Tyler Herro begins a new stage in the NBA with a special motivation: to return home. The 26-year-old guard left his first seven seasons with the Miami Heat behind to become a player for the Milwaukee Bucks, the team from the city where he was born and raised.
Herro came to Milwaukee as part of the multimillion-dollar move that brought Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Heat. However, beyond being one of the main pieces of the operation, the player sees his arrival to the Bucks as an opportunity to start practically from scratch.
“I’m not really worried about it right now,” Herro said when asked about his contract situation during a youth basketball camp. The guard has one more year on his contract and could become an unrestricted free agent after the 2026-27 season if he does not reach an extension.
The change represents an important turn for a player who became one of the familiar faces of the Heat. Herro spent seven years in Miami, was chosen All-Star in 2025 and averaged more than 20 points per game for five consecutive seasons.
Now he returns to Milwaukee, where he grew up supporting the Bucks and attended Whitnall High School in Greenfield. The new player for the Wisconsin team recognizes that wearing the jersey of his childhood team increases his motivation.
“I probably have the most motivation I’ve had in my career coming to Milwaukee,” he said.
Herro also remembered several of the players he admired while growing up following the Bucks, including TJ Ford, Michael Redd, Andrew Bogut, Monta Ellis, Brandon Jennings and, later, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Herro’s arrival comes at a time of profound transformation for Milwaukee. The Bucks finished last season with a 32-50 record and missed the playoffs, ending a streak of nine consecutive postseason appearances. Additionally, the team lost Antetokounmpo, the most important player in recent franchise history.
The new coach, Taylor Jenkins, will have the mission of building a practically new team and Herro will be one of the pieces on which much of the offensive responsibility will fall.
The guard hopes to leave behind a 2025-26 season marked by injuries, in which he was only able to play 33 games. Now he aims to recover his best level and help the Bucks defy the forecasts that place them among the teams with the greatest doubts for the next campaign.
“Obviously there will be people who probably think that we are not going to win many games, but we think the opposite. We want to win as many games as possible and establish a culture from day one,” he said.
After becoming a reference for the Heat and living his first years of career in Miami, Herro returns to his roots with a clear objective: to demonstrate that he can be one of the faces of the new generation of the Bucks.
