Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro has been known as an offensive spark plug for quite some time now.
His ability on the defensive side of the ball, however, has not always been held in such high regard. There have been times where his defense has made it really hard to play him late in games.
Luckily for the Heat, it looks like Herro has been putting in the work to improve on that side of the ball. In fact, an Eastern Conference executive recently stated that Herro should no longer be considered a defensive liability.
“You definitely can’t target him anymore,” the exec told Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney recently.
“That does not make him Gary Payton or anything but he is not a guy you can go at and expect to get an easy bucket or expect to get a mix-up in coverage or anything. That is different. You can’t learn great defensive instincts but you can learn to be where you are supposed to be and how to take away advantages other guys have, all of that.
“To his credit, he has done that.”
In his first season as a full-time starter for the Heat, Herro has put up strong numbers. He’s averaging 20.5 points, 4.3 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game on 44.2 percent shooting from the field and 38.2 percent shooting from deep.
Though he is averaging just 0.8 steals per game this season, that is the highest per-game average of his career.
The fact that Herro has managed to improve defensively surely makes the Heat’s front office feel good about its decision to sign him to a long-term deal. Back in October of 2022, the Heat signed Herro to a four-year deal worth $130 million.
His offensive ability alone arguably made the extension a good move for the Heat, but the fact that Herro has improved defensively makes the deal an even better investment.
Going forward, it will be interesting to see if Herro can maintain his quality of play into the postseason.
Right now, the Heat are just a half-game back from the Brooklyn Nets for the final seed to advance straight into the playoffs.
With six games left on the schedule, the Heat have enough time to make up that ground.
Even if they don’t, their spot in the play-in tournament is quite safe. If Herro can take both his offense and defense to another level in the postseason, the Heat might end up being a force to be reckoned with.
