Miami Heat's Tyler Herro Gets Respect Relative To 2019 Draft Class

At the time, his comp was Nik Stauskas.

That was some of what was tweeted and said on the night the Miami Heat took guard Tyler Herro from Kentucky at No. 13 overall in 2019. Short arms. Limited quickness. Purely a shooter.

Now entering his seventh season, Herro is coming off an All-Star campaign, projects to be the Heat's leading scorer again and is looking for a massive payday, even if that last part makes some Heat fans nervous.

Herro recently received some respect in a CBSSports.com piece naming the best pick from every class this century. Other Heat players are in there -- Jimmy Butler, Andre Iguodala, LeBron James -- but Herro is the only one who was taken by Miami initially.

2019: Tyler Herro (13th overall)
What a strange draft 2019 turned into. The two surefire stars, Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, haven't been surefire anythings. We could take one of the second-round picks who turned into starting-caliber centers -- Daniel Gafford or Nic Claxton -- but Gafford is a low-minutes player and Claxton has never won anything. The real debate here comes down to Darius Garland at No. 5 and Tyler Herro at No. 13. Garland is better, and there's some irony in this being the debate seeing as how Garland spoke openly about hunting Herro in pick-and-roll last postseason. But it'd be hard to call him eight slots better than Herro given his relatively uninspiring postseason track record. Herro made the Finals as a rookie in 2020 and has proven a capable postseason weapon on offense. His ascent to the All-Star Game last year gets him across the finish line here.Sam Quinn, CBSSports.com

Quinn is correct about the top of the draft. Williamson and Morant have shown to have pure talent than Herro, but Williamson can't stay healthy (or stop eating, apparently) and Morant, while elite at times, has been derailed by ailments and off-the-court issues. Herro himself has missed time, and hasn't performed particularly well in the playoffs. But for his draft position, he's been the better value.

As for the Garland vs. Herro debate, that will go on.

But the Heat count on Herro more, and that was shown when the Cavaliers didn't even need Garland to destroy Miami in its first-round series last spring.

Herro will never be a premium defender, but he's much more than most believed when the Heat took and trusted him. Certainly a whole lot better than Nik Stauskas.

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