NBA Draft Scouting Report: UCLA's Jaime Jaquez
Jaime Jaquez
Wing | UCLA
Height: 6'7” | Weight: 225 lbs
2023 Draft Age: 22.33
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Prospect Profile
A unique prospect, Jaquez provides versatility as a hybrid between a guard and a wing. He’s highly skilled with good size and a solid frame.
While Jaquez isn’t an elite shooter, he is a very good overall scorer. He plays with physicality and a good feel for the game. The UCLA prospect has underrated speed, but isn’t someone that relies on athleticism to be effective. However, he does like to use his size as an advantage against smaller defenders in the mid-post and in the paint.
On the defensive end, Jaquez is both disruptive and versatile. He does struggle with quicker guards, but can slide up and defend bigger frontcourt players well for his position. He’s also a good positional rebounder and his advanced metrics point directly to a high impact on winning.
At 6-foot-7, his ability to handle the ball has helped him develop into a well-rounded offensive player. With each passing season, his role increased and so did his scoring output.
On the flip side, Jaquez is an older prospect that hasn’t shown the ability to knock down triples at an elite rate. He shot almost 40% as a sophomore, but less than 32% in every other college season. If he’s really going to reach his ceiling at the NBA level and earn minutes early on, that will be a big area of growth needed. Furthermore, he’s not a facilitator or high upside passer, as he doesn’t generate a high number of assists. Jaquez can also be turnover prone at times.
It will be interesting to see his role and position at the next level. He definitely could be more wing-oriented with how athletic and explosive NBA guards are. This is yet another reason his 3-point shot needs to come around. While he is an older prospect, that also comes with experience as he’s played over 200 college games, starting nearly all of them.
A former top 100 recruit in high school, Jaquez also has experience playing for the Mexican National Team at the Pan American Games in 2019. Both of his parents played college basketball, so hoops is in his genes.
The pre-draft process will be key in determining whether Jaquez truly has late first-round upside or if he will go in the second.
Highlights
Draft Projection
Late First or Early Second-Round Pick in 2023 NBA Draft.
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