Heat reserve has shown massive improvement in early season

NBA growth comes from the countless hours spent privately working in the lab. The start of every season is the first chance to get eyeballs on the players to see how committed they were in the summer, especially the younger ones. It’s undeniable for a few Heatles thriving, but most evident in Jaime Jaquez Jr..

Jaquez is ascending as the leader of the second unit for the Miami Heat. He is the team’s fourth-leading scorer(16.2), and his other numbers are up across the board. But the real sign he’s a difference maker is that he can make an impact on a rough shooting night, too. The latest on that was flying around in the 2-3 zone that helped the Heat come back from a 15-point deficit and take a brief lead in the fourth quarter in San Antonio. Coach Erik Spoelstra gave him props after the loss for it. Jaquez also called multiple huddles to keep everyone on point.

As an attacker, his return to form as an inside threat makes the Heat more dangerous than people think. Sure, it’s only been five games, but the Spurs and Orlando Magic (even them despite their record) are good teams, and Jaquez is logging an outrageous 90.5 percent accuarcy at 0-3 feet and 39.6 percent of his atempts are from that spot.

His nifty footwork and a soft touch at 6-foot-6 is a valuable weapon. The quicker pace the Heat are playing at, which is first in the league, has helped him look better because of less time against set defenses. He hasn’t maxed out yet because he can get a bit stronger, and the 3-point shot hasn’t come around so far.

The challenge for Spoelstra will be organizing the minutes so he still gets plenty when Tyler Herro returns from foot/ankle surgery. Keep in mind that Herro's minutes should climb to around 35 per game.

Jaquez's breakthrough has been so impactful that he’s surprisingly averaging eight extra minutes per game than Nikola Jović, who was drafted a year ahead. Considering Jaquez’s rough second season in which his minutes fell significantly (7.5), and his response, it might be in the best interest of the club to extend him as early as possible, as they did for Jović.

If he keeps up this level of action for 82 games, he’ll be a candidate for the most improved player crown and sixth man of the year honors. Think of the price of the brick if there is another pronounced leap in abilities.

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