Miami Heat: Tyler Herro’s stock rises in the bubble while Kendrick Nunn’s falls

Kendrick Nunn will have to turn it around in the playoffs

While both Nunn and Herro have far exceeded expectations this season, Nunn had been performing at a slightly higher level, as evidenced by seeing his name alongside Zion Williamson and Ja Morant as Rookie of the Year finalists.

Awards voting will be based solely on performance from before the league’s March shutdown, so Nunn’s abysmal play as of late won’t hurt his chances – though the other two finalists have been a cut above every other first-year player, anyway. The more important impact his poor play has is the negative impact it brings to the Heat.

Nunn’s net rating of -13 is the worst of any Heat player regularly in Erik Spoelstra’s rotations; the second worst is Kelly Olynyk’s -5.5 net rating. His 102.3 offensive rating is the worst among rotation players and his assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.75 ranks 10th on the team.

Due to the NBA’s quarantine rules for players who leave the bubble, Nunn won’t be available for Wednesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder but will be for Miami’s final seeding game against Indiana on Friday.

It’s critical for the Heat to get Nunn back to his old form for the playoffs while allowing Herro to continue his stellar play. Miami needs as much firepower as it can get to make a deep playoff run.