Without even stepping foot on the court for the Milwaukee Bucks, newly acquired shooting guard Tyler Herro is already making an impact on the franchise. The 26-year-old from Greenfield was the marquee name traded back to the Bucks in exchange for franchise star Giannis Antetokounmpo, and while he's nowhere close to Giannis as a player, his story could be similarly impactful for local fans.
Already, Tyler Herro is buying into the 'Hometown Herro' moniker by celebrating his return to the Milwaukee area and embracing his roots. In his goodbye message to the Miami Heat, background music crescendoed in the background to the tune of Skylar Grey's "Coming Home, Pt. II" with the chorus, "I'm coming home, I'm coming home, tell the world I'm coming home..."
He also announced that he'll wear No. 42 as an homage to his father, who is a Bucks fan and wore the number, and because he was a fan of Charlie Bell, who played for Milwaukee during Herro's childhood from 2005-2010.
It would be easy for Herro to be all business, or sulk in the fact that the franchise he started his career with just dealt him with little consideration for how he felt. But instead, he's looking at the opportunity ahead as a positive, as he gets to come closer to home, be around his family, and put on the jersey he used to root for as a kid. That's going to be a beautiful story to see unfold for Bucks fans.
Tyler Herro is embracing Milwaukee as if he never left, and that's the best-case scenario for the Bucks.
Let's be honest — there are some aspects of rooting for a small-market franchise that simply aren't fair... just ask the Milwaukee Brewers fans in your life. For every Giannis, there's a Damian Lillard, who, no matter how hard you try, simply isn't willing, able, or in a mental space to embrace the city for all its wonderful traits. Some guys just want to get home, or land in the glamor market they've been dreaming of all their lives.
We don't have to worry about that with Tyler Herro, who, from all indications, seems extremely excited and motivated to come home to Milwaukee and represent the Bucks with pride. With this narrative behind him and serious hope that the Bucks will be a better team than they were last year, we could see Herro put up a career-season en route to his second All-Star appearance in the coming season.
In the 30 games after Jimmy Butler was dealt to the Golden State Warriors, Herro ascended with 24.1 points, 5.5 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game while making 48% of his field goal attempts. Although his most recent season was marred by injuries, he easily could've replicated that if he had been able to build on his momentum and stay healthy.
So while the world counts the Milwaukee Bucks out, Herro will be as motivated as he's ever been to carry his hometown team back into the postseason picture and prove that he is who he thinks he is. There's no better place to do that than home.
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