MIAMI – As the Miami Heat have been running a new style of offense, focusing more on a free-flowing system and upping the pace, many players have benefited, with no one more arguably than Jaime Jaquez Jr., in the midst of his third NBA season. While Jaquez has been a tremendous boost for the Heat this season so far, there has been one player coaching him from the sidelines who has helped with his development, in Tyler Herro.

The star guard for Miami is currently missing time due to an ankle surgery, with a set return not yet revealed, but that hasn't stopped Herro from motivating his team on the sidelines. A noticeable interaction was with Herro and Jaquez in Friday's win over the Charlotte Hornets, where the latter highlighted how the star was coaching him about drawing fouls and getting to the free-throw line.

So far this season, Jaquez's activity at the charity stripe is up as he's attempted around two free throws per game in the first two years, while it's approaching four each contest in the current campaign. It helps that Jaquez has been going downhill more in the fast offense, relying on drives to the basket, but Herro's advice has been “extremely helpful.”

“He's been extremely helpful, he's really good at drawing those fouls in that way,” Jaquez said last Friday. “So any tip that I can get from him, I'm always taking, and he's always in my ear, telling me before the game, he asked me, ‘How many times we got to get to the line, just knowing, playing downhill. And that's how scorers score points is getting to that foul line.”

Heat's Erik Spoelstra on how Jaime Jaquez Jr. has improved 

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With Jaime Jaquez Jr.'s metrics up this season for the Heat, as the system plays to his strengths and gets him downhill, it does seem natural that it will lead to more chances at the free-throw line. Herro had also seen an uptick in efficiency and free-throw attempts in his All-Star season, as while Spoelstra speaks on the difference between the two players, he loves it when players can “gain different little insights.”

“I mean, they're totally different stylistically offensive players, but, yeah, I love it when the guys are talking to each other and trying to gain different little insights,” Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints before Monday's game against Cleveland. “You know, Jaime is three yards and a cloud of dust, you know, to get to the free throw line. Tyler's developing different ways to draw fouls. But I love the diversity and how they're different. Yeah, it was a good thing. But I also really like the way Jaime is rebounding to basketball. We need to check that box, you know, we need to do a better job on the glass.”

Jaquez impressed in his first season, after he was taken with the 18th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, earning selection to the NBA's All-Rookie first team. However, he would regress in his sophomore season, with him even admitting in the offseason that he tried too hard to be a knockdown three-point shooter, rather than using his physicality.

Through 10 games, Jaquez is averaging 17.1 points, seven rebounds, and five assists per game, showing the improved playmaker he's been this season. As the Heat entered Monday's contest against the Cavs with a 6-4 record, the two teams face off once again on Wednesday night before Miami travels on the road to take on the New York Knicks on Sunday.