It’s no secret that Jaime Jaquez Jr. turned plenty of heads during his rookie campaign, from his viral fourth-quarter turnaround fadeaway over LeBron James in a tightly contested January matchup, to the numerous times that Erik Spoelstra called upon him in late-game moments throughout the season. It is clear that the Miami Heat have found yet another gem in the draft.
The deceptively explosive small forward flashed a veteran-like skillset as a rookie and earned an uncommon amount of trust from Spoelstra. He averaged just more than 8 minutes per game in the fourth quarter and earned first-team All-Rookie honors.
Despite a slight setback due to a mid-season groin injury, Jaquez finished the year at just under 12 points on 49% shooting, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists while logging about 28 minutes per game.
But in this what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, Jaquez’s rookie year success begs the question: What does Jaquez’s second season look like in Miami?
Jaime Jaquez’ offseason work 🔥
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One thing that’s not going away? The post-ups that proved to be Jaquez’s bread and butter. As a rookie, Jaquez ranked in the 66th percentile by scoring on 51.6% of his post-ups, per NBA.com. After the Heat lost Caleb Martin to the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency, Jaquez is likely to see more playing time and it’s plausible that we’ll see more of him in the post. Does that combination of more playing time and more responsibility result in a higher-scoring clip overall? It’s likely, considering how seasoned Jaquez already is and the Heat’s need for consistent offense.
In terms of looking ahead toward the evolution of Jaquez’s offensive arsenal, a few offseason workout videos have surfaced of him working on his 3-point shot as well as some pickup runs with Zach LaVine and Thomas Bryant, where he is seen flashing some new moves off the dribble, creating even more positive buzz around the fanbase. With all of these things considered, Heat fans can expect even more production from Jaquez in his second year.
Along with his established offensive imprint, Jaime made a strong impression on the defensive end. The Heat hang their hats on defense, especially when it comes to forcing turnovers. Jaquez had 77 total steals last season, which ranked third among all rookies just behind Victor Wembanyama and Amen Thompson.
It’s safe to say that Jaquez outperformed his expectations on both ends of the court as a rookie, which has Heat brass overjoyed with their 2023 first-round selection. Despite being recognized as first-team All-Rookie, Jaquez still made it a point to join the Heat summer league team in Las Vegas.
“There’s nothing better than getting game reps. You can’t beat it,” Jaquez told reporters in Las Vegas. “All the work that you do in the gym, it doesn’t matter if you can’t translate it to the game. To be able to come out here and compete in Team USA, those are game reps. Here [at summer league], those are game reps. I was happy and grateful to be able to do it.”
That mindset is the Miami Heat personified. The organization has found its next building block in Jaime Jaquez Jr. because of how he approaches the game, and it shows in more ways than one.
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