The Miami Heat didn’t get a “leap” from Tyler Herro this season, but they still have something special.
There were more than a few bright spots for Herro this season — from a 31 point and 12-20 shooting night in a three-point win over Sacramento in late-December to a clutch, 24-point and 11 rebound effort in a, 129-121, clincher against the Boston Celtics. Herro made major contributions to assist Miami in securing a postseason spot this season and to ultimately avoid the 2021 Play-In tournament.
Flourishing best with the Heat’s second-unit, Tyler showed strong chemistry with veteran reserve, Goran Dragic, for which they particularly built during last year’s postseason run. And not only did seeing elite competition throughout last year’s Bubble Tournament improve his confidence as a scorer, Herro also took on a larger playmaking role while other Heat guards were in and out of the lineup.
As Herro’s shooting efficiencies wavered throughout the year, the same couldn’t be said for his confidence. Even at his age, Herro knows he’s out there for one reason and it’s to put points on the board any way he can.
Defensive Grade: C-
While it’s not the strongest part of his game anyway, Herro didn’t show much improvement on the defensive end this season, but this is a result of Miami taking a step-back (as a team) from their usual potencies overall as a team, more than anything.
In the 2019-20 season, Herro held opposing guards to 41 percent shooting (132-317 field-goals) and 31 percent from outside but in 2020-21, but those numbers trended up to about 45 percent from the field — and a ridiculously awful 40.7 percent from the three-point line this season.