(Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
Coming off a catastrophic sophomore slump, even Hollywood’s best screenwriter couldn’t have written a better script for third-year Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. entering the 2025-26 season campaign.
Through seven games, Jaquez is averaging 19.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, shooting 60.3 percent from the floor with an absurd 65.3 true shooting percentage. His jump shooting has still left plenty to be desired, though the 6-foot-6 wing has more than made up for it with his finishing around the rim, which has been one of the NBA’s best.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. has been one of the NBA’s best finishers, albeit in a small sample:
Jaquez has been arguably the team’s biggest beneficiary of their new up-tempo offense. As I outlined in my film breakdown of his start, he’s getting downhill with ease and is being far less predictable than he was a year ago, when he would spin as much as a merry-go-round.
To go along with his aggressiveness, Jaquez’s feathery touch has been efficient.
Of the 50 players who have attempted at least 30 shots inside the restricted area, Jaquez is shooting 85.0 percent (34-40), second to only Charlotte Hornets rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner (32-37), according to NBA.com’s shot tracking data:
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Hornets — 86.5 percent (32-37)
Jaime Jaquez Jr., Heat — 85.0 percent (34-40)
Isaiah Hartenstein, Thunder — 81.8 percent (27-33)
Ryan Rollins, Bucks — 81.3 percent (26-32)
Victor Wembanyama, Spurs — 81.0 percent (34-42)
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks — 80.4 percent (74-92!!!)
That’s not bad company, right?!?
Obviously, in this very small sample, those numbers aren’t sustainable. But any number north of 65 percent — his career high rim accuracy, which he set as a rookie, according to Cleaning The Glass — over a full season would be huge in Miami’s newfangled pace-and-space offense.
Forget finishing: The Heat couldn’t get to the rim for the life of them last year. They attempted the seventh-fewest shots at the rim with the eighth-worst efficiency. So far, the Heat have the 12th-most rim attempts with the third-best efficiency!
Once again, I don’t expect the latter — a 75.3 percent clip — to be sustainable; for perspective, the Phoenix Suns led the NBA in rim accuracy last year … at 71.4 percent.
Nonetheless, how the Heat have generated — and, most importantly, finished — offense in the paint has been very encouraging. With or without Tyler Herro, as they continue to face better point-of-attack defenses, I’ll be very curious to see how it shakes out.
***
To check out our other content, click here.
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/XÂ here!
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!