Brandon Clarke rising fast past his peers on NBA Rookie Ladder

4. Tyler Herro, Miami Heat

13.6 PPG, 3.8 REB, 2.0 AST

The dark horse pick for Rookie of the Year remains well in the running after a month of play.

Tyler Herro just continues to shine in the points department off the bench for a Miami Heat team that is defying initial expectations and could finish as high as third in the Eastern Conference.

Scoring versatility, playmaking and aggressive defensive play all speak to how well-rounded a player he is at this stage of his development.

The kid just wants to win games and he’s in the perfect place to do so because that’s all his organization is concerned about. Competitiveness is always top priority for Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra, which is probably why they made the decision to draft Herro.

Coming out of college, he was seen as nothing more than an athletic shooter that had the chance to develop into something more.

Anyone who watched him dating back to high school, however, knew there was more game to tap into.

Before he even stepped foot on Kentucky’s campus, Herro was a confident scorer off the bounce and the fact that he’s been able to come in and make the right reads for his teammates in those same situations off the dribble is just icing on the cake.

It’ll be interesting to see how much Miami continues to put the ball in his hands moving forward with Jimmy Butler, Kendrick Nunn and Goran Dragic all demanding touches on the perimeter.