There weren’t many positive storylines for the Miami Heat in the 2023-24 season, but one was how then-rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. burst onto the scene.
Jaquez, who was drafted No. 18 overall by the Miami Heat, finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting and made All-Rookie first team in his inaugural NBA campaign. He averaged 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and one steal on 48.9 percent shooting and 57.4 percent true shooting.
He’s one of the Heat’s most valuable trade chips. Though one writer from an esteemed online publication believes he could be one of the NBA’s top trade chips.
According to Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale, Jaquez is the league’s third-most valuable trade chip right now. Yes, you read that right. He trails only Golden State’s Brandin Podziemski–who finished fifth (behind Jaquez) in Rookie of the Year voting–and the Phoenix Suns’ 2027 and 2029 first-round picks.
“Connectors are often considered guards who are taller than conventional floor generals but aren’t quite big or strong enough to meet wing criteria. Jaquez flips that stereotype on its face,” Favale wrote in a piece ranking the 10-best trade chips on Tuesday. “He is a 6’6” universal adapter with three years left on his rookie-scale deal.
“Jaquez is a savvy mover and shaker away from the ball who unbottles complex and shifty footwork when on it. His offense is an anomalous brew of force and finesse and technique—with the efficiency to match. He’s an above-average scorer at the rim (62nd percentile) and from mid-range (71st percentile), in transition (55th percentile) and on post-ups (67th percentile). His efficiency on paint touches, meanwhile, is bananas (65.6 percent), and he’s at home dropping dimes off live dribbles.
“At the other end, the 23-year-old lives to disrupt. He finished second on the Heat in total deflections, a standing that jibes with his eye-test activity. He is acutely alert off the ball, ready to help or ruin kickouts and lobs and entry passes. The assignments he takes on are usually taller and burlier than himself, and it almost never matters.
“It may take an All-NBA-type player to prize Jaquez from the Heat, but that’s sort of the point. He has built up enough could-be-anything equity to gain them access to targets that their future draft equity alone will not.”
Jaime Jaquez Jr. is ranked the 3rd best trade asset in the NBA, per @BleacherReport
1. Suns 2027/2029 First-Round Picks (via Houston)
2. Brandin Podziemski, GS Warriors
3. Jaime Jaquez Jr., Miami Heat
4. Lakers 2029/2031 First-Round Picks
5. Cason Wallace, OKC Thunder pic.twitter.com/XuIcqmzoc4— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) July 30, 2024
Up until his groin injury in mid-January, Jaquez had a 30-game stretch where he posted 16.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals in 33.9 minutes on 51.1/37.5/83.9 shooting splits. The injury only caused him to miss seven games, though he noticeably looked worse than he did before it.
It’s subjective whether or not he’s a top-3 valuable trade piece throughout the entire league. He prefaced by saying he would list “spotlight players and picks who are feasibly available and have the most appeal as centerpieces in aggressive blockbuster buys.”
The only other players he lists are Oklahoma City’s Luguentz Dort (10) and Cason Wallace (5), both ironically on a team that’s a consolidation trade or two away from becoming a perennial powerhouse … if they’re not there already.
There’s no doubt that Jaquez is one of, if not the most desirable players on the Heat not named Jimmy Butler or Bam Adebayo. So is Nikola Jovic. Depending on how you feel about Duncan Robinson, Terry Rozier and Tyler Herro, they are in the conversation too.
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I believe they think the best assets among rookies and picks, for whom is realistically to be traded.
we’ve got everything that we need to compete, just need to stay healthy
Interesting…but meaningless because he’s not getting traded.