UCLA Basketball: Jaime Jaquez Jr. Talks NBA Summer League Opener

The reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year already looks comfy in the pros.

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Former three-time UCLA Bruins All-Pac-12 Team combo forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. is already looking like a natural at the NBA level, at least if the early returns are to be believed.

Jaquez, a 6'7" wing out of Camarillo, helped power his Miami Heat to a 107-90 win over his home state Los Angeles Lakers in his Summer League debut a week ago today.

The reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year, whom the Heat selected with the No. 18 pick during last month's draft, scored a team-most 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field (3-of-7 from deep) and 3-of-3 shooting from the charity stripe, along with three rebounds and an assist.

After the game, Jaquez spoke with Bleacher Report about his big night.

"It was really good to get out there, I think we have a great group of guys," Jaquez said. "We really shared the ball today and we got a great win."

When asked about his first-ever NBA dunk (technically), recorded in the Lakers win, Jaquez didn't conceal his excitement.

"It felt really good," Jaquez indicated. "I was happy to be able to do that [in the] first game, make a statement." 

During his senior year in 2022-23 with UCLA, the consensus All-American selection averaged 17.8 points on .481/.519/.770 shooting splits, 8.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per contest.