What is Heat’s summer league plan for Jaime Jaquez Jr.? ‘Work on my game and try to get two wins’

A shoulder injury limited Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. to just one full summer league game as a rookie last year. But Jaquez plans to play in more summer league games this year.

With Jaquez already in Las Vegas for his work on Team USA’s Select Team that helped the national team’s Olympic roster prepare during training camp in recent days, he’s sticking around to join the Heat’s summer league team for Las Vegas Summer League.

After practicing with the Heat’s summer squad in Las Vegas on Friday, Jaquez said the plan is for him to play in the Heat’s first two Las Vegas Summer League games on Saturday against the Boston Celtics (6:30 p.m., NBA TV) and Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder (6 p.m., ESPNU). Miami will play at least five summer league games in Las Vegas.

“Those are the two games that I’m going to be playing in here with these guys,” Jaquez said. “Try to get some work in, get better, work on my game and try to get two wins.”

When asked what the coaching staff is looking for from Jaquez during his two summer league games, Heat player development coach and summer league head coach Dan Bisaccio mentioned his growth as a leader and improvement in on-ball reads.

“He’s been working extremely hard behind the scenes,” Bisaccio said. “So we’re just excited to see how that looks.”

Jaquez, who was selected by the Heat with the 18th overall pick in last year’s draft following a four-year college career at UCLA, averaged 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and one steal per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 32.2 percent on threes in 75 games (20 starts) as a rookie last regular season.

Jaquez, 23, earned the first two Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month awards handed out by the league last season on his way to becoming just the seventh Heat player in franchise history to be selected for the All-Rookie First Team.

Jaquez appeared in a team-high 75 games last regular season. But he missed the Heat’s season-ending loss in Game 5 of its first-round playoff series against the Celtics because of a hip injury.

While Jaquez will spend the next few days playing against some of the youngest players in the league in Las Vegas Summer League, he spent last week playing against NBA superstars like LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum as a member of Team USA’s Select Team. Jaquez even faced off against Heat teammate Bam Adebayo, who is a member of Team USA’s Olympic roster, during those practices in Las Vegas.

“To be around such great players with Team USA, it was just such a special moment and a great honor for myself to be able to learn and just see how those guys work and operate,” said Jaquez, who finished fourth in the voting for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award that went to San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama. “Then to be able to play against them, it was really just a dream come true. You got those guys who have been really pioneering around the NBA for the past 10 years and all come on the same team probably for their last go at a gold medal together. It’s really exciting.

Along with Jaquez, the list of other notable second-year NBA players expected to take part in Las Vegas Summer League includes Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller, Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski, Warriors forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, Houston Rockets forward Cam Whitmore and Toronto Raptors guard Gradey Dick.

Jaquez is one of three players from this past season’s All-Rookie First Team who’s set to take part in Las Vegas Summer League, along with Miller and Podziemski.

“I mean, it’s the Heat culture, man,” Jaquez said of the decision to play in a few summer league games after a standout rookie season. “We want to see what I can do, try to get better, build on my game, help these guys coming in with the knowledge that I have from my one year. Try to work on my leadership skills, just a lot of things. Just working on my game.”

LET’S DO IT AGAIN

With the Heat’s roster seemingly already set for next season — unless there’s a trade made in the coming months — 11 of the 14 players currently on standard deals were also on last season’s season-ending roster. The only new faces on the Heat’s standard roster for next season are free agent addition Alec Burks, and draft picks Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larsson.

Jaquez views the lack of moves as a vote of confidence from the Heat’s front office in last season’s roster.

“I think when you look at what they’ve been doing in the offseason, they’re betting on the guys that they’ve brought in here, guys that they have drafted,” Jaquez said. “As a player, you got to respect that and you want to make good on their bets.

“Betting on us, so it’s our job, especially us younger guys like myself and [Nikola Jovic], to step up into these roles and take that challenge. I think we’re both ready for it, especially going into the next year. He’s got two years under his belt, I got one. Just continue to build off what we’ve learned. We got a lot of experience from this last year and I’m really excited to see what we can do into this next year.”