(Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
ESPN released its annual top-100 player rankings earlier this week — a consensus from the myriad of analysts from the network.
Four Miami Heat players cracked the list, though only one (Bam Adebayo — 21) made the top-65. In a recent roundtable, two analysts — ESPN’s front office insider Bobby Marks, and NBA analyst Jorge Sedano — both believed Tyler Herro’s ranking was too low after making his first All-Star team a year ago.
“The disrespect to Tyler Herro (No. 68),” Marks wrote when asked which player’s ranking was the most surprising. “Yes, Herro will be out for the early part of the regular season with a foot injury, but this is a player who was selected as an All-Star last season.
“For a fourth straight campaign, Herro averaged at least 20 points, and he finished 2024-25 with five games of at least 35 points, a career-best 47.2% mark from the field and 5.5 assists per game. He played a career-high 77 games last season.”
Here was Sedano’s explanation for why he believed Herro was too low:
“I would add that Herro wasn’t the focal point of the Heat’s offense last season and still averaged nearly 24 points per game with 38% shooting from 3,” he wrote. “Everyone remembers Pat Riley calling out Jimmy Butler III (No. 18) about 17 months ago. No one remembers that Riley also called out Herro in that same news conference, and Herro responded with the best season of his career. Herro also handled himself like a pro and a leader during the Butler saga. Herro should be in the range of top 40 to 55.”
A few names ranked above Herro, 25, included Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith (65), LaMelo Ball (63), Christian Braun (62), Austin Reaves (60) and Jalen Suggs (59).
Herro had the best season of his career in 2024-25, averaging 23.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game on 37.5 percent shooting from 3-point range as the team’s No. 1 option (where I disagree with Sedano; he was the focal point).
Miami’s 6-foot-5 guard was mercifully embarrassed in last year’s postseason, getting called out by Cleveland’s Darius Garland mid-series. He followed suit by scoring a measly four points in an elimination game — with 34-year-old center Tristan Thompson scoring as many points as Herro.
One could only wonder how that affected how voters ranked Herro amongst his peers.
He will be eligible for an extension on Oct. 1 — a near-three-week window. He is eligible for a three-year, $149.7 million deal. If he waits until next summer, he could be eligible for a four-year, $207 million deal. Given his recent foot surgery, it’s unlikely Herro fits the 65-game minimum threshold required for being eligible for the supermax.
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