Milwaukee born Tyler Herro was an all-everything player at Whitnall High School in Greenfield, Wisconsin, averaging nearly 33 points per game as a senior. Originally committed to Wisconsin, Herro changed his mind after a visit from John Calipari of Kentucky.
Herro didn’t take long to adjust to the college game. He was the only player to start in all 37 of Kentucky’s games during his lone season with the Wildcats, scoring over 14 points per game. He received various accolades for his performance throughout the season including being named All Freshman First Team and the Southeastern Conference Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press.
After one season in Kentucky, Herro declared for the 2019 NBA draft where he was selected 13th overall by the Miami Heat.
Getting only eight starts in a pandemic and injury shortened season, Boy Wonder was still selected as an All-NBA Rookie second team member. He showed flashes of brilliance in the regular season but he really burst on the scene as the Heat made a historic run through the playoffs including an NBA Finals appearance. Herro proved to be a consistent scorer and a young piece to the championship contenders puzzle. Herro became the youngest player to start an NBA Finals game, just a few days younger than Magic Johnson when he led the Lakers against the Philadelphia 76ers in the classic 1980 NBA Finals.
Herro’s second season South Beach and around the league saw him start just a handful of games and a minuscule increase in his minutes per game but his numbers all increased across the board with those few extra minutes.
Herro took his game to a completely different level in 2020-21. Over the first two months of the season, he averaged over 20 points, over five rebounds and nearly four assists per game as his minutes continued to increase.
In this latest rookie card review, we break down three tiers of Herro cardboard thumpers for your consideration.
Herro has 32 base RCs and only 11 of those are serial numbered.
Averaging 20 PPG Tier
1. 2019-20 Panini National Treasures #132 Tyler Herro JSY AU RC– This is the Tyler Herro rookie card for serious collectors. It’s out of the ever popular National treasures product and offers a beautiful swatch and an on-card autograph with the base rookie card numbered to 99 copies. This card will set you back a few mortgage payments to add to the PC or your portfolio.
2. 2019-20 Immaculate Collection #26 Tyler Herro RC-This offering is another high-end base rookie card numbered to 99. It also features a nice multi-colored swatch and an on-card autograph. Similar in styling to the above mentioned National Treasures card, this can be had for a few less Benjamins. There’s no need to fix Herro’s jumper as evidenced by the great picture of him firing up a shot on the card.
3. 2019-20 Panini Impeccable #10 Tyler Herro/99 RC-Impeccable is the trifecta of higher-end brands that has the bells and whistles of the aforementioned patch and on card signature. It differentiates itself by offering more of an artistic feel to the card. Pictured is Herro driving to the lane ready to jelly roll or dish the rock to a teammate. This is also very aesthetically pleasing card that would be just as well hanging on a wall in art gallery as it is suffocating in your Pelican case.
Jack Harlow Tier
1. 2019-20 Panini Black #70 Tyler Herro RC-The Panini Black rookie is a somewhat hard to find card of the Heat sharpshooting rookie. It has two nice action shots and the expected black design, offers a serial number to less than 100. You rarely see more than one or two of these available online at any given time.
2. 2019-20 Panini Contenders #142 Tyler Herro AU RC-The Contenders line was birthed in another sport but it has really gained traction in basketball. It features the classic Rookie Ticket design accompanied by an in-action shot of Herro and a really nicely placed on-card autograph. This is a very solid card to add to your collection or to hold and flip if you are looking at that kind of scenario.
3. 2019-20 Panini One and One #121 Tyler Herro RC- A flashy card from a Panini product that doesn’t offer a high quantity of cards per pack, packs per box or boxes per case. It pictures Herro, in action, driving to the hole to finish with, I can only imagine, a spectacular layup followed by a mean mug.
One and Done Tier
1. 2019-20 Panini Prizm #259 Tyler Herro RC– Prizm is the beginning and end of the mid to lower end NBA product line. The Prizm rookies are flagship rookies across various sports and ungraded Herros can still be had for about 20 bucks. It likely won’t continue to be that cheap if he keeps producing at the level he is now.
2. 2019-20 Select #63 Tyler Herro RC– Select is generally a quality mid to lower end product. In recent years it’s offered a darn near dizzying array of parallels, subsets, colors and tiers but the base Herro rookie can be had for only a few bucks. He’s featured in his Miami blacks from head to toe, again driving to the hoop. It’s a very pretty card to add to your PC for the price of a two liter soda.
3. 2019-20 Donruss Optic #172 Tyler Herro RR RC– Donruss Optic is a wildly popular yet lower end product across the hobby. It’s a souped-up version of Donruss and collectors go crazy for cases, boxes, packs and a wide selection of colorful parallel cards.
Base singles for most players can be added to your stack for a very nominal price which makes this card a pretty solid buy if Herro continues to grow as a player.
You can check out the current eBay inventory of Herro rookie cards here and see a live list of the most watched auctions below.
About Tony Reid
From the time he was a little kid, Tony has been a huge sports fan. If he could play sports, watch sports and talk about sports it was a great day. From as early as he was drawn to sports, Tony was drawn to collecting sports cards. Not much has changed over the years. He collects RCs of star players in baseball, basketball and football. He also has a soft spot for first autographs of MMA stars. If you want to talk to Tony about the greatness of Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson or Ken Griffey, Jr. you can reach him at @reidrattlecage on all social media platforms.