Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro may very well be worthy of All-Star consideration this season for his level of play so far.
He’s having the most productive offensive campaign of his NBA career by several metrics. Namely, he’s posting career-highs in points (24.1) and assists (4.8) per game. He’s also knocking down a personal-best 41.3 percent of his 3-point attempts on 10.1 attempts per contest.
The way Herro is scoring the ball might remind some NBA fans of one longtime Golden State Warriors sharpshooter: Stephen Curry. Herro explained that he’s trying to follow in Curry’s footsteps when it comes to his shot selection.
“I feel like with my body type and the way I play, it’s like Steph Curry,” Herro said. “I try to make my shot profile as identical to Steph as possible. Steph shoots a lot of threes obviously, the rest of them are to the rim, layups and free throws. That’s kind of what I’m trying to resemble is literally what Steph’s doing.”
Herro isn’t just talking about his desire to emulate Curry on the offensive end — he’s also walking the walk. He has played 24 games this season, and thus far, 310 of his 421 shots from the floor have come either at the rim or behind the 3-point line.
A whopping 242 of those field-goal attempts have come from deep, and as mentioned, he’s averaging 10.1 3s taken per game in his sixth season with the Heat, his most ever at the NBA level. Only three qualified players in the entire NBA — LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Jayson Tatum — are currently letting it fly from deep with greater regularity.
A good microcosm of Herro’s mindset on offense can be found by taking a look at the number of 3s he attempted in Miami’s most recent game against the Detroit Pistons. He tied a season-high 17 attempts from deep in an overtime loss to the Detroit Pistons on Dec. 16.
Heat fans should expect to continue to see Herro shoot the ball from deep early and often as the season progresses, especially considering he’s scoring the ball from that proximity at such an efficient rate. He’ll also continue to try to get high-percentage looks close to the hoop and at the charity stripe.
Herro and the Heat will play their next contest at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.
