Jaime Jaquez shares emotions of being drafted by Miami Heat

Jaime Jaquez might’ve found the perfect team fit in the form Miami Heat. After being drafted No. 18 overall in last month’s draft, the former UCLA star has been thriving in his first NBA home.

Through two games during the 2023 NBA Summer league thus far, Jaquez is averaging 13.0 points per game on a 44 percent 3-point field goal percentage. He could become a strong 3-and-D option for Miami down the line, but for now, Jaquez is enjoying the fruits that came with being drafted.

“It’s surreal. Words can’t describe it because it’s an accumulation of all the hard work finally coming to fruition and paying off,” Jaquez said on Podcast P with Paul George. “I did what I was working for my entire life.

“Now, I’m here and I have to set some new goals. For now, I’m just blessed and proud to be in the position I’m in. And now I get to live out the dream.”

Jaquez, who was named a consensus second-team All-American and voted the Pac-12 Player of the Year as a senior in 2023, started all 37 of the Bruins’ games last season. He averaged 17.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game during the run.

After he learned of his move to Miami, the first person within the Heat organization Jaquez reached out after he was drafted was a no-brainer. The vet’s vet, Udonis Haslem, the Miami Heat’s resident 43-year-old player coach who is set to enter his 21st NBA season this fall.

“I felt like it was only right to reach out to him and let him know that I’m excited and ready to start with the organization,” Jaquez said. “I had to check in with him, so hopefully we go grab some lunch one day when I’m in Miami.”

Haslem, who was drafted to Miami a year defore Dwyane Wade, has been with the organization long enough to see his team make seven NBA Final apperances through three different eras on the team. The 2006 standalone title, the Big 3 era and now twice with Jimmy Butler and company. He knows what winning looks like, and it was smart of Jaquez’s part to get comfortable with him right away.

In the long run, Jaquez’s game has the potential to fir into Miami’s scheme nicely and his ceiling can see him turn into a Tyler Herro-like player. He can be a pest on both sides of the ball — a mentality that has turned the Heat, who are typically a middle-of-the-pack regular season team, into a NBA title contenter. The former UCLA star might have found an absolute match.