Jaime Jaquez Jr finds himself next to a former MVP in one important category

Jaime Jaquez Jr is putting himself in early conversation for the sixth man of the year award when evaluating the first four games of the season.

His 18.8 points per game only trails one other bench player in points totals, which is Jerami Grant of the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Heat are totally leaning into him as a primary ball-handler and option within any lineup he's playing in. His isolation possessions are spiking, he's getting past his defender to generate paint touches often, and simply finishing at the basket at an incredible rate.

Back to the Jaime Jaquez film we go

Team leading 28 points on 9 of 14 shooting

Quick thread:
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) October 29, 2025

Jaquez Jr is 29 for 37 from two point land in these opening four games. That efficiency finds him in elite company to start the season, as the only other player averaging 18 points per game or more on at least 68% shooting overall is Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Granted, Antetokounmpo is doing it with almost double the points per game total, but the fact that his efficiency levels are comparable to a dominant former MVP and NBA champion, after expectations of possibly not being a rotation player for the Heat before the season, are truly astounding.

This dominance in the paint naturally leads to one thing: a ton of collapsing defenders any time he gets two feet in the paint. Whether it's the big man at the rim rotating for help or an off-ball defender from the corner dropping down, he's seeing a ton of attention at the moment.

Naturally, that forces him to lean into his play-making bag more often, which has been on absolute display as of late.

Lastly, my favorite part of his game last night

The Heat’s offense has become isolation reps-paint touch-kick-out three

Just look at the defense collapsing on his drives

Sprays right out to the shooters

When a guy has 20 at half, this is what the defense does pic.twitter.com/0KCMZnW2aQ
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) October 29, 2025

If somebody told you that Jaime Jaquez Jr was averaging the second most assists a night on the Miami Heat this year, I'd guess you would be shaking your head in disagreement.

His 4.3 dimes a night has him only trailing the Heat's point guard Davion Mitchell at 8.3 a game. The thing about those two names is that they're doing it in comparable ways. These aren't simple swing passes that are juicing up their numbers. These are legitimate paint touches, help drawn, and kick-out threes.

Jaquez isn't just excelling in the ways that he did in his rookie season to initially put him on the map. These are real improvements and built in counters that have been on display, which is leading to some unreal efficiency that many in the league have been unable to match.

His confidence is high, he's as healthy as he's been in some time, and he's playing with something to prove. Erik Spoelstra will continue to trust him as a key piece of this revived offense.