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Jaime Jaquez

Heat Notes: Jovic, Swider, Williams, Jaquez

July 13th, 2024 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

A report from Serbian outlet Meridian Sport (hat tip to Eurohoops) suggests that forward Nikola Jovic suffered a fracture in his ankle joint in the spring, but the Heat continue to refer to Jovic’s injury – which he sustained last month during a drill at Kaseya Center – as a left ankle sprain and a fractured toe, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

According to Chiang, the injury has improved in recent weeks and the Heat expect the former first-round pick to be available when training camps tip off this fall. However, Jovic’s status for the Olympics remains up in the air.

The Heat haven’t ruled out the possibility of medically clearing Jovic prior to the Olympics, a league source tells Chiang, but that clearance hasn’t happened yet. And even if the team does clear him, the Serbian basketball federation will make the final decision on Jovic’s status for the Paris Games, Chiang adds.

According to Meridian Sport, Jovic didn’t travel with the Serbian national team for its exhibition games in France (on July 12) and in Abu Dhabi (vs. Australia and the U.S. on July 16-17).

Here’s more on the Heat:

  • In a separate story for The Miami Herald, Chiang examines what it means for the Heat’s roster that they withdrew their qualifying offers to Cole Swider and Alondes Williams. As Chiang details, Miami doesn’t have room under the second tax apron to add a 15th man at this point, but could still rotate players in and out of its two-way contract slots. While the Heat aren’t technically hard-capped at the second apron, they’ve made it clear they have no desire to surpass that threshold unless it’s to acquire a star player.
  • The Heat made an early playoff exit this spring and haven’t done much to upgrade their roster this summer, but they still believe they’re capable of contending if they stay healthy, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Jackson isn’t so sure, arguing that Miami isn’t among the top tier of Eastern Conference teams and making the case that the front office should at least consider the possibility of a Jimmy Butler trade before the season begins.
  • Second-year forward Jaime Jaquez isn’t concerned about the Heat’s relatively quiet offseason, suggesting that the front office’s lack of major moves reflects its confidence in the current group — and in the team’s developmental prowess. “I think when you look at what they’ve been doing in the offseason, they’re betting on the guys that they’ve brought in here, guys that they have drafted,” Jaquez said this week, according to Chiang. “As a player, you got to respect that and you want to make good on their bets. Betting on us, so it’s our job, especially us younger guys like myself and (Jovic), to step up into these roles and take that challenge. I think we’re both ready for it.”
  • Jaquez, who is on the Heat’s Summer League roster in Las Vegas, added that he’s going to work on improving his “leadership skills” this month.
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USA Basketball Announces 15-Man Select Team

June 28th, 2024 at 11:46am CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball has announced in a press release that a 15-man Select Team will train with the U.S. Olympic squad as it prepares for the upcoming Olympics. The Select Team, which is made up mostly of younger players and some who have previous Team USA experience, will work out with the men’s national team in Las Vegas from July 6-8.

The members of the Select Team are as follows:

Perhaps the most notable name on the list is Flagg, who has committed to Duke and will begin his first college basketball season in the fall. He’s viewed as a strong candidate to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft.

Duren, Galloway, Murphy, Murray, and Pritchard were part of the U.S. Select Team that trained with the national team ahead of the 2023 World Cup.

It’s possible some of these players will use their Select Team experience as a springboard to represent Team USA in international competitions down the road. Kawhi Leonard, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards, and Tyrese Haliburton are among the players on this year’s Olympic team that were members of a Select Team earlier in their respective careers.

The select team will be coached by Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, who will be joined by assistants Jim Boylen and Matt Painter. Boylen, a former Bulls head coach and current Pacers assistant, was Team USA’s head coach during the qualifying contests. Painter has been the longtime head coach at Purdue.

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International Notes: Mexico City Game, James, Teodosic, Harper

June 14th, 2024 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s Mexico City Game in 2024 will feature a pair of Southeast rivals, as the Heat and Wizards will match up in the contest on Saturday, November 2, the league announced today in a press release. It will be the NBA’s 14th regular season contest and 33rd game overall in Mexico.

The game will be the fourth in Mexico for the Wizards, who last played there in 2019, and the third for the Heat. Since Miami’s last visit in 2022, the team has added Mexican-American forward Jaime Jaquez, which likely factored into the NBA’s decision to have the team return just two years later.

Here are a few more updates from around the international basketball world:

  • Reigning EuroLeague MVP Mike James has a new three-year deal in place with AS Monaco Basket, the team officially announced on Friday (via Twitter). The former NBA guard was initially said to be nearing an agreement a week ago before Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com reported that James was considering testing the open market. According to Urbonas (Twitter link), Monaco improved its offer to ensure that a deal got done. James previously appeared in 49 NBA games from 2017-21 with the Suns, Pelicans, and Nets.
  • Former NBA guard Milos Teodosic, who played for the Clippers from 2017-19, will spend another season with Crvena Zvezda in Serbia. The team announced (via Twitter) that it has signed the 37-year-old to a new one-year contract (hat tip to Sportando).
  • Valencia Basket and Jared Harper, who suited up for the Suns, Knicks, and Pelicans from 2019-22, have parted ways, the Spanish club announced in a press release. A former All-NBAGL first-teamer, Harper spent the past two seasons with Valencia but will be a free agent this summer.
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NBA Announces 2023/24 All-Rookie Teams

May 20th, 2024 at 1:07pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA officially unveiled the two All-Rookie teams for the 2023/24 season on Monday (Twitter links). The teams are as follows:

First Team

Second Team

Unsurprisingly, Wembanyama and Holmgren were unanimous selections to the first team (Twitter link). Last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Wembanyama was also the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year, with Holmgren receiving all but one second-place vote for that award.

The entire first team mirrored the Rookie of the Year balloting, with Miller, Jaquez and Podziemski coming in third through fifth. Lively received the most points for the second team, followed by Thompson, George, Wallace and Jackson.

Jackson is the only All-Rookie member who wasn’t drafted in the first round; he was selected 45th overall in 2023 and initially signed a two-way contract. He was converted to a standard contract in February.

The current youngest player in the NBA, Jackson didn’t start receiving regular minutes until mid-January. The 19-year-old put up some big numbers down the stretch though, including 31 points and 44 points in the final two games of the season.

Jackson beat out Warriors big man Trayce Jackson-Davis for the final spot on the second team by a single point. Jackson actually received fewer overall votes (38 vs. 42 for Jackson-Davis), but earned the nod by receiving five first-team votes, which were worth two points apiece (second-team votes were worth one point each).

A total of 22 rookies received at least one vote. Aside from Jackson-Davis, the other top finishers who didn’t make the cut were Pistons forward Ausar Thompson (35 points), Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson (33), and Wizards wing Bilal Coulibaly (14). Ausar is Amen’s identical twin brother.

All-Rookie was one of the awards that didn’t require players to meet the newly instituted 65-game minimum. Jackson, Lively, Thompson, and Wallace didn’t meet that criteria, but they were still eligible for All-Rookie honors.

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Heat Notes: D. Robinson, Highsmith, Wright, Jaquez, Swider, Butler

May 3rd, 2024 at 9:31pm CST by Luke Adams

Duncan Robinson, one of several Heat players affected by health issues this season, said on Friday that – based on the medical feedback he has received – he has no reason to believe that his back issue will “linger or last,” per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Robinson missed nine of the team’s final 14 regular season games due to the injury and played a limited role in the postseason.

The Heat were among the teams most affected by injuries for a second straight season in 2023/24, setting a new franchise record by using 35 different starting lineups. Speaking to reporters on Friday, head coach Erik Spoelstra said the team will do its homework this offseason to see if anything can be done to reduce its players’ injury risk going forward.

“We’re going to look at everything,” Spoelstra said, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “Because it’s not all apples to apples. I think what we do in terms of getting guys ready and in shape helps with soft tissue stuff. It’s the other stuff that we have to take a dive into. Two seasons ago, we were good. The last two seasons are a little bit skewed based on guys that missed the entire season that weren’t fully in our rotation. But that doesn’t also absolve it. We want to look at all the different angles on this.”

Here’s more on the Heat:

  • During their end-of-season media sessions on Friday, unrestricted free agents Haywood Highsmith and Delon Wright both expressed a desire to re-sign with Miami, according to Jackson and Chiang. “Definitely want to stay in Miami. My family lives here, my daughter lives here. That’s a priority to be around my daughter a lot,” Highsmith said, adding that he appreciates the Heat for being “all about winning” and feeling like a family. Highsmith has been with the team since 2021, whereas Wright just arrived in February, but the veteran guard has enjoyed his experience in Miami. “I definitely would like to come back,” Wright said. “I felt like I got a snippet of what it could be. With a full training camp, I will have a better understanding of what Spo wants out of me.”
  • Jaime Jaquez said on Friday that he doesn’t plan to play for Mexico in this summer’s Olympic qualifying tournament, per Jackson and Chiang. The Mexican national team will be in Puerto Rico vying for one of the four remaining spots in the men’s basketball tournament at the Paris Olympics.
  • Cole Swider‘s two-way contract is expiring, but the Heat have let him know they want to keep him around and he intends to be part of Miami’s Summer League team, he told reporters on Friday. “The Heat, a lot of these undrafted guys, did a great job developing them,” Swider said, according to the Herald. “I hope to be one of their success stories. I know they know what they’re doing. “I’ve improved defensively, learning the concepts of the Heat, how we play. I’ve proved I can play in the NBA.”
  • Dave Hyde of The South Florida Sun Sentinel advises the Heat against extending Jimmy Butler this offseason, suggesting that the cost would be too great for a player entering his late-30s when the extension would begin. Butler’s contract situation will be worth watching — in separate stories for The Athletic today, both David Aldridge and John Hollinger alluded to whispers that the 34-year-old’s long-term future may not be in Miami.
  • Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel takes a player-by-player look at the Heat’s roster, assessing what’s next for everyone who finished this season under contract with the club.
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Heat Notes: Butler, Herro, Trade Assets, Bam

May 2nd, 2024 at 8:17pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

All-NBA Heat forward Jimmy Butler is expected to seek a two-year, maximum-salary contract extension with Miami, worth approximately $113MM, before the start of the 2024/25 season, a source tells Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

The theoretical deal would kick in for 2025/26. Butler has a $52.4MM player option for that year, which the extension would replace.

If Miami opts to not extend Butler, Chiang argues, the team could be faced with an unhappy star. The 34-year-old swingman led the Heat to two NBA Finals appearances – and an additional appearance in the Eastern Finals – during his first four seasons with the club, though he has dealt with a series of injuries, including an MCL sprain that knocked him entirely out of the playoffs this year.

Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald speculates about the potential trade haul Miami could receive in exchange for its best player should the team opt not to extend Butler.

There’s more out of Miami:

  • Following a first-round playoff elimination marred by injuries, the Heat face a variety of questions about their future this offseason. The biggest, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel contends, surrounds what Miami brass wants to do with shooting guard Tyler Herro. Winderman wonders if Miami will look to trade the 2022 Sixth Man of the Year this summer, or if it will consider demoting him back to a bench role going forward. Herro is owed $93MM across the remaining three years of his deal.
  • With the Heat set to explore the trade market this summer, Jackson takes stock of the club’s movable assets, consulting with a rival scout on the value of those pieces. The scout criticized Herro’s inconsistency both as a player and as an injury risk. As far as young players still on rookie scale deals go, the scout is high on the ceilings of forwards Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic. The scout also addressed the contracts of guards Duncan Robinson and Terry Rozier, Miami being a potential trade destination for Cavaliers All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, and more.
  • One fascinating potential internal change the Heat could consider, according to one alum who still works for the franchise, is shifting All-Star center Bam Adebayo from center to power forward, writes Jackson in another piece. While on the ESPN program “First Take” this week, 20-year Miami vet Udonis Haslem explained why he thinks the 6’9″ big man could benefit from a positional move. “He can guard all five positions but he would have even more of a matchup at the 4 position where we can post him up and do different things with him,” Haslem said. “Go for a center and possibly another scoring guard.” Haslem is currently the Heat’s vice president of basketball development, and also hosts a podcast with fellow ex-Heat champion Mike Miller.
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Heat Notes: Wright, Offseason Decisions, Butler, Draft

May 1st, 2024 at 11:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat’s season ended in an appropriate way Wednesday night — with another new starting lineup. Injuries have forced coach Erik Spoelstra to juggle his rotations since training camp, and he unveiled his 37th starting unit in Game 5 at Boston, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

Rookie Jaime Jaquez was unavailable because of a hip injury he suffered in Game 4 and Spoelstra didn’t want to start Duncan Robinson, who has been limited by a back condition since late in the regular season, so veteran guard Delon Wright made the first playoff start of his career. Wright provided eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 33 minutes, but he had to leave the game briefly to get stitches in his lower lip and chin after being hit by an elbow.

In addition to Jaquez, Miami was without Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Josh Richardson, who all missed the entire series due to injuries. However, Spoelstra refused to use that as an excuse, Chiang tweets.

“We’re not going to put this on the fact that we had some injuries,” Spoelstra said. “Let’s not take anything away from Boston. They’ve been the best team in basketball all season long.”

There’s more on the Heat:

  • The early playoff exit leaves the franchise with a long offseason and a lot of financial decisions ahead, Chiang adds. Part of the future will be determined by player options held by Caleb Martin ($7.1MM), Kevin Love ($4MM), Richardson ($3.1MM) and Thomas Bryant ($2.8MM). Orlando Robinson has a non-guaranteed $2.1MM contract for next season, while Wright, Haywood Highsmith and Patty Mills are all headed for unrestricted free agency.
  • Miami faces a difficult decision on Jimmy Butler, who will become extension-eligible this summer, Bobby Marks of ESPN notes in his offseason preview for the Heat. Butler will make $48.8MM next season and holds a $52.4MM player option for 2025/26. Beginning July 7, he can sign a one-year extension worth $58.6MM, which would retain his ’25/26 salary, or a two-year, $112.9MM extension that would void the player option. Marks points out that Butler will turn 35 during the offseason and hasn’t topped 65 games in any of the last four years.
  • Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald examines the Heat’s options in this year’s draft. Players who could still be on the board when Miami picks at No. 15 include Purdue center Zach Edey, Duke power forward/center Kyle Filipowski, Providence guard Devin Carter, Colorado forward Tristan Da Silva, Duke point guard Jared McCain, Baylor center Yves Missi, Kansas small forward Kevin McCullar Jr., Baylor swingman Ja’Kobe Walter, USC point guard Isaiah Collier and Illinois shooting guard Terrence Shannon Jr.
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Southeast Notes: Jaquez, Aller, Harrel, Redick

April 30th, 2024 at 8:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Add Jaime Jaquez Jr. to the list of injured Heat players. Jaquez suffered a right hip flexor strain during Game 4 of the team’s first-round series against Boston on Monday, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

The Heat rookie has already been ruled out for Game 5, Winderman tweets. Terry Rozier (neck) has also been ruled out for Wednesday’s game, the team tweets.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • The Hornets have expressed significant interest in hiring Brock Aller to Jeff Peterson‘s front office staff, SNY TV’s Ian Begley reports. Aller has been the Knicks’ vice president of basketball and strategic planning since 2020. Aller, who has already been contacted by Charlotte, has been instrumental in salary cap strategy, general strategy and contract structure for New York.
  • The Hornets are hiring Patrick Harrel as their new vice president of basketball insights and analysis, Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer tweets. Harrel has been working for the NBA’s data science department, where he led game scheduling optimization.
  • Hiring J.J. Redick as head coach would be an outside-the-box move, but he would inject life into the Hornets organization, Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer opines. Redick’s candidacy was revealed early last week. His lack of coaching experience would be the major concern, but he played in the league for a long time and can relate to today’s players.  The possible move is already being met with positive vibes, Boone adds.
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Wolves’ Naz Reid Named Sixth Man Of The Year

April 24th, 2024 at 5:46pm CST by Rory Maher

Timberwolves big man Naz Reid has been named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year for the 2023/24 season, the league announced on Wednesday evening (via Twitter).

A former undrafted free agent, Reid averaged 13.5 PPG, 5.2 RPG and 0.9 BPG on .477/.414/.736 shooting in 81 games this season (24.2 MPG).

Reid is the first player in Timberwolves franchise history to win the Sixth Man award, per a team press release.

The 24-year-old was a major reason why Minnesota didn’t skip a beat when Karl-Anthony Towns was sidelined with a knee injury late in the season. The Wolves went 14-6 without Towns and 56-26 overall, good for the No. 3 seed in the West.

The voting was remarkably close (Twitter link via the NBA). In fact, it was the smallest margin between first- and second-place finishers since the current voting format was implemented 21 years ago, according to the league (via Twitter).

Reid finished with 45 first-place votes, 39 second-place votes and 10 third-place votes for a total of 352 points. Runner-up Malik Monk had the exact same number of second- and third-place votes, but finished with two fewer first-place votes for 342 total points.

Kings guard Monk appeared in 72 games this season for Sacramento, all off the bench. He averaged 15.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 5.1 APG on .443/.350/.829 shooting in 26.0 MPG.

Bucks big man Bobby Portis, who finished third in Sixth Man voting last season, finished a distant third again in ’23/24, receiving 81 total points. He averaged 13.8 PPG and 7.4 RPG on .508/.407/.790 shooting without missing a game this season for Milwaukee (24.5 MPG).

Clippers wing Norman Powell (65 points) and Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (40 points) finished fourth and fifth in voting, respectively. No other player received more than three points.

Powell actually received the most third-place votes of any player, but fewer first- and second-place votes than Portis, which is why he finished behind Milwaukee’s forward/center.

Jose Alvarado, Russell Westbrook, T.J. McConnell, Jonathan Isaac, Jaime Jaquez, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Bojan Bogdanovic all received at least one vote.

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Heat Notes: Butler, Jovic, Jaquez, Wright, Adebayo

April 22nd, 2024 at 12:03pm CST by Luke Adams

As they look to bounce back after a Game 1 loss in Boston, the Heat can’t count on Jimmy Butler to return at some point later in the first round to give them a boost. While the team hasn’t provided any sort of official timetable on Butler’s recovery from an MCL sprain, Shams Charania of The Athletic said on FanDuel’s Run it Back show (Twitter video link) that the star swingman is going to remain on the shelf for a while.

“It’s crazy to me that Jimmy Butler played three quarters with what I’m hearing now was a severe MCL sprain,” Charania said. “He is not going to be back in this series. This is a rehab that’s go at least one month — could be two months of rehab.

“… Thankfully for him it wasn’t the ACL, it wasn’t a meniscus. But even if the Heat were to advance (beyond) this first round, somehow, his postseason availability is still very much up in the air.”

Here’s more on the Heat:

  • Although Miami suffered a resounding loss in Game 1 on Sunday, there were at least a couple silver linings, as Anthony Chiang writes in a pair of stories for The Miami Herald. The team’s last two first-round picks – Nikola Jovic and Jaime Jaquez – made the first playoff starts of their respective careers and ultimately held their own despite some shaky moments in the first quarter. Additionally, buyout market addition Delon Wright came up big off the bench, scoring 17 points and making all five of his three-point attempts. Wright figures to play a regular role in the series with Terry Rozier (neck) sidelined.
  • The odds are against the Heat repeating last spring’s success and making another deep playoff run, but even in the event of a first-round exit, the team should be well positioned for the offseason, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Appearing on NBA Countdown (YouTube link), Wojnarowski said he expects a lot of action on the trade market this summer and pointed out that Miami is almost among the preferred destinations for disgruntled stars. That didn’t do the Heat much good in the Damian Lillard talks last summer, but the team should have more leverage with trade targets who have fewer years left on their contracts, Woj adds.
  • William Guillory of The Athletic takes a look at how Bam Adebayo became Udonis Haslem‘s successor as a pillar of “Heat Culture” and how the big man plans to uphold that ethos for years to come.
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