It's a homecoming celebration for new Bucks guard Tyler Herro, who is returning to his home state as the marquee returning player in the deal that shipped Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami. Instead of lingering on the past, let's lay out the hard facts of what Herro has already accomplished in his basketball journey.
A 26-year-old entering his eighth NBA season, Herro's story began at Whitnall High School in Greenfield, where he decimated the competition in his senior season. Herro averaged 33 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals a game, earning status as a four-star recruit and one of the top shooting guards in the country. He turned down Marquette and decommitted from Wisconsin after John Calipari's personal pitch to play for him at Kentucky, where Herro made an All-SEC second team as a freshman.
He was drafted 13th by Miami in 2019 and earned a spot on the All-Rookie second team, averaging 13.5 points and four rebounds for a team that ultimately reached the 2020 NBA Finals. Although he flew under the radar for much of his debut season, the world became well aware of who Tyler Herro could be in the infamous Orlando Bubble. That was only the start of what'd be an extremely productive tenure as an offensive engine for a perennial Playoff contender.
Herro finished each of the last five seasons averaging more than 20 points per game, earning his first All-Star appearance last season with a near 24 PPG season while assuming a career-high 28% usage. He's a 38% 3-point shooter on a career average of seven triples per game, and added 4+ assists per game to his stat line in each of the last five years.
Almost every time he faced off against his hometown team, Herro seemed to rise to the occasion, with 18 or more points in two-thirds of his 18 career matchups against the Bucks, including a 40-point explosion in Milwaukee in February 2025.
This isn't just the eye test anymore — Herro loves to show out at home. It was corroborated by longtime NBA Insider Chris B. Haynes, who reported that Herro "is thrilled about a fresh start and playing for his hometown team, the Milwaukee Bucks. Herro always envisioned returning home at some point during his NBA career."
He might not be the player Bucks fans envisioned getting in return for their franchise star, but Herro will be more motivated than ever coming back home to Milwaukee this season.
We should see the best version of Tyler Herro with the Milwaukee Bucks next season.
There couldn't be more motivation for Herro to play at the best of his ability next season. Beyond returning to his hometown and wanting to put on a show for his city — and yes, I know Greenfield is not Milwaukee proper, but it's Milwaukee County, so it counts — Herro has a lot to prove.
Once viewed as the future of the franchise in Miami, Herro was unceremoniously traded by the team that drafted him after one of the most efficient seasons of his career. On top of that, he's entering the last year of the rookie-scale contract extension he signed with the Heat several years ago, and is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Herro is playing to prove his doubters wrong, rub it in the face of the Heat, put his city on his back, and, probably most importantly, get paid. Even just one or two of those factors is normally enough to motivate a young basketball player. Turning 27 in January, Herro is just on the cusp of what's usually considered an NBA player's prime.
So he might not be the player you expected, but Tyler Herro has a pathway to become a hometown hero in Milwaukee next season, and if so? It'll give Bucks fans something very fun to root for as they enter a new era together.
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