Heat’s Tyler Herro starting to generate NBA All-Star buzz: ‘I’m definitely worthy’
On Monday, Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the first time in his career. Is Herro’s first NBA All-Star Game appearance coming this season, too?
Herro hopes so.
“I would love to be an All-Star,” Herro said, with the Heat (12-10) resuming its schedule after a three-day break on Thursday against the Toronto Raptors (7-18) at Kaseya Center (7:30 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun). “That’s been my goal since I came into the league. We’ll see. I got to get votes. I’m definitely worthy, though.”
Herro is beginning to generate All-Star buzz in his sixth NBA season, averaging career highs in points (24.2 per game), rebounds (5.4), assists (5) and steals (0.8) while again being used in a full-time starting role this season. He’s also shooting a career-best 47.7 percent from the field and a career-best 42.2 percent from three-point range on a career-high 9.9 three-point attempts per game while playing in each of the Heat’s first 22 games this season.
Herro, who turns 25 on Jan. 20, is one of only two players in the league who entered Wednesday averaging at least 24 points, five rebounds and five assists per game while also shooting 45 percent or better from the field and 40 percent or better from behind the arc. The only other player in the league currently meeting those thresholds is three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.
The only players in NBA history who have met that impressive criteria for a full season are Larry Bird, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James and Julius Randle.
“Considering a lot of media and fans have dogged him in the past because of past performances, being injured, this is his moment right now,” Heat three-time All-Star center Bam Adebayo said of Herro. “He’s having his moment.”
Whether Herro will have his All-Star moment this season remains to be seen, but he’s on track to receive more consideration than ever for the showcase game once All-Star voting begins in a few weeks.
The expectation is that this season’s NBA All-Star Game will have a different format this season, adding a new wrinkle for players vying for the honor.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported last month that the NBA will go away from the traditional format in favor of a four-team tournament-style competition for the Feb. 16 showcase at Chase Center in San Francisco — three teams made up of eight NBA All-Stars and a fourth team made of rookies and sophomores from the Rising Stars event.
It’s still unclear how All-Stars will be selected under the new format, but the traditional format includes four guards, six frontcourt players and two wild cards regardless of position from each conference.
Assuming the NBA continues to use that model for the All-Star selection process this year, the maximum number of East guards who can be voted in is six.
Among Herro’s top competition for one of the East’s All-Star guard spots are Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks, Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks, Derrick White of the Boston Celtics, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons, Tyrese Maxey of the Philadelphia 76ers, Darius Garland of the Cavaliers, Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers, and LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets.
Mitchell, Brunson, Lillard, White, Young and Garland are the only players on that list who entered Wednesday with winning records this season.
Brunson and Lillard are the only players in that group on winning teams who are averaging more points and assists per game than Herro.
But according to the advanced metric of estimated plus/minus, Herro currently ranks below Brunson, Mitchell, Ball, Lillard, White, Maxey, Haliburton and Garland this season because Herro’s defensive estimated/plus minus is currently a negative.
“With Tyler, I’ve always respected his ambition, and I want to honor that and I want to push him and create an environment that’s going to bring out the best in him and where his play can match that ambition,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s one of his superpowers. I love that quality about him, and you add the ambition with just a relentless work ethic.
“He’s one of the few guys where you’re monitoring just saying, ‘Hey, don’t do too much in the days in between or coming in two, three times a day.’ But it’s the work ethic and then also he wants to be part of winning, he wants to impact winning. So his approach is pure. You put all those things together — it’s not rocket science — it usually leads to a lot of really good things.”
A lot of really good things have happened for the Heat and Herro recently.
The Heat has won three in a row to improve to 12-10 this season after an underwhelming 9-10 start, and Herro became just the 17th different player in Heat history to earn the East Player of the Week honor. Herro won the award for games played from Dec. 2 through Dec. 8, leading the Heat to a 3-1 record last week.
Herro is staying level-headed, though. He knows it’s a long season and the narrative can change quickly with just a few subpar performances.
“Nothing yet,” Herro said when asked what he’s proudest of so far this season. “It feels like a regular season for me. Obviously, I just came in with a better mindset. So I’m just trying to stick to that and let it come to me and see what happens.”
