Heat's Sixth Man Jaime Jaquez Jr. Thriving in New Offense

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The Miami Heat's new up-tempo, drive-and-kick offensive system has been a perfect fit for reserve forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., who has blossomed into a leading contender for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award. Jaquez's ability to create his own shot off the dribble and facilitate the Heat's ball movement has made him a key cog in the team's second unit, leading to career-highs in scoring, assists, and usage rate despite coming off the bench for most of the season.

Why it matters

Jaquez's emergence as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate is a testament to the Heat's ability to maximize the talents of their role players within their new offensive system. By empowering Jaquez to be a primary playmaker and scorer off the bench, the Heat have found a way to generate efficient offense from their reserves, which could be crucial come playoff time.

The details

Jaquez is taking a career-high 42% of his shots from the short midrange area, up from just 29% last season. He's shooting a respectable 46% on those looks and ranks in the 98th percentile in Self-Created Shot Making Efficiency, indicating he's creating highly difficult shots for himself off the dribble. Jaquez is also getting to his spots more often, with 35.4% of his shot attempts coming after 3-6 dribbles and another 18.6% coming after seven or more dribbles - up from 28.6% and 16% last season, respectively.

• Jaquez is averaging 15.2 points per game this season, nearly double his average from a year ago.
• Jaquez is hitting career-highs in minutes per game, assists per game, and usage rate despite only starting in one game this year.

What’s next

Jaquez is extension eligible this summer, and with the way he played this season, it would be stunning to see Miami not extend him, barring a larger trade. As he enters what should be his prime in the next few years, it's exciting to think about the heights he could hit in this system.