Miami Heat Select UCLA's Jaime Jaquez Jr. in 1st Round of NBA Draft
A new posterboy of Heat Culture is on his way to Miami.
The Miami Heat selected UCLA men's basketball wing Jaime Jaquez Jr. with the No. 18 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft on Thursday night. The 22-year-old with a reputation for diving on loose balls and bumping bodies in the post becomes the highest-drafted Bruin since Lonzo Ball in 2017.
When he first declared for the draft, Jaquez was widely considered to be a second-rounder. Jaquez reportedly impressed scouts and executives at the combine and in workouts, though, spinning that stock boost into an invitation to the draft's green room on Tuesday.
UCLA has now had a player go in the first round for the second year in a row, with Jaquez following in the footsteps of Peyton Watson, who went No. 30 overall to the Denver Nuggets in 2022. This marks the first time Bruins have gone in the first in back-to-back drafts since 2017 and 2018.
As for Jaquez's destination, he is joining a team that has been to the NBA Finals in both 2020 and 2023. Led by All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, Jaquez will leap into a rotation that already includes overperforming role players such as Caleb Martin, Max Strus, Duncan Robinson and Gabe Vincent.
Jaquez led UCLA with 17.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game this season, and he ranked second on the team with 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per game. Jaquez put up career highs in every major count stat, in addition to shooting a career-best 77.0% from the free throw line.
Appearing in all 37 of the Bruins games this season, Jaquez scored double figures in 34. The senior helped lead the team to a 31-6 record, a Pac-12 regular season title and a third-straight Sweet 16 appearance.
The 6-foot-6 wing was towards the top of the conference leaderboards in several categories, ranking No. 2 in points per game, No. 5 in rebounds per game, No. 4 in steals per game, No. 4 in player efficiency rating, No. 1 in win shares, No. 2 in offensive win shares, No. 1 in defensive win shares and No. 2 in win shares per 40 minutes.
Jaquez was named Pac-12 Player of the Year, as well as making the All-Pac-12 First Team for the second season in a row. In addition to winning the Lute Olson Award for being the nation's most outstanding player, Jaquez was also named a consensus Second Team All-American.
For his career, Jaquez shot 52.4% from inside the arc, 32.8% from deep and 73.7% from the charity stripe. Jaquez finished his career in Westwood ranked No. 8 on the school's all-time scoring list, No. 8 on the all-time steals list and No. 11 on the all-time rebounds list after 134 appearances – which rank No. 9 in program history.
By joining a competitive Heat squad, Jaquez is now in a position to be a part of another competitive program for the foreseeable future.
UCLA went on two have two more players come off the board Thursday night. Guard Amari Bailey went No. 41 overall to the Charlotte Hornets, while guard Jaylen Clark went No. 53 overall to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Point guard Tyger Campbell and guard David Singleton went undrafted, and will now look to sign G League or summer league deals in the coming days.
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