Tyler Herro is a phenomenal shooter. We knew this. He’s more than that, though, and brings a really well-rounded skillset to the table for the Miami Heat.
When the Miami Heat drafted Tyler Herro 13th overall out of Kentucky in the 2019 NBA Draft, some fans were skeptical of the pick, as is custom with just about any NBA Draft pick.
This is even more true for Heat fans. It’s not that they don’t draft well (Bam Adebayo, Justise Winslow, and Josh Richardson were the three draft picks prior to Tyler Herro for the Heat, in Battleship that would be three hits and a sunken ship), it’s that the Heat don’t really draft much at all.
Drafting is an art form, and it’s one that Heat President Pat Riley has noticeably shied away from by trading draft picks in an effort to win now, instead of building for the future. Drafting has seldom been Riley’s weapon of choice when building out his rosters.
In the first few games of the preseason though, it’s clear that the pick for Herro was building for now, and not just picking up a young player at the prospect of what he could bring to the table down the line. Herro is coming out hot, as evidenced by scoring 20 points in the first half of the team’s preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.
One of the initial concerns with a player like Herro is the possibility that all he can do is shoot. Get on Twitter during any Heat game and the highlights you’ll see are Herro curling around screens and hitting big shots or taking a nasty stepback and hitting a deep three.
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This one-track mind has plagued other guards like Herro in the past and they’ve been called out for being liabilities on defense and one-dimensional on offense.
Still, they score the basketball — many of them at an extremely high rate — so these are fallbacks that can be overlooked. But as the league trends more and more towards positionless basketball, there is a mandate (especially with younger players) to be able to do it all.
One skill, even if you’re really good at it, is not nearly enough to make it in today’s NBA.
While we’ll have plenty of time to appreciate the hot hand that Herro has, along with the scoring he can do with those hands, he’s so much more than just a shooter.
Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade, speaking to Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald said as much:
"“Obviously he’s going to get a tag of being a shooter because he looks a certain way. But he’s not; he’s a basketball player. He makes plays.”"
This might seem like high praise from one of the best players of the last two decades, but most in South Beach would say it’s a prerequisite to make the 15-man roster in Miami.
It is just the preseason, that must be said, and all evidence — statistics and eye-test results both — must be taken with a bowl full of salt until the real action gets underway. In many ways the preseason is cursory, but it’s hard not to get excited about promising returns after several months of no meaningful NBA basketball.
Herro, though, has shown that at the very least, he has the makings of a complete player who can contribute in a big way to Heat success now and in the future.
So far, Herro is shooting 54.5 percent from the field and 53.3 percent beyond the arc.
But remember, he’s more than just a shooter. Let’s take a look at how.