Former UCLA Star Flying High After Rough Start to NBA Season

Former UCLA star Jaime Jaquez Jr. is starting to find his rhythm with the Miami Heat during the 2024-25 NBA season.

Jan 17, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) drives to the basket against the Denver Nuggets during the fourth quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Miami Heat wing Jaime Jaquez Jr. was one of the most pleasant surprises in the NBA last season, as he showed major potential on both ends of the floor during a strong rookie campaign.

The former UCLA star played in 75 games last year, averaging 11.9 points and 3.8 rebounds over 28.2 minutes per game on 48.9/32.2/81.1 shooting splits to finish fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. He also displayed some pretty great defensive chops.

Jaquez was viewed as a breakout candidate heading into the 2024-25 campaign, but he got off to one heck of a rough start over the first couple of months, especially with his jump shot.

However, it appears that the 23-year-old is righting the ship.

During the month of January, Jaquez is logging 12 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists a night while making 48.9 percent of his field-goal attempts and 43.5 percent of his three-point tries.

Contrast that with December, when Jaquez shot a mere 40.6 percent from the floor and 16.7 percent from deep, and you see how much progress he has made.

Even at UCLA, Jaquez was not known as a perimeter shooter, as he connected on only 32.8 percent of his long-distance attempts over the course of four seasons with the Bruins.

So, 3-point shooting has never been his thing.

However, he is certainly better than what he showed from beyond the arc in the early stages of this NBA season, and he appears to be breaking through in the new year.

Jaquez will likely never be a star, but he has demonstrated that he could be an outstanding glue guy in the right situation and could absolutely be a key contributor on a contending team.

Last summer, there were rumors that the Heat could potentially move Jaquez as part of a package for a star player, indicating that he was generating quite a bit of buzz around the league.

Obviously, his rough start to the year changed things in that regard, but he is now starting to display why many thought so highly of him after last season.

We'll see if Jaquez can maintain his newfound 3-ball moving forward.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @UCLAInsideronSI and @tcav30 and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.