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Ira Winderman: Erik Spoelstra says not happy with dialogue about Jaime Jaquez Jr. Say two had good conversation. Says improvement will come. “He and I just talked about clearing his mind.”
The Heat’s final offer included Andrew Wiggins, Terry Rozier, two bench players and the 20th pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft. Haywood Highsmith and Jaime Jaquez Jr. were discussed as those two additional pieces in Miami’s offer, the source said. In order for Miami to make the deal cap compliant and offer the Suns more than only Wiggins, Rozier and the 20th pick, Miami was willing to take on the salary of an unnamed Suns player, according to an Eastern Conference source.
Heat turned down opportunity to place Haywood Highsmith, Jaime Jaquez, Nikola Jovic, No. 20 pick in Durant trade offer
The Heat made multiple offers for Kevin Durant but ultimately turned down the opportunity to place Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic, Haywood Highsmith, the No. 20 pick and other draft assets in a deal, sources said.
The Miami Heat isn’t even two months into its offseason yet, but it has already been an eventful one for forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. There have been basketball workouts with NBA skills trainer Chris Brickley in New York, there have been basketball workouts at Kaseya Center and there has also been some time spent as a member of the media.
Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. is one of four NBA players who will serve as media correspondents for this year’s NBA Finals series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers. The NBA Player Correspondent Program gives players the opportunity to serve as media correspondents at events such as the NBA Draft, All-Star Weekend and NBA Finals. Jaquez will take on that role on the NBA’s social platforms for Sunday’s Game 2 in Oklahoma City.
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The NBA Player Correspondent Program, which gives players the opportunity to serve as media correspondents at events such as the NBA Draft, All-Star Weekend and NBA Finals, is back. The four players who will provide on-the-ground coverage directly to NBA social and digital platforms this year are: the Philadelphia 76ers’ Jared McCain (Game 1), the Miami Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Game 2), the Atlanta Hawks’ Dyson Daniels (Game 3) and the Chicago Bulls’ Matas Buzelis (Game 4). At each assigned game, the player correspondents will be on the ground giving inside access from Oklahoma City and Indiana, beginning with Wednesday’s NBA Finals Media Day.
After establishing himself as one of the NBA’s top rookies last season, Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. was just looking to build on that momentum last summer. But after enduring a shaky sophomore NBA campaign, Jaquez is just looking to learn from what went wrong this season. “I think it was an extremely humbling experience,” Jaquez said on exit interview day. “Sometimes things don’t go your way. And sometimes only after do you realize why that had to happen to you. So I’m taking it all with me in the summer. I’m just going to get right back to work.”
There are times when accepting defeat can be particularly painful, and the Miami Heat’s first-round destruction by the Cleveland Cavaliers is a stinging example. But there also can be times when accepting defeat affords a turn to something better. That is where Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. stands at the moment, after a dream rookie season turned into a crushing sophomore reality. “It was an extremely humbling experience,” Jaquez said during the Heat’s exit interviews, of a second season that left him out of the rotation and largely as a bystander to the team’s postseason carnage. “Sometimes things don’t go your way, and sometimes only after do you realize why that had happened to you.”
The Heat is hoping to become the first 10th-place team in either conference to make the playoffs from the play-in tournament since this current play-in format was first instituted for the 2020-21 season. “We embrace this challenge,” Heat second-year forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. said.
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Ira Winderman: Jaime Jaquez Jr. said he is looking into the possibilities of seeing his sister and UCLA play in the NCAA Tournament Final Four in Tampa on Friday, with that championship game on Sunday. The Heat are at home and off both of those days.
The feelings between the Heat and Butler are not as positive at the moment after the ugly ending to their time together. Whether there are boos or cheers for Butler from the Miami crowd at Kaseya Center remains to be seen, but there’s expected to be plenty of extra motivation on both sides for Tuesday’s game even if some of the players involved don’t want to admit it. “It’s going to be exciting,” Heat second-year forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. said. “I’m sure this place is going to be jumping. We’re excited, I’m sure he’s going to be. It’s going to be an epic battle, for sure.”
Anthony Chiang: Jaime Jaquez Jr. after this morning's shootaround: “As much of a struggle as this is, I think it’s really bringing us closer together as a team. I think a lot of times adversity can make guys point the finger and go in opposite directions. However, I feel like we’re really coming together and getting a lot closer as a team, just trying to find a way out of this.”
Anthony Chiang: Heat starting Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Haywood Highsmith and Bam Adebayo tonight vs. Knicks. Andrew Wiggins is out with a lower leg contusion.
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