LAS VEGAS — The reactions from the other side of the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade have been mixed, but none more emotionally so than from Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Tyler Herro had been in rumors for so long, he accepted the deal from the Miami Heat as inevitable. Kel’el Ware had such difficulty gaining trust from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra that he accepted the trade as a fresh start. Kasparas Jakucionis’ time in Miami had been so fleeting as a 2025-26 rookie, it wasn’t as if the bonds had been fully formed.
But for Jaquez, as he explained courtside at the Las Vegas NBA Summer League, it was different.
“It was definitely devastating for sure,” Jaquez said of when the news broke three weeks ago that he would be moving on to the Milwaukee Bucks. “I love Miami. I love this city. It really felt like home to me.”
And he treated it as such, consistently working on his fractured Spanish, as he embraced the language of his Mexican heritage, making himself a presence in the South Florida community, immersing in the team’s youth outreach.
Now, that is gone.
But not the passion for the game for the 25-year-old.
That, in fact, was how he blew off some steam when he first learned of the deal that had himself, Herro, Ware, Jakucionis and significant draft capital going to the Bucks in exchange for Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis
“I was playing at LA Fitness with my friends. And I know everyone saw that video,” Jaquez said of what went viral, his reaction to the deal in real time while playing pick-up. “That was a real video.
“I knew that it was going to happen that day, and I was with all my friends. I had to pick up my girlfriend from the airport. So, on my way, I stopped by my friends’ house. I’m like, ‘Let’s just go hoop.’ Get your mind off things. And we went to LA Fitness, and my phone was blowing up.”
That’s when it became a case of hooping-interruptus.
“I had a bunch of missed calls, but all the guys that were there, they came and told me,” he said of his first career NBA trade. “And then I got on the phone with my agent. They let me know. And then, obviously, the rest of the calls came.”
From the Bucks. From the Heat.
In that moment, a career reset.
“I mean, I had a feeling. I knew that it was definitely a possibility that it was going to happen,” said Jaquez, runner-up to San Antonio Spurs guard Keldon Johnson for last season’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year award. “But, you know, you’re never truly prepared for when it does. So, once I got the news, it was definitely devastating for sure.”
A staple of Jaquez’s basketball career to this point had been continuity. Unlike those who jump from hoop academy to hoop academy, all four prep seasons were spent at his neighborhood Adolfo Camarillo High School in Ventura County, just outside of Los Angeles. That was followed by four seasons at UCLA.
But now, no fourth season with the Heat, after being drafted No. 18 out of UCLA in 2023.
As with Herro, Jaquez was traded at the start of an offseason extension window. In Jaquez’s case, it could be an extension, based on his first three seasons, at about $75 million over four seasons.
“We’ll see what happens when it comes,” he said, on the books this season at $5.9 million, his last season on the NBA rookie scale. “Right now, we’re in Vegas trying to just get acclimated with everyone, meet all the coaches, meet all the staff. And we’ll see when that time comes. I’m not really too worried about that right now.”
Those introductions have been tempered by the familiarity with the three Heat teammates arriving alongside.
“Obviously, Tyler, Kas, Kel’el, super close with them, ” Jaquez said. “So we’re in it together, and that makes it special, I think. That makes it super special.”
As with a pro career that featured rookie success, a sophomore slump, and then last season’s revival, Jaquez said the trade is a matter of simply rolling with it.
“I’m super excited to get with this new team,” he said. “I feel like there’s a lot of opportunity for me in Milwaukee. And I’m really just happy to get out there and make my mark there in Milwaukee.
“I’m super excited for Milwaukee. I think it’s going to be a great opportunity.”
Super excited from a basketball standpoint. But there also is a reality of the Southern Cal prep and college star and the South Florida NBA sixth man having to adjust from nothing but shorts and T-shirts to the reality of Midwest wintering.
“I do have a few jackets,” he said. “But I’ll probably need a lot more. A lot more pants, that’s for sure. It’ll give me a good excuse to go shopping.”