Within the past year, Miami Heat shooting guard, Tyler Herro, has numerously heard his name as being moved or being sought-out often as a possible trading asset. It’s been known since last winter, when the Heat were in discussions to acquire superstar, James Harden, in a potential deal that would send the Heat’s second-year lottery pick to the Houston Rockets.
While those talks eventually ended up caving, Herro would remain in a Heat uniform beyond the March trade deadline and for the rest of the 2020-21 season. As the third leading scorer (15.1 points per game) on a sixth-seeded team that was bruised, banged-up, and inconsistent throughout the year, Tyler should be considered as a bright-spot for what was a trying season for the Heat.
In a first-round exit against the Milwaukee Bucks, not only were the Miami Heat simply overmatched, but they just weren’t ready to take on a more prepared opponent. Nonetheless, opponents who didn’t necessarily have to deal with their kind of structural issues.
In his second postseason appearance, Herro struggled during the Heat’s four-game elimination, averaging just 9.3 points on 31 percent shooting. Heavy criticism and slander for the 20 year-old guard was sparked after being unable to build off of a successful postseason performance from the season prior in the Miami Heat’s run to the NBA Finals.
Tyler’s career, from the very onset and, unfairly, at the biggest stages, has drawn comparisons to a star who currently plays in another conference but is on the cusp of a potential NBA Finals run himself — Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker.
The Miami Heat’s second year guard, Tyler Herro, has drawn comparisons to All-World Phoenix guard, Devin Booker. Is it spot-on?
There are many similarities, as both were 19 year-old guards (Booker was 18 years when he was drafted, but turned 19 very early in the season) that were selected 13th overall from the University of Kentucky. Booker was on the board for Miami in the 2015 draft, but the Heat saw more versatility in Justise Winslow, ultimately selecting the Duke forward with the 10th overall pick.
Fast forward five seasons, in which Booker is now leading the Suns along with crafty floor general and veteran guard Chris Paul, to their first postseason berth in ten years. Much of the Suns’ credit should be allocated to Deandre Ayton and several role players, including former Heat forward Jae Crowder, who contributed greatly in Miami’s 2020 Finals run.
However, there’s no argument that after a 40-point triple-double in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Clippers, Booker is only proving to be one of the best shooting guards and players of the next generation.
With a near-equal 6’5”, 200 lb frame, Herro is a large shooting guard — like Booker — with a special aptness to create from several different areas and to execute shots against high-difficulty defense. It’s a no-brainer that Tyler holds those same characteristics as the Suns star, but whether he can develop enough consistency to reach that level of stardom remains to be seen.
However, it can be argued that Herro hasn’t gotten the legitimate leeway that Booker got early on, as many are forgetting the meandered path that Booker took when he first came into the NBA. He was the first option for Phoenix, on teams like the one that had the fourth-worst record and were at the bottom of the league, while Miami had just began a retooling process after missing the playoffs for the first time after six seasons and a couple seasons after earning back-to-back titles.
It was almost imperative for the Suns to hit on him though and for an example of why, it’s about a franchise struggling to consistently win with five coaching changes in six years. It’s within your best interest to build your future around a younger asset and unlike Herro, Booker happened to be at the very center of it in a losing Phoenix situation.
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.