Rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr., an essential part of Heat rotation and closer? ‘This is where I belong’

Miami Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. has earned immediate playing time, but more importantly he has earned the trust of his new teammates and coaches.

Not only has Jaquez been a consistent member of the Heat’s rotation since opening night, but he’s also been relied on to play important late-game minutes early in his first NBA season. Entering Thursday night’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets at Kaseya Center, Jaquez played the entire fourth quarter in four straight games during the Heat’s undefeated four-game trip.

“All of those things that you need to win on the road and that you would like to develop out of your team, those are his strengths,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Jaquez, who entered Thursday ranked sixth among NBA rookies in fourth-quarter minutes played behind Washington’s Bilal Coulibaly, New Orleans’ Jordan Hawkins, San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, Detroit’s Ausar Thompson and Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren. “The grit, the perseverance, the mental and the emotional stability. He’s learning things, but he typically doesn’t make the same mistake twice. So these experiences in the fourth quarter are like exponential 10x opportunities for him.

“He’s earned the trust of the staff, but more importantly he’s earned the trust of his teammates. They feel comfortable with him out there and he knows how to fit in. And defensively he can do a lot of different things, which fits into our system.”

That trust has led the Heat to already running offense though Jaquez and using him to defend some of the top players in the league, along with his recent heavy fourth-quarter workload.

Jaquez has established himself as a must-use weapon off the Heat’s bench, averaging 9.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 50 percent from the field. And he has already spent time as the primary defender on stars like Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.

“I’m just learning as I go. This is the game I played my entire life,” said Jaquez, who was selected by the Heat with the 18th overall pick in this year’s draft after a four-year college career at UCLA. “This is all I’ve ever wanted to do. I knew when I got my chance, I was going to be ready. That’s why I did four years of college, to prepare for this, so I could be ready and confident in my ability. To go out there and make an impact right away. That was kind of my plan all along.”

Jaquez has done most of his damage on the offensive end from inside the two-point line, entering Thursday with 42 of his 84 field-goal attempts this season coming from within the restricted area off drives, cuts and post-ups. He also entered Thursday shooting just 9 of 32 (28.1 percent) from three-point range.

“I think I’m just still trying to find my way into the system and where I can be effective,” Jaquez said. “Trying to score in a lot of ways. Being able to space the floor, knock down threes, back cuts. Coach, every one in a while, will give me a post touch. Things like that, really just trying to find my way and where I fit. As the season goes along, it’s going to be a lot smoother, I think.”

Jaquez’s defense has been encouraging through the first few weeks of the regular season, as his defensive metrics in isolation situations have been among the best in the NBA. He also entered Thursday tied with Jimmy Butler for the second-most steals on the team this season (13) behind only Bam Adebayo’s 14 steals.

“This is a very experienced, mature, savvy, competitive player,” Spoelstra said of Jaquez. “He’s been in a lot of really tough battles in college. To us, that matters. It doesn’t matter if it matters to anybody else. He’s been in big games, he’s had big responsibilities and that’s been on both ends of the court, where if he didn’t play well that wouldn’t lead to a win. He can do it where he’s featured or more often than not where he’s not featured, he can find a way to impact. That’s a talent.”

But arguably the most important thing that happened in the first few weeks of Jaquez’s first NBA season, aside from earning the trust of Heat coaches and teammates, is what he proved to himself.

“I just learned and felt like this is where I belong,” Jaquez said. “This is where I want to be at, in the NBA. I feel like I can play. There’s a lot of things I still need to learn, but I felt comfortable out there and I felt like I’m ready to play and that I belong in this league.”

GIVING BACK

On the off day Wednesday, the Heat held its 32nd annual Thanksgiving Celebration, distributing about 600 Thanksgiving baskets to underserved families and providing hot meals to 450 residents of the Miami Rescue Mission.

Families were preselected by local government and community-based organizations

Among those in attendance at the event were Heat players, coaches, team president Pat Riley and others.

In addition, the Heat and the Micky and Madeleine Arison Family Foundation will make a $560,000 donation to Feeding South Florida to support efforts to eliminate food insecurity. The funds will be earmarked for the School Pantry Program, which serves children at schools in food deserts throughout Miami-Dade County, and grocery boxes for and home-delivered meals to local homebound seniors.

The donation will be made on Thursday night before the Heat’s game against the Nets at Kaseya Center on Give Miami Day.

INJURY REPORT

The only Heat players ruled out for Thursday’s game against the Nets are Tyler Herro (sprained right ankle), Jamal Cain (G League assignment) and R.J. Hampton (sprained right knee).

Heat forward Caleb Martin is expected to make his return Thursday after missing the last 10 games with left knee tendinosis.

The Nets will be without Armoni Brooks (G League assignment), Noah Clowney (G League assignment), Keon Johnson (G League assignment), Ben Simmons (lower back nerve impingement), Cam Thomas (sprained left ankle), Dariq Whitehead (G League assignment) and Jalen Wilson (G League assignment) against the Heat.