The Miami Heat might just have a lesser version Devin Booker in Tyler Herro. The numbers would tend to agree with that take, at the very least.
For a deeper look at the comparison, here are some numbers. They always seem to work pretty well.
In their first-two seasons (Per 100 Possessions):
- Herro: (109 games), 24.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.1 steals, on 54 percent True Shooting.
- Booker: (154 games), 27.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.2 steals, on 53 percent True Shooting.
There hasn’t been as much pressure for Herro to carry the scoring burden, unlike in Booker’s case, that responsibility would immediately become Jimmy Butler’s once he arrived in Miami — the same offseason they drafted Tyler. However, we’ve seen several lottery picks make individual strides when they receive more touches on bad teams and the simple fact is, even on a team that reached the Finals, Tyler has been able to contribute just as well as Booker and he’s performed just as efficiently than Devin did in his first two years.
While it all makes up for good barbershop talk, Booker will likely be the reason Phoenix wins their first title in franchise history, a feat that stands much closer to reality than Herro doing so with Miami. But unlike Phoenix, the Heat’s approach to re-open their championship window is on a much shorter route, given that Miami Heat Team President, Pat Riley, has reached his final years in office.
It’s certainly less of a strenuous task than what Phoenix has had to endure within the last decade. We’ll hear the comparisons of two gifted young guards for the foreseeable future and it should be written in Herro’s scrapbook somewhere — to be even better than Booker.
While the Heat’s direction as a organization goes well beyond Tyler’s development, he should continue to gain wisdom from two of the Heat’s star two-way players, as well as from an elite coach in Erik Spoelstra. As Miami looks to contend in the Eastern Conference, keeping Tyler may become difficult if he cannot take his game to the next level.
However, we may see the same hypothetical result that we’re seeing now from Booker. To give it four or five more years is the only way to find out.