UCLA Basketball: Jaime Jaquez’s Slam Dunk Contest Competitors Revealed

The former Bruins great is impressing at the next level.

Former four-year UCLA Bruins star small forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., now well on his way to an All-Rookie First Team honor as a standout young star for the Miami Heat, will be facing off against some stiff competition during the Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend this month.

Sources inform Shams Charania of The Athletic that Jaquez is likely to be joined by Osceola Magic combo guard Mac McClung, All-Star Boston Celtics shooting guard Jaylen Brown, and two-way New York Knicks small forward Jacob Toppin.

Outside of Brown, it's not exactly a murderer's row of star players suiting up for what was once All-Star Weekend's premiere event. The sky could be the limit for Jaquez, who's already exhibited an impressive scoring dexterity at the pro level. He's just not in that NBA star echelon just yet.

Through 44 games with the Heat, the 6'6" swingman is averaging 13.1 points on .497/.339/.840 shooting splits, 3.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals.

All-Star Saturday Night tips off at 5 p.m. PT. The action will also include the Skills Challenge (a very basic scrimmage which absolutely no one cares about), the Three-Point Contest (which has replaced the Dunk Contest as the starriest event of the night and maybe the most fun part of the weekend), and a new one-off matchup between New York Liberty All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu and Golden State Warriors All-Star point guard Stephen Curry.