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Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on Jaime Jaquez Jr. working through ‘inconsistency’ amid Rising Stars selection

Originally posted on NBA on ClutchPoints
By Zachary Weinberger | Last updated Jan 29, 2025 6:44 PM ET

MIAMI – While Miami Heat star Tyler Herro awaits hearing the hopeful news of being an All-Star, one player on the team that will be in San Francisco for the weekend will be Jaime Jaquez Jr. selected as a sophomore to the Rising Stars event. While it has been an up-and-down season for Jaquez filled with injuries and setbacks, he has the support of head coach Erik Spoelstra and expects a turnaround.

Before Miami hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, Spoelstra spoke before the game to ClutchPoints about the work from Jaquez behind the scenes to work through his “inconsistency.” Even still, Spoelstra would say that in the career of a young NBA player, “it’s not always going to be smooth sailing.”

“He’s working at it, you know, this is part of the grit you have to develop as a professional athlete, it’s not always going to be smooth sailing,” Spoelstra said. “It’s not always going to be linear, your jumps and your improvements. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a negative thing. I think these are opportunities to work through things and he’s had three or four times this season where he’s really started to find where his role can be. And then usually something would happen, change of rotation or an injury or an illness, nothing major, but it would just, you know, add to that kind of inconsistency, you know, with his environment, but he’s working through it and he’ll be just fine.”

Asked Erik Spoelstra about Jaime Jaquez Jr. getting into the Rising Stars event and working on obtaining consistency.

“He’s working at it, this is part of the grit you have to develop as a professional athlete, it’s not always going to be smooth sailing…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/oQNZYqIaqr

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) January 29, 2025

Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. credits teammates, coaches for Rising Stars nod

Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) looks on against the Portland Trail Blazers during the second quarter at Kaseya Center. Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Jaquez still offers his superpowers to the Heat in the form of his aggressiveness when driving to the paint, gaining an advantage over his defenders for easy points. While it was working last season, leading to back-to-back Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honors and an NBA All-Rookie first-team nod, he’s now been scouted by opposing teams, making him more vulnerable to different looks on defense.

Still, it hasn’t helped that several injuries and sicknesses have hindered his improvements like just recently as Jaquez missed the Heat’s double-overtime win over the Orlando Magic due to a stomach illness. As Jaquez will be available Wednesday against Cleveland, the 24-year-old is still appreciative of the honor from the NBA to be involved with the Rising Stars events once again.

“It means a lot, shout out to my teammates, coaches for helping me get there and making this all happen,” Jaquez said in Wednesday morning’s shootaround.

This season, Jaquez has averaged 9.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists while shooting 44.2 percent from the field and 31.7 percent from beyond the arc in 40 games with 10 starts. While he looks to get back to a consistent level in the second half of the season, he has the right mindset if the shots aren’t falling.

“Learning to just keeping a positive mindset through it all, understanding there will be highs and lows throughout a season and just keeping a steady mindset through it all,” Jaquez said. “Trying to really anchor on my defense and understand if shots don’t fall, you can still make an impact on the floor defensively.”

The team is 23-22 which puts them sixth in the East before the Heat take on the Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

This article first appeared on NBA on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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