After a long wait, the NBA finally announced that Tyler Herro has won the Sixth Man of the Year Award. Herro is the first Heat player in franchise history to win this award. Herro received 96 first-place votes, with Kevin Love and Cam Johnson splitting the rest of the first-place votes. While Herro has been the favorite for a long time, it was nice to see him officially get recognized for his stellar season.
After a solid rookie season capped off by a great playoff run, some expected Herro to take a big leap in his sophomore season. With high expectations, Herro didn’t truly live up to those in his second year. His PPG improved from 13.5 to 15.1, but his three-point percentage dropped from 38.9% to 36%. After a postseason where he averaged 16 points per game, he only averaged 9.3 points in the first-round series against the Bucks last season.
Herro had something to prove entering this season. Before the season started, Herro stated that he should be in the same category as young stars like Trae Young, Luka Doncic, and Ja Morant. He would have to put up big numbers to back up a statement like that, so that’s exactly what he did. Herro was the second-leading scorer for the Heat despite coming off the bench in 56 of his 66 games played. He averaged 20.7 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 44.7% from the field and 39.9% from beyond the arc.
So far in this postseason, Herro has been up-and-down. He’s averaging 15.1 points and 4 rebounds, but only hitting 30.4% of his threes. Despite this, he was very much deserving of receiving this award and he has a bright future ahead of him.
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