Miami Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. adapting to NBA schedule
MIAMI – The narrative in recent days has been of Jaime Jaquez Jr. breaking through the rookie wall, of how the Miami Heat rookie has been able to take his game to another level after playing the equivalent of a typical college season.
But upon further examination, it is clear that Jaquez rarely played typical college seasons, based on the number of pre-conference tournament games and then NCAA Tournament games in his four seasons at UCLA.
With Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Kaseya Center the 27th of the Heat’s season, consider that last season, Jaquex played 37 games at UCLA. Jaquez, drafted at No. 18 by the Heat last June, entered Monday having played 727 minutes this season. Last season, he played 1,229 with the Bruins.
As a matter of comparison, Precious Achiuwa played 737 minutes in his Heat rookie season after being drafted at No. 20 in 2020. From that perspective, Jaquez has almost played a full Heat rookie season.
The difference is the trust, the contribution from the start, having now scored in double figures in 13 consecutive games, the longest Heat rookie streak since Dwyane Wade did it in 15 in a row in 2003.
What has drawn the attention of Jaquez is the compact nature of the NBA schedule, with Monday night standing as the Heat’s fourth game in six nights. Outside of conference tournaments for lower seeds, that is not something you see on the collegiate level.
“This is the job,” the 6-foot-6 wing said by his locker. “I mean, I have a lot of fun playing these games. This is what I love to do. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.
“I will say, yeah, it definitely is an adjustment, as far as travel and being around the games and the wear and tear on your body.”
In that regard, there also is an appreciation of the expansive training staff on the pro level.
“It’s why you’ve got a great group of guys that are a part of this team that help with treatment in the weight room, trying to get your body in prime position to be able to go out and play these games,” he said. “So it’s all about being professional and taking care of yourself.”
Jaquez said it doesn’t mean he was fully braced for the grind, but he entered with an appreciation of the challenge.
“I would just say the amount of travel and games played,” he said of his biggest adjustment. “Eighty-two games, you hear it, but to go through it and two months in now, you start to feel it and it makes a big difference.
“But that’s part of the game, is just take care of the body. Recovery always comes first, and make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”
While he might not already have reached the thresholds achieved at UCLA, when he played 31, 32, 34 and 37 games over his respective four seasons, the strides already have made him look like more than your typical NBA rookie.
“At this point, he’s pretty close to playing a full college season, at this level, which you have also a longer game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It really is a college season that he’s already played, in the context of everything.
“He’s pretty well versed and experienced for an NBA rookie at this point.”
As Bulls coach Billy Donovan noted during his team’s just-completed two-game set against the Heat at Kaseya Center, Jaquez’s experience two months shy of his 23rd birthday is undeniable.
“He’s got a really good feel,” Donovan said, “has been able to come in and fit in – tough, competitive, physical, makes physical plays both defensively and offensively.
“I think he’ll only get better with more games, more reps, more opportunity. But he certainly, I think, has made huge contributions to their team.”
All, Spoelstra said, while still growing into the job, as the minutes and games add up.
“He’s very mature,” Spoelstra said. “He’s mentally and emotionally stable, so I think that puts him ahead of the game, just in terms of, even though he doesn’t know all the tendencies of the league or even know exactly all of our schemes and how we do things, he knows how to compete.
“He knows how to figure things out and make an impact on the scoreboard. That kind of trumps everything. He’s been able to manage all of things that come at him, because of those strengths that he has.”
