Jaime Jaquez Jr. is looking at a number of areas for improvement, the Heat guard told Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, with three-point shooting being a high priority.
“My three-point shooting, that’s an area that I really wanted to improve,” Jaquez said. “I feel like I needed to improve if we wanted to, as a team, make the strides and jumps that we need to try to win a championship. And just really honing in on mechanics and getting a bunch of reps up.”
Jaquez, the 18th pick of the 2023 draft, averaged 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 28.2 minutes per game during his rookie campaign. His perimeter shooting is a work in progress — he made just 32.2% of his 3-point attempts last season.
We have more on the Heat:
- Bam Adebayo was rewarded with a three-year max extension this summer. Now, the Heat center and captain is focused on his leadership responsibilities. “I think a leading man isn’t only a scorer,” Adebayo told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I feel like everybody, when they think of a leading man, they think of scoring. I feel like that’s not the only thing a leading man can do.” What’s is the biggest thing a leader can bring to an organization? Adebayo has a pointed answer. “Being a leading man simply means win, no matter how that looks,” he said. “Winning takes care of all the other things that people want to put a narrative behind.”
- Terry Rozier was sidelined by a neck injury late last season. He’s still working his way back but should be ready by training camp, according to Chiang. “Where I’m at right now is just about fully, fully, fully cleared to play 5-on-5,” Rozier said. “But I am doing every on-court activity, playing a little bit of 3-on-3. So I figure in the next couple weeks, I’ll be graduating to 5-on-5. I feel great.”
- Nikola Jovic revealed he suffered a “little fracture” in his left ankle early this summer. He expects to participate in training camp but might have to play it cautiously with his left ankle and foot to avoid any setbacks. “We’re making sure that my foot is good after every practice because the injury I had is of course not a joke and we really don’t want any new problems with it,” said Jovic, per Chiang. “So during training camp, I wouldn’t say I’m going to sit down or anything, but of course you just want to make sure that everything is good. If something starts hurting by any chance, I’ll probably need to step away.”
All true eastern contenders have improved while heat have done nothing. Why not trade for Kuzma?
With what? Robinson and Ware works financially but what’s in it for the Wiz?
Jaquez and Jovic, I expect will solidify their rotation. Time to step up. Both capable.
Like to see LaVine in Miami.
Any contender status that MIA has had over the past few years has been tied to Butler. With his age and contract situation, and the team above both Aprons, while having little in the way of trade assets, standing pat was the right move.
If Butler is healthy going into the playoffs, they’re still dangerous. If he isn’t, they aren’t. I don’t think there’s a realistic trade target out there that moves that needle, factoring in that they can’t take back more in salary than they send out, and also can’t aggregate salaries in a trade, among other restrictions.
The Heat are as done as Butlers days of 82 games a season…
They should retool around Bam but have backed themselves into a corner waiting for expansion to give them a desperate team looking for a name to market…