Drafted 18th by the Heat last month, Jaime Jaquez Jr. did his best to find his bearings in his new environment.
One of his first decisions was to contact Udonis Haslem, just retired, to introduce himself and ask his advice. An approach that the latter obviously appreciated…
“It was great. It shows that I have an impact on the past, the present and the future., did he declare. “We had a great conversation.”
While more than twenty years separate them, Jaime Jaquez Jr, born in 2001, when his eldest was still a student at the University of Florida, is fully aware of the importance in Miami of Udonis Haslem, the third player in league history to have played at least 20 seasons with a single team (along with Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki).
“I know he is the former Miami Heat”dropped the rookie. “I thought it was the right thing to do, to contact him first and let him know that I was happy to be here and ready to work (…) I always knew what he stood for. I’m a basketball fan and I was a Heat fan. I’ve always loved the Lakers, but the Heat have always been my second favorite team. I always knew who he was and always felt his presence in the franchise. When you’re a basketball fan, you know who he is.
One more connection with the new generation for “Udo”
In any case, the contact went well and the two should soon see each other in Miami to deepen their discussions and why not establish trail axes.
“He said, ‘I’m glad I got you back'”continued Jaime Jaquez Jr. “I think we’ll go to lunch together the next time I’m in Miami. It was busy when I was there with my family. But I think we will have lunch together when I go back there”.
This new connection may help to lift the veil on the next role that Udonis Haslem could occupy at the start of the school year. What is certain is that he will always be around, to help the Heat shine.
“I continue to be in contact with Orlando Robinson, who had an extraordinary Summer League”he mentioned. “I keep in touch with Jamal Cain, who was also excellent, Nikola Jovic, who played well at the start, all those guys. There’s a new generation coming in and I’m still building relationships with those guys.”
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Jimmy Butler | 64 | 33.4 | 53.9 | 35.0 | 85.0 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 5.9 | 5.3 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 22.9 |
| Bam Adebayo | 75 | 34.6 | 54.0 | 8.3 | 80.6 | 2.5 | 6.7 | 9.2 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 20.4 |
| Tyler Herro | 67 | 34.9 | 43.9 | 37.8 | 93.4 | 0.4 | 5.0 | 5.4 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 20.1 |
| Max Strus | 80 | 28.4 | 41.0 | 35.0 | 87.6 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 11.5 |
| Kyle Lowry | 55 | 31.2 | 40.4 | 34.5 | 85.9 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 11.2 |
| Victor Oladipo | 42 | 26.3 | 39.7 | 33.0 | 74.7 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 10.7 |
| Caleb Martin | 71 | 29.3 | 46.4 | 35.6 | 80.5 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 9.6 |
| Gabe Vincent | 68 | 25.9 | 40.2 | 33.4 | 87.2 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 9.4 |
| Kevin Love | 21 | 19.9 | 38.8 | 29.7 | 85.7 | 0.8 | 4.9 | 5.7 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 7.7 |
| Cody Zeller | 15 | 14.4 | 62.7 | 0.0 | 68.6 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 4.3 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 6.5 |
| Duncan Robinson | 42 | 16.5 | 37.1 | 32.8 | 90.6 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 6.4 |
| Dewayne Dedmon | 30 | 11.7 | 49.6 | 29.7 | 72.7 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 5.7 |
| Nikola Jovic | 15 | 13.6 | 40.6 | 22.9 | 94.7 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 5.5 |
| Jamal Cain | 18 | 13.3 | 56.1 | 35.0 | 77.3 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 5.4 |
| Omer Yurtseven | 9 | 9.2 | 59.3 | 42.9 | 83.3 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 4.4 |
| Haywood Highsmith | 54 | 18.0 | 43.1 | 33.9 | 46.4 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 4.4 |
| Udonis Haslem | 7 | 10.1 | 34.5 | 33.3 | 80.0 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 3.9 |
| Jamaree Bouyea | 4 | 16.3 | 46.2 | 40.0 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 3.8 |
| Orlando Robinson | 31 | 13.7 | 52.8 | 0.0 | 71.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 4.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 3.7 |
| Dru Smith | 5 | 13.4 | 35.7 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 2.2 |
