{"id":104250,"date":"2026-01-03T11:42:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T11:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/104250\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T11:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T11:42:07","slug":"has-jaime-jaquez-jr-more-than-earned-keep-with-miami-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/104250\/","title":{"rendered":"Has Jaime Jaquez Jr, more than earned keep with Miami Heat?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Q: Jaime Jaquez Jr. is Exhibit A on why you shouldn\u2019t give up on young talent and trade it for over-the-hill \u201cwhales.\u201d The growth curve isn\u2019t always linear, but eventually the patience is rewarded and you have a roster coming into its prime that can compete for many years. \u2013 Ray, Deerfield Beach.<\/p>\n<p>A: But you also have to give in order to get. For example, Caron Butler hardly was a prospect at his peak when the Heat dealt him for Shaquille O\u2019Neal, but it proved to be the right move at the right time. You also have to factor in a player\u2019s ultimate upside. For example, if <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sun-sentinel.com\/2026\/01\/01\/heats-jaime-jaquez-jr-now-with-eyes-on-teammates-as-well-as-eyes-on-the-rim\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jaime Jaquez Jr.\u2019s ultimate upside<\/a> is as a sixth man, then you would have to consider trades for players that could be starting staples. So, yes, you certainly can relish the development of the likes of Jaime, Kel\u2019el Ware, Kasparas Jakucionis, even Nikola Jovic, but turning a bunch of contributors into a leading man has to remain the priority. For now, nothing wrong with relishing those first-quarter moments when Jaime strikes to the scorers\u2019 table.<\/p>\n<p>Q: There was a time early in the season and with Tyler Herro healthy that I thought Norman Powell would be best suited coming off the bench. But he has proven all year long that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sun-sentinel.com\/2026\/01\/02\/heat-again-proving-turning-to-powell-play-gives-them-a-man-advantage-herro-remains-out-larsson-upgraded\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">he is a mainstay<\/a> as a starter and a good choice to represent the Heat in the All-Star game. Heck of a pickup for Heat. \u2013 Douglas.<\/p>\n<p>A: Arguably the best value acquisition ever(?) for the Heat, considering the cost of (again, with all due respect) Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson. Unlike so many other Heat trade success stories, this one did not require draft capitals (which even was the case with the LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic additions).<\/p>\n<p>Q: In your recent article about potential Heat trades, you didn\u2019t mention Bam Adebayo. Shouldn\u2019t the Heat look to move Bam\u2019s contract before his salary balloons to nearly $50 million next season? If one compares the 14 other players currently making over $50 million per year, Bam simply doesn\u2019t measure up.\u00a0 \u2013 Peter, Miami.<\/p>\n<p>A: From an offensive standpoint, I agree. But his unique defensive abilities are particularly beneficial to the Heat. As for the piece you reference, it was about losing players with potentially nothing in return, players such as Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins, who could stand as free agents in the offseason. With Bam Adebayo, there is more time to take a deeper offseason dive into those possibilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Q: Jaime Jaquez Jr. is Exhibit A on why you shouldn\u2019t give up on young talent and trade&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[17325,114,123,125,2490,16151,124,2295,110],"class_list":{"0":"post-104250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-ask-ira","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-miami","11":"tag-miami-headlines","12":"tag-miami-heat","13":"tag-miami-heat-blog","14":"tag-miami-news","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}