Does Jaime Jaquez Jr. deserve to be in Most Improved Player conversations?

Jaime Jaquez Jr. has had quite the bounce-back season for the Miami Heat. The third-year player was a standout rookie and then had what was considered to be a down year last season, to the point that he was removed from the night-to-night rotation towards the end.

Now, he's considered to be a serious candidate for Most Improved Player. The Ringer's Bill Simmons and ESPN's Tim Legler, two well-known and respected NBA analysts, challenged Jaquez's candidacy for the sometimes controversial award.

"Jaime Jaquez has really bounced back from like last year when I was kind of like, man, because I liked him so much when he first came into the league and I didn't know what was going on. He looks great this year," Legler said, to which Simmons responded with a question.

"Can you win Most Improved just because you sucked the year before and you were super disappointing and then you became good again?"

Bill Simmons and Tim Legler say Jaime should be disqualified from Most improved award

“Can you win most improved just because you sucked then became good again? If you reach a level your rookie year, then take a big dip, then reclaim that plus a little more, no you should… pic.twitter.com/54JaUMRYIY
— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) November 14, 2025

"You know what? I love this conversation. So here's what I think. If you reached a level, and for him it was just a rookie year, but still he played at a certain level, and then you take a big dip and then you reclaim that, plus maybe a little bit more right over what you were? No, I think he should be probably disqualified from that award."

As a rookie, he averaged 11.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and a steal on 48.9 percent shooting from the field. Last season, the production dipped, averaging 8.6 points on 46 percent shooting. Notably, his efficiency also went down, with his finishing at the rim going down by three percent and his mid-range percentage plummeting by 10.

Jaquez is averaging 17.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.2 assists, converting on 54.4 percent of his field goals.

"I would say he's DQ'd. Yeah. This is the guy we thought he was going to be last year and he was super disappointing," Simmons concluded. "So yeah, you don't qualify. Sorry Jaime Jaquez."

The award, historically, is one that has been polarizing at times because it inherently has so much to do with subjective expectations before the season. However, it's hard to understate how important Jaquez and the bench units have been to the Heat surpassing expectations.

Last season, the Heat were outscored by 5.57 points per 100 possessions when Jaquez was on the court and outscored opposing teams by 3.89 points per 100 when he wasn't. This season, the Heat have outscored teams by 13.48 points per 100 possessions when Jaquez has been on the floor and have been outscored by 11.45 points per 100 when he's off the court.

Jaquez has been one of the best finishers in the league, converting on 70 percent of his shots at the rim, (about 10 percent better than he did last season).

Also he's converting on 44 percent of his twos beyond five feet, a nine percent improvement from last season, and is taking a career-high number of free throw attempts.

Perhaps most notably, Jaquez has taken another step as a playmaker, as his coach has pointed to so many times already this season. Along with doubling his assists per game, he's posting career high assist and turnover percentages despite the uptick in usage.

Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, covering the Heat and NBA. He can be reached at toledoalexander22@gmail.com. Twitter: @tropicalblanket

Does Jaime Jaquez Jr. deserve to be in Most Improved Player conversations?

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