Basketball

The next on-court steps for Sixth Man of the Year finalist Jaime Jaquez Jr

By Brady Hawk Sports Illustrated

When discussing bounce back stories in not only the Miami Heat's world, but also the NBA landscape, Jaime Jaquez Jr was one of the best cases of responding strongly after a rough year.

It all started with setting the bar high in his rookie year. Immediate rotational minutes, highlight spins and finishes in the paint, and an elite level of impact in the open floor.

His under control game seemed to translate well coming out of UCLA, but that was before defenses began to adjust to his style and counter his spins and combos throughout his second year.

So that took him into a crucial off-season, after a year that consisted of him sitting on the end of the bench for a good portion of it after some rough play.

He got into the lab heading into camp as it appeared the Heat's wing room was only expanding, and he broke away strongly in the pack during his fourth year.

The Miami Heat revamped their offense to a completely new outlook, which included no screens, isolation attacks one-on-one, and open court transition opportunities.

Basically a Jaquez Jr type offense.

"I think I was able to just get in the paint, really put pressure on defenses, make the right reads," Jaquez Jr said during his exit interviews this week on the way this offense helped him.

Those were just a few of the elements that pushed him to putting up 15.4 points a night off the bench across 75 games, including making 56% of his twos which mirrored his rookie season numbers, except on way more attempts.

This pushed him into Sixth man of the year conversations all season, which was recently cemented after being one of the three finalists for the award, along with Keldon Johnson and Tim Hardaway Jr.

It wasn't just the scoring that got him this attention, since as he mentioned earlier, his passing jump has seriously pushed him into becoming a much more complete all around player.

But heading into his fourth season and coming off a big year, what is the next piece on the floor to really help him become that complete guy?

It's one thing and one thing only: finding that three ball.

We talk about improving this area for plenty of guys, but it's the true answer for Jaquez Jr who has shot 32% or below from beyond the arc in each of his three seasons in the NBA.

But those numbers were trending upward to close out the year. He had a big April which included leading the team in scoring with 20.2 points a night, but the big shift was him knocking down 44% of his threes on close to 4 attempts.

Is April a small sample size? Absolutely.

But it's important to build that type of momentum into the off-season where that'll be prioritized completely.

He has the catch and go game. He has the off the dribble one-on-one game. He has the back to the basket mid-post game. The inside the arc stuff has been a given, but the only way to eliminate defenses from loading up on him down there is by making his outside shot a semi-threat.

His footwork is what makes his scoring inside so effective, and I ultimately think shot base and footwork is what can possibly shift his percentages in a positive direction on the perimeter.

The release and shooting motion hasn't seemed like the problem up to this point.

If Jaquez Jr can return in his fourth season next year with a respectable three ball with the hope that it'll occur on increased attempts, the Miami Heat's staff will be extremely encouraged about his long off-season.



This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/heat/onsi as The next on-court steps for Sixth Man of the Year finalist Jaime Jaquez Jr.

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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 6:00 AM.

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