NBA: Top 10 candidates for 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year

There was some surprise when the Miami Heat selected Kentucky wing Tyler Herro with the 13th overall pick in June, but his play in Summer League did a lot to quiet those rumbles.

Herro came out after just one season at Kentucky during which he put up 14.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals in 32.6 minutes per game while shooting 46.2 percent overall and hitting 35.5 percent on 4.6 3-point attempts per game.

The native of Greenfield, Wis., will need to get stronger at 6’6” and just 195 pounds, but he showed an aggressiveness to score in Summer League play that was a good sign for a Miami Heat team that will need shooting depth off the bench.

In six games — two in Sacramento and four in Las Vegas — Herro averaged 19.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals while playing 29.6 minutes per game and shot 39.6 percent overall and 33.3 percent on 8.5 3-point attempts per game.

The pace-and-space era in the NBA puts shooters at a premium and Herro can shoot and he will be able to operate behind Jimmy Butler and Dion Waiters in the rotation.

If he can become the scoring punch for Miami’s second unit, he could have a shooter’s chance at breaking the franchise’s long drought and become its first Rookie of the Year winner.

The best a Heat player has ever finished in the voting is third, first by Caron Butler in 2002-03 and again by Dwyane Wade in 2003-04.