NBA Sixth Man Ladder: Familiar faces lead 1st look at top bench honor

Tyler Herro showed flashes in NBA Summer League, when he averaged 19.5 points per game in six games in Sacramento and Las Vegas. Against higher NBA-level competition in the preseason, Herro threw up 14.2 points a night while shooting 51.9 percent from 3-point range (14-for-27).

And once the regular season started, the 13th overall pick by the Miami Heat has just kept firing.

In 17 games, Herro is averaging 15.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 29.7 minutes per game while shooting 45.5 percent overall and 40.9 percent on 5.5 3-point attempts a night.

After starting the first three games of the season, Herro has come off the bench since and has taken to the role very well, upping his output to 15.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 28.9 minutes a game while shooting 47.2 percent overall and 43.6 percent deep tries a night.

Along with veteran Goran Dragic, Herro has been a driving force behind a strong Heat bench unit.

Working against Herro, however, is history. The only rookie to be named Sixth Man of the Year was Ben Gordon of the Chicago Bulls in 2004-05 and the last first-year player to be named on the ballot was Kyle Kuzma, who had four voting points while placing ninth with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017-18.