The Miami Heat have a knack for finding diamonds in the rough: players that nobody believed in but proved to embody plenty of potential talent. This past off-season in Miami was tough to swallow after the Heat missed out on Damian Lillard and didn’t make any eye-catching off-season moves. All the chatter about their lack of direction caused them to spiral downward. However, critics forgot one move that the Heat made: The drafting of UCLA small forward Jaime Jazquez Jr.
The Heat selected him with the 18th pick of the NBA draft, a pick that they got thanks to how subpar they performed in the regular season. The team initially overlooked Jazquez Jr, as he spent all four years in college, a rarity for players heading into the NBA. That experience would prove a blessing for the player, molding him into one of the most mature and NBA-ready rookies. Before the season even began, these were the comments that were being made about him by his Heat teammates:
“He makes all the right plays. He plays like a vet. I think the experience in the NCAA Tournament, he's very, very smart.”
- Jimmy Butler
"Jaime’s not a regular rookie, a guy that's experienced; he's been in big games; he's been in those games where he's needed to be a leader; he's needed to be the one option, and that's through all those years in college,"
- Bam Adebayo
So far this season, Jaime Jazquez Jr has averaged 8.9 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.2 APG, on 49.5 fg%. Those stats might not jump out at you, but in typical Miami Heat fashion, the stats don’t tell the whole story. He’s doing all the little things: playing good defense, hustling for loose balls, and being in the right spots on the court. Most importantly, he is willing to play whatever role is assigned. Too many rookies nowadays come into the NBA with inflated egos and immediately want to be the star player on the team and pout on the bench for when they’re not getting too many minutes.
If you needed any more evidence about how trustworthy he has been so far, look no further than what Erik Spoelstra had to say about him after one of Miami’s recent games:
“All of those things that you need to win on the road and that you would like to develop out of your team, those are his strengths,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “The grit, the perseverance, the mental and the emotional stability. He’s learning things, but he typically doesn’t make the same mistake twice. So these experiences in the fourth quarter are like exponential 10x opportunities for him.”
Jaime Jazquez that same night said this about his improving confidence and comfortability in the team
“I just learned and felt like this is where I belong,” Jaquez said. “This is where I want to be, in the NBA. I feel like I can play. There’s a lot of things I still need to learn, but I felt comfortable out there and I felt like I’m ready to play and that I belong in this league.”
The Heat are coming off a loss to the Chicago Bulls that snapped their seven-game winning streak, currently standing at 8-5 after starting the season 1-4 thanks to the surging Jaime Jazquez. Jazquez on the Heat has proved to be a match made in Heaven. Heat fans all around Miami are excited to see him continue to rise in a Miami Heat uniform.
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