Bleacher Report ranks Heat youngster as third-best trade asset in NBA

How does one define value in the NBA? Talent, age, potential, and dollar signs are weighted variables when deciding if a player is worth bringing to your team.

Bleacher Report recently published an article ranking the 10 best trade assets. These assets included young players who found immediate success in the league and future draft picks of teams on the edge of imploding.

Miami Heat's Jaime Jaquez Jr. was ranked third, behind the Phoenix Suns' 2027/2029 first-round draft picks owned by the Houston Rockets and Golden State's polished rookie Brandon Podziemski.

Jaquez was clearly the best player the piece acknowledged, so let's address why those assets are better than Jaquez, at least according to Bleacher Report.

Heat youngster Jaime Jaquez Jr. was ranked the third-best asset in the NBA, but is that even too low?

Phoenix Suns 2027-29 picks (owned by the Houston Rockets)

There's no secret the Suns are teetering on the edge of blow-it-up territory. Their Big Three experiment of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant doesn't seem like they will net the type of results expected when put together: a championship. Hell, they aren't close to competing for a trip to the Western Conference finals as is. If all fails, trading Booker or Durant allows the Suns to recoup assets to avoid their bleak future. (Beal has a no-trade clause, so Phoenix is at his mercy if they want to move him.)

The problem with ranking this asset over Jaquez is that Phoenix has no incentive to tank to turn those picks into their highest potential. Even if they blow it up, competing is still in their best interest because they don't own their picks — they wouldn't reap the benefits of a tank job.

Trading away one of their stars would probably be for assets that would help them win now unless they can snatch their picks back from the Rockets in a trade. Until that happens, Jaquez has to be more valuable than those out-of-sight, out-of-mind future picks.

Brandin Podziemski

Podziemski and Jaquez's early careers mirror one another. They were selected one pick apart in the 2023 draft (Jaquez at 18, Podziemski at 19). Both are do-it-all, high-IQ wings with questionable jump shots, and both are winter babies born in February. One primary difference is what follows February. Jaquez's birth certificate reads February 18, 2001, while Podziemski's reads February 25, 2003. That two-year age difference is the reason why Podz is ranked over Jaquez.

Game for game, Jaquez is better. He's flashed more upside and has displayed the ability to take over on offense. Both youngsters have role-player intangibles like fighting with bigs for rebounds, getting their hands in passing lanes, taking charges, and making the extra pass. These skills are portable and give these sophomores a chance to earn multiple NBA contracts. Jaquez has the little intangibles plus a next gear he gets to.

Over an 18-game stretch in late 2023, Jaquez averaged 17 points while shooting 43% from 3. Jimmy Butler was active in all but five of those games, so it's not as if Jaquez benefited from being the first option with minimal help around him. He got those efficient numbers in the flow of the offense and when the Heat needed crucial buckets.

Jaquez will have zero glaring holes in his game if he enters next season with a more steady 3-point shot. His stroke is fine, and he torched teams while surging during his impressive stretch mentioned prior. If that's real, Jaquez's ceiling is limitless. He already does everything at a passable level. There's his unique post-game and feel for the game that can't be taught. Jaquez could be stronger on the ball guarding smalls. That will come with experience. He could become a Kyle Anderson-type defender even without the long arms— even though smalls are faster than you, you can still use your IQ and size to know where offensive players frequently go and make it tough because you're bigger than them.

Podz may be younger and, as of now, a more consistent 3-point shooter, but I'll bet on Jaquez's ceiling over Podz catching up on a lifetime of skill development Jaquez has over him.