The Toronto Raptors dodged a bullet by not trading for Tyler Herro

The Toronto Raptors were two seconds away from moving Kyle Lowry at the trade deadline, and the package they had their hearts set on involved a trade to the Miami Heat with Tyler Herro leading the return haul for Toronto. Considering the fact he appeared to be one of the best young guards in the league, it seemed like a no-brainer.

Herro was coming off of a rookie season in which he averaged 13.5 points per game, and he bumped that scoring number up to 15.1 per game by the end of this season. Herro looked like a valuable long-term piece. Unfortunately, the playoffs have exposed a side of him that the Raptors should’ve been very concerned about.

The former Kentucky star has been ice cold against the Milwaukee Bucks, scoring just 7.7 points per game while making a disgusting 28% of his shot attempts. Throw in some awful defense, and Herro is getting taken behind the woodshed.

Herro went from someone so indispensable that the Heat were refusing to give him up in James Harden talks to a complete liability that has the Heat one game away from getting swept. Good thing he’s not a Raptor right now.

Tyler Herro wouldn’t have helped the Toronto Raptors.

A lineup of Herro and Fred VanVleet in the backcourt sounded like it was too good to be true, Herro might not have been the best fit. Cleaning the Glass (subscription required) showed that Miami has been a net negative with Herro on the floor, as they scored fewer and allowed more per 100 possessions over the last two seasons when he was on the floor.

While Gary Trent Jr. has had some similar cold stretches, he has proven to be as good a scorer, even without all of the Jack Harlow songs. Imagine if the Raptors went into 2021 with this guy as one of their offensive cornerstones.

Raptors fans, and the NBA as a whole, have generally been willing to write of Pascal Siakam’s bubble performance as an anomaly. If that’s the case, Herro’s positive performance might also have been an anomaly, as he looks completely out of sorts. If Lowry’s replacement performed like this, they’d never hear the end of it in Toronto.

Herro might be a product of the Orlando bubble, as the controlled environment was perfect for a young rookie to shine. With Milwaukee completely shutting him down, it should give Toronto some welcome relief that they didn’t trade the best player in franchise history in order to bring him in.