Tyler Herro is living up to the hype in his debut season with the Milwaukee Bucks

There's been a lot of hype surrounding Tyler Herro returning to his hometown team in Milwaukee this year, but the chatter means very little if he cannot deliver. Thankfully for Bucks fans, Herro has been better than advertised in his first eight games back in Southeast Wisconsin.

The 26-year-old Greenfield native has been the beating heart of the Milwaukee Bucks, averaging 22.3 points and 3.9 assists on a career-best 56.5% eFG, which is an adjusted percentage that accounts for the extra point and added difficulty of a three-point shot. Herro is operating as the focal point of the team's half-court offense, using his quickness and shifty dribbling to slice past defenders on drives to the basket or to create daylight for his silky, smooth jumper.

He’s been no slouch defensively, either. Although the Bucks’ overall defense has been disappointing, ranking as the fourth-worst in the league, Herr's effort has been clear, as he averages a steal per game for the first time in his career. Even more importantly, his commitment is clear through his hustle and on-ball assignments, sticking to his matchup like glue and battling through screens to contest every shot he can.

Herro hasn’t been perfect, but no one truly is. Many of the advanced analytics on his early season haven’t been pretty, but those are a reflection of the team's failures rather than his own. While he is undoubtedly going to fly under the radar in the national eye, Milwaukee knows it lucked out by taking the opportunity to bring Herro home.

Tyler Herro is looking like the type of player the Milwaukee Bucks can build with for years to come.

There’s been plenty of conjecture about the Bucks' young guards, and how Herro factors into the future of this team. But if his first eight games in a Bucks uniform are any indication, he should be here to stay.

Herro has bought into the culture that head coach Taylor Jenkins has worked to establish, founded on unselfishness, effort, consistency, and collaboration, both on and off the court. Although his assist numbers aren’t through the roof, Herro leads the team in passes made per game at 37.6 and ranks second in potential assists per game at 8.9.

Sometimes, a change of scenery can change a player's outlook. In Miami, Herro was stuck in a role where he was constantly forced to prove himself to an admittedly legendary coach in Erik Spoelstra. That’s not quite the case in Milwaukee, where Jenkins and the Bucks' front office have bought into what Herro brings to the team as a player and a member of the community.

Moments like these are where an athlete can show their true maturity and growth. Now, being closer to his family and his roots, Herro is focused on playing a winning brand of basketball — even if it hasn’t resulted in the record he and Milwaukee hoped for thus far. But this is only the beginning of a build into the next era of Milwaukee Bucks basketball, and so far, Tyler Herro is embodying everything they’re hoping to become, and that deserves recognition.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow