While Miami Heat fans were busy waiting for Nikola Jovic to break out or Kel'el Ware to put everything together, third-year forward instead turned the early portion of the 2025-26 NBA season into his comeback tail—and flipped the hierarchy of young Heat players on its head.
Jaquez's turnaround has been, frankly, jarring to see. Sure, he popped as a rookie in 2023-24 (ultimately earning All-Rookie first-team honors), but he fell so flat in his sophomore season, it felt like his hype train might be permanently out of service. That clearly isn't the case, but where is this story going next? Can he really move into centerpiece status, or might his limitations lead him to another letdown?
This up-tempo, egalitarian approach on offense has provided the perfect platform for his downhill attacking and secondary playmaking, but since he has a clearly limited scoring range (31.3 percent from three for his career; 3-of-15 this season), he basically must be a star-level scorer and table-setter to offset his shortcomings. And as much as I'd love to believe in these early signs, that feels like asking too much.
Jaquez's limitations can still be exploited, particularly by more dialed-in defenses during the playoffs.
Give Jaquez credit for this: He felt expendable as recently as a month(ish) ago, but he has quieted that conversation considerably. Now, the Heat surely wouldn't hesitate to part with him if needed in a trade for an established star, but he's been good enough for the decision-makers to want to keep him around and find out where this is headed.
Tempering expectations should be a must for Miami, though.
For starters, an eight-game sample is far too small from which to draw any significant conclusions. He's had a few really good games, some rock-solid ones and a couple of clunkers. This is the kind of run we all probably wouldn't notice if this was a two-week stretch in the middle of January and not the beginning of a season.
More relevant, though, is the fact Jaquez hasn't progressed as a shooter. In fact, he's never been less helpful as a spacer. And even if he managed to bump his connection rate, he just doesn't shoot with the kind of volume that demands any type of reaction from opposing defenses.
If the Heat were overloaded with shot-makers everywhere else, that might be OK, but what happens if Bam Adebayo loses his touch or Norman Powell and Simone Fontecchio inevitably stop burying better than half of their long-range looks? Everything that squeezes the floor will give Jaquez less room to operate, and if he can't get downhill, he probably can't be helpful.
There is, to be clear, nothing actionable in this analysis. It's not like Miami has to turn away from a productive player just because it's fair to be skeptical about that production's sustainability.
Still, the Heat coaching staff will have to keep this in mind. Because if Jaquez can't take another sizable step (or two) forward as a creator and point-producer, then he may not be equipped to thrive under the playoff spotlight. If he's good (but not great) in those areas, that won't offset the challenges created by his lack of shooting against quality postseason defenses.