MIAMI -- With Jimmy Butler away from the Heat to start the season, it's allowed the Miami Heat's young core to step up.
The 22-year-old Bam Adebayo and 23-year-old Justise Winslow look like they're ready to take the next step in their careers, but two Heat rookies _ guards Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn _ have also opened eyes. The Heat entered Monday leading the NBA in points per game from rookies with an average of 37.7 points through the first three games.
Herro and Nunn are responsible for most of that production, as Herro is averaging 12 points and Nunn leads all rookies across the league with 22.3 points per game. Herro and Nunn have been used as starters in each of the Heat's first three games, with Butler unavailable after the birth of his daughter last week.
"Those guys don't know what they don't know," coach Erik Spoelstra said, with the Heat (2-1) now returning home for Tuesday's matchup against the Atlanta Hawks. "In some ways that's good, but they also have the great duality of having this humility and eagerness to learn, which will serve them well. They will get better as the season goes on."
Nunn has been impressively efficient, shooting 51.9% from the field and 42.1% on threes. While Herro has battled some early shooting struggles, making 4 of 15 threes so far.
It's important to note just how rare a rookie tandem of Herro and Nunn is, especially for an organization like the Heat that is known to rely on veterans and rarely has lottery picks because of its sustained success over the years. Herro and Nunn are just the fourth set of rookies to start a season opener for the Heat, joining a list that includes Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers in 2008, Udonis Haslem and Dwyane Wade in 2003, and Rony Seikaly and Kevin Edwards in 1988.
"I think that's just a testament to the hard work we put in," Herro said. "I'm sure a lot of teams across the league let their rookies do whatever in the summer and go stay at their home or something like that. But we've been together all summer long. Right after summer league, we took a couple days off and we were right back in Miami working out."
That time together helped form a close friendship between Herro and Nunn, who met this summer. The 19-year-old Herro called Nunn, 24, his closest friend on the team.
"Man, it's like I've known him all my life," Nunn said of Herro. "I'm with him every day, even on off days. Away from the gym, we're always together."
Herro said of his friendship with Nunn: "It started in the summer league. We're very similar, so we got a good bond together. That's like my brother. Definitely feels like I've known him forever. I can tell him anything, he can tell me anything. We're just real comfortable around each other."
While both are rookies, their situations are different.
Herro was drafted by the Heat out of Kentucky with the No. 13 overall pick in this year's draft. Nunn went undrafted in 2018 and spent his first professional season in the G League before he was signed by the Heat on the final day of the 2018-19 regular season.
Haslem isn't one for comparisons, but it's hard to ignore some of the similarities between the Herro-Nunn rookie tandem and the Haslem-Wade rookie duo. Both pairs include one lottery pick and one who went undrafted, and both pairs ultimately became close friends as Heat rookies.
That's not to say Herro and Nunn will be Haslem and Wade, who helped the Heat win three championships and will both have their jerseys retired by the team at some point. But the early play of Herro and Nunn is encouraging for the organization's future, especially with Herro under team control for the next four seasons and Nunn under contract for a team-friendly salary of $1.7 million next season.
"They still got a lot to learn. But, man, they're not afraid," Haslem said. "You see those spurts of greatness within them and it's encouraging. They're very good listeners. They go out and try to execute the game plan. So I'm encouraging them.
"Watching them out there, the poise that they're playing with, the confidence that they're playing with, the basketball IQ that they have is very, very encouraging. The future is bright for them and the organization. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be fun for those guys."
Both Herro and Nunn are soft-spoken and mild-mannered in front of the media, but they carry a confident demeanor on the court that is hard to miss. That's why Nunn didn't hesitate with his answer when he was asked if the Heat has the top rookie duo in the league.
"Of course. We knew that, though," Nunn said. "That's why we challenge each other to be even better and to take it to another level because we know what we're capable of."
_ Butler is expected to return and make his regular-season debut with Miami on Tuesday against the Hawks after missing the first three games on paternity leave.
_ With G League training camp beginning Monday, Heat two-way contract guard Daryl Macon traveled to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to join the Heat's developmental affiliate following Sunday's loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Heat's other two-way contract player, forward Chris Silva, is expected to remain with the Heat for now.
