The Miami Heat are pushing towards the playoffs, currently maintaining the top seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference by two games or so over the Milwaukee Bucks. Along the way though, there have been quite the discoveries made—well, sort of.
You always knew he could score the ball, but as of late, Tyler Herro has been on an absolute tear. He’s dominated in second periods but has been a catalyst for them for entire games.
Across his last 10 games, Herro has averaged 25.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game on about 51.2 percent shooting from the floor and almost 44 percent from range. For clarity, he’s averaging about seven attempts from deep per contest.
Here’s the thing though. There is a lot of chatter about where he is situated in the rotation.
While, traditionally, you would label a guy in his shoes as the Sixth Man, that doesn’t quite describe what Tyler Herro is for the Miami Heat. For a guy of his ilk, ability, and impact—Tyler is more of a sixth starter than anything.
However, that is by design. Here is why that is so and why that is the optimal deployment for the total overall success of the Miami Heat.
Miami Heat: Tyler Herro The ‘Sixth Starter’ For A Reason
When you think about how the Miami Heat operate and what they might look like at peak performance, it’s a vision that sees everyone being able to get to their best stuff. When you look at the starting lineup, consisting of the top three players on the team in Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo (though Tyler is pushing Kyle Lowry for that third spot), they work well with one another.
Neither of them needs the ball in their hands all the time to be their best self. While Tyler is capable of playing off the ball a bit as well, you absolutely get the best out of him as his reign over the rock increases.
Basically, you don’t want to put him in a situation where there are others who are there to take the ball out of his hands. When you think about it, yes, he is a closer of the highest order and especially as the purest three-level scorer for this Heat team, meaning he’ll finish with the other three best players in Lowry, Butler, and Adebayo.
However, during rotational parts of the game, every other moment before the end of each half, it’s best to give Herro as many touches and as much dictation over what happens with the ball as possible. That’s how you get the most out of him.
Miami Heat: Tyler Herro’s Potency Increases With His Reign Over The Ball
It could work if all of them were together in a starting lineup, meaning they could all figure it out, however, there is also this. Getting the best out of Bam Adebayo has started to become a thing and with his passive nature, the one that everyone has been asking him to snap out of, adding a guy that needs the ball as Herro does would only encourage him to be more passive.
Or, it would foster a situation where Herro couldn’t give you all that he has. If Bam Adebayo continues his aggression, which you should absolutely want him to, those are shots that Tyler can’t take or create but why would you do something to limit either of them?
Allowing Herro to come in with a group of guys that need to play off of somebody with Herro’s ability, anyway, allows everyone to operate at their peak efficiencies. However, it’s also the time when the Miami Heat needs it the most.
You need Jimmy, Kyle, and Bam out there to start, to set the tone and to establish the foundation for both sides of the ball, while you need Herro to come in with the second unit, be their go-to guy, and punish the opposing bench units like the starter that his skillset truly says he is.
He is a starter-level player and will be for the Miami Heat, at some point. However, at this current juncture, it works better for all parties involved for a reason.
Jimmy, Kyle, and Bam can be their best selves without full reign over the rock and perhaps, Tyler can too. However, you know his potential when he has the majority of the reign over the rock, so why would you limit or cap your own or his potential by putting him with a group that will, inevitably, take the ball out of his hands more?
It doesn’t make sense. This, though, is why he’s the sixth starter and why there’s a clearly intentional reason for that being that case.