Your Miami HEAT announced today that they have signed Jaime Jaquez Jr. Miami selected Jaquez Jr. in the first round (18th overall) of the 2023 NBA Draft. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Jaquez Jr., a four-year starter at UCLA, started all 37 games for the Bruins last season and averaged a team-leading 17.8 points and grabbed a team-best 8.2 rebounds. He finished as just one of nine players in school history to rank among the Top 15 in both scoring and rebounding while becoming the first player over the last 30 years to lead the team in rebounding for three-straight seasons. He led the team in points, rebounds, field goals made, minutes, games played and starts and finished second in assists, steals and blocks.
Jaquez Jr. was named the 2023 Pac-12 Player of the Year, marking UCLA’s first such selection since HEAT player Kevin Love in 2008. Additionally, he was named the Lute Olson National Player of the Year, earned All-Pac-12 and USBWA All-District IX First Team honors, was a consensus All-America Second Team selection, earned Pac-12 Player of the Week three times, was one of 10 semifinalists for the 2023 Naismith Trophy and among five finalists for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award.