With their recent draft selections over the years of Nikola Jovic and Jaime Jaquez Jr., the Miami Heat might have hit gold. Having been selected with the 27th and 18th overall picks, respectively, both young people were taken out of the lottery. The Heat accomplished this feat in back-to-back drafts in 2022 and 2023, which is even more amazing.
Even though Pat Riley and the team’s executive management are going to face criticism for not making many free agent additions, they have made progress in one area: draft selections. Bam Adebayo, who was selected in 2017, was perhaps the second-best franchise draft pick in history, behind Dwyane Wade. Tyler Herro, Jovic, Jaquez, and now Kel’el Ware came years later. Even when it comes to undrafted talent, Miami’s scouting staff has shown themselves to be among the finest in the industry.
Several reports state that the organisation exercised the rookie contracts in order to retain Jovic and Jaquez under contract for the 2025–2026 campaign. The Heat lost out on Caleb Martin this summer, thus the young pair is expected to play major roles in the next 2024–25 campaign. With Martin out of the picture, coach Erik Spoelstra’s rotation will feature more of their young players. The long-term potential that these two can provide for the team is well-known to Heat supporters, as each of them demonstrated by starting games during the 2024 playoffs.
Jovic just finished a season in which he was supposed to start in the frontcourt alongside Adebayo. In just 19.5 minutes this year, he averaged 7.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 40% from three-point range. The soon-to-be third-year player has plenty of floor spreading and playmaking ability to support Spoelstra’s offence. Jovic, who is 6 feet 11 inches tall, is a skilled point guard who can manage the offence and set the tempo for others while they are in transition.
Jaquez is coming off a stellar season in which he was named to the first team as a Rookie and even won a couple Rookie of the Month awards. During the previous season, he averaged 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 48.9% shooting. Right out of the start, his refined offensive skill set was sufficient to earn him rotation minutes on a regular basis. He will aim to expand on that as he enters his sophomore season. Despite playing in only 75 games as a rookie, Jaquez was able to lead the injured Heat in the majority of those games. This player is dependable and consistent, and he could be just a clutch 3-point shooter away from becoming one of the best supporting actors in the NBA.
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