter Jr.’s ability to make a big impact early. Either way you slice it though, this is a good list to find yourself on if you are Herro. We expect big things from one of the newest members of the Miami Heat and obviously we are not alone.