Jaime Jaquez Jr ready to get back to his old ways

Apr 28, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Jaylon Tyson (24) in the fourth quarter during game four for the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Jaime Jaquez Jr has a clear lane to being a pivotal offensive option in the rotation to start the season. He knows that. Spo knows that. Fans know that.

He saw a dip in confidence last season as he hit that second year wall early in his sophomore season, which led to a dip in a lot of shooting percentages as well. He became a common off the catch threat as his on-ball duties were slowly stripped, and his reactive and fast style came to a halt.

Jaime Jaquez Jr on his focus after a rough 2nd season:

“Looking myself in the mirror and figuring out what I need to do to improve.”

Says sometimes you can be your own worst enemy and get in your head. pic.twitter.com/spcGWRq4OW

— Will Manso (@WillManso) September 29, 2025

That led to Jaquez having an off-season of reflection over the last few months. Is it simply about developing and growing his game? Or may it be even deeper than that?

Jaquez Jr talked on Media Day Monday morning about his area of focus heading into his third season, and his thoughts were clear: he needed to get back to his old ways of playing free.

"There's a lot of things I want to add, but as well as that just leaning into a lot of my strengths. Understanding what got me here and what I did to get on the court in the first place. So just leaning into my strengths."

To further explain what he means, there was such an emphasis on morphing into a new version of himself after his rookie season. Even he said it himself in the exit interviews after that season, where he proclaimed he wanted to become a "lockdown defender and knockdown shooter."

Focusing on the things he needed to improve sort of forced him to lose focus on the things he already possessed. The main thing that includes is getting downhill in his free-flowing style, running in transition as often as possible, and getting back to his off-ball cutting ways.

So the goal for Jaquez Jr this season may not be about setting brand new goals to go and reach. After a humbling second season, it's about grasping all the strengths from his rookie season and maximizing those things.