Pat Riley praises Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic: ‘They’re two great pieces for us.’

Miami Heat president Pat Riley gave his annual end-of-season press conference on Monday and made national headlines for his comments about the team’s availability and, specifically, Jimmy Butler’s availability.

Though within his 42-minute presser, he lauded two of Miami’s best young players: Nikola Jovic and Jaime Jaquez Jr.

“They’re two great pieces for us,” Riley said Monday during his end of season press conference. “We like our base. We like those two guys.”

Jovic, 20, was drafted No. 27 by the Heat in the 2022 NBA Draft while Jaquez, 23, was drafted No. 18 overall. Both players’ developments were two of the most encouraging takeaways from the Heat season, mired by injury and inconsistency.

Jovic’s role in the rotation to begin the season was inconsistent. Though he entered the starting lineup midseason and did not relinquish it, concluding the season averaging 7.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 19.5 minutes per game across 46 contests (38 starts).

He’s only played in 61 combined games through two seasons–with 46 starts–with drastic improvements as a catch-and-shoot shooter and a multi-positional defender.

“Last year, he went through the back issues,” Riley said on Jovic. “The Learning curve was off the charts. Still, we saw something this year when we put him in the game. I think you could see–from 70 to 80 percent of his game–this guy is going to have some talent.

“It’s all about repetitions and IQ–learning and learning and learning more. It’s a new way of conditioning for a 20-year-old, cardio more than anything else … He’s a great athlete. He’s got great instincts. He’s unselfish and he’s a good rebounder–a coast-to-coast guy.”

Jaquez, who finished fourth in the NBA’s Rookie of the Year voting, behind San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren and Charlotte’s Brandon Miller, flashed immediately.

He averaged 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists, shooting 48.9 percent from the floor, 32.2 percent from beyond the arc and 81.1 percent from the free-throw line. Over a 31-game stretch from Nov. 11 to Jan. 14, he posted 16.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game on 60.3 percent true shooting.

Even though Jaquez’s season was paused midway with a groin injury that forced him to miss seven games, Riley admired his determination to be on the court.

“If he not gotten hurt with the groin earlier in the season, he plays, he would’ve played 82 games,” he said. “He ended up playing 75 games and, believe me, he was hurting when he missed those games. He’s a proud young warrior that will play every night for you. He had hit a wall with the first groin injury, and then we went through other injuries, then his role changed a little bit … That doesn’t help a player.”

Riley’s biggest message Monday surrounded the team’s availability–or lack thereof. The Heat had a franchise-record 35 starting lineups, a crazy amount. The team missed the 10th-most games due to injury, with Jaquez playing a team-most 75 games.

Bam Adebayo was the only other to play at least 70, while just four other players–Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin, Haywood Highsmith and Duncan Robinson–cracked 60.

“Continuity and consistency is: Every night I know what I’m going to get,” Riley said. “So if we’re paying 1-9 to be those players, and then all the sudden you get a rookie at No. 18 that shows out, you say you’re pretty fortunate–like we were with Bam (Adebayo), Tyler (Herro), [Nikola Jovic] and with Jaime.”

Check out Riley’s full presser here.

Regardless of what happens with Miami’s two young guns this offseason, both had encouraging 2023-24 campaigns, despite oftentimes having inconsistent roles.

What do you think of Riley’s comments? Let us know in the comments!

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