Local Chatter: Camarillo graduate Jaime Jaquez Jr. begins transition to NBA with Heat

As he makes his transition to professional basketball, Jaime Jaquez Jr. is looking forward to the “freedom” of the NBA.

After excelling in his four-year career at UCLA, the Camarillo High graduate was drafted No. 18 overall by the Miami Heat on June 22 and he has already begun his development at NBA Summer League.

“I think the freedom of the NBA game is a lot different than college because in college you always got to run a lot of sets in the flow of the offense,” Jaquez told the Miami Herald. “I think in the NBA because of the shortened shot clock, there are so many opportunities for broken plays and things to not go as planned. You got to think on the move.

“To me personally, that’s where my game really elevates because that’s the game I like to play. I like to play free, I like to make fast decisions and quick decisions and try to get guys open. I think my game is going to grow a lot when I get to the NBA just because of all the freedom and the spacing and there’s just a lot of opportunity within the game.”

Jaquez was prepared for the draft at Proactive Sports Performance in Westlake Village by former Simi Valley High and UCLA star Don MacLean.

On draft night, he became the first Ventura County prep product selected in the first round since MacLean was picked No. 19 overall in 1992.

If he adapts quickly enough, Jaquez has the opportunity to move right into the defending Eastern Conference champion’s rotation, considering the free agency defections of Gabe Vincent and Max Strus.

“I think defensively, it’s really just breaking the old college habits,” said Jaquez said. “Like closing out, not chopping your feet, making sure you get there and just make sure you run guys off the line. The defensive three seconds, how long I can be in the key and not just staying there forever like you can do in college.”

Jaquez had a strong debut in a Heat jersey, scoring 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting in Miami’s 107-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at the California Classic last Monday in Sacramento.

The performance was punctuated by a hammer dunk in transition over Lakers center Colin Castleton.

Jaquez was limited to 16 minutes in the Heat’s 95-83 loss to Sacramento on Wednesday due to a shoulder injury, so his status for the Heat’s summer schedule in Las Vegas is uncertain.

Baseball draft preview

The three-day Major League Baseball Draft begins Sunday in Seattle and there should be plenty of local talent selected.

Baseball America has at least six locals ranked in its draft class Top 500, led by former Thousand Oaks High infielder Jacob Wilson at No. 9 overall.

The All-American infielder, who hit .411 as a junior at Grand Canyon University, is the son of former major league shortstop Jack Wilson, who also coached Jacob at Thousand Oaks.

Wilson has one of the best hit tools in his draft class. He was the toughest player to strike out in NCAA Division I as a sophomore and junior, whiffing just 12 times (2.7%) in 438 at-bats.

Baseball America also ranks Newbury Park High pitcher Cole Miller No. 108, Oklahoma State infielder Roc Riggio (Simi Valley/Thousand Oaks High) No. 141, Pepperdine shortstop John Peck (Moorpark High) No. 152, Calabasas High shortstop Phoenix Call No. 255, and Ventura College shortstop Reiss Calvin No. 317.

Five of the six — all but Calvin — were also listed in MLB Pipeline’s Top 250 and Prospect Live’s Top 500 rankings.

Miller sat in the low 90s and touched 95 mph as a senior this spring, when he had a 1.34 ERA and struck out 60 in 41.2 innings.

The 6-foot-6, 225-pound righty is a UCLA commit and the younger brother of pitcher Jake Miller, who was drafted by Cleveland in 2021 and remains in the Guardians system.

After a memorable postseason performance as a freshman, Riggio hit .335 with 18 home runs and 61 RBIs in 59 games for Oklahoma State.

He was a third-team All-American selection by Collegiate Baseball.

Peck hit .272 with six home runs for Pepperdine as a junior. Call, also UCLA commit, helped Calabasas to the CIF-State SoCal Division II regional championship, reaching base four times in the final win over Santana.

Calvin completed one of the great careers in Ventura College history by setting program records for career batting average (.406) and times on base (200) and tying the record for career hits (140).

The Woodbury, Minnesota, native was named Western State Conference North Division Player of the Year and ABCA/Rawlings Pacific Association Division All-American. He has committed to UC Santa Barbara.

Slugger Lech moves south

After a breakout season this spring, Amelia Lech is moving on from the University of Maryland.

The softball catcher from Newbury Park High announced her transfer to Auburn University last month.

As a sophomore, Lech hit 16 home runs, the second-most in program history and the season-most in the Big Ten Conference.

She hit .285 with 11 doubles and 47 RBIs for Maryland, which went 38-19 and reached the semifinals of the postseason National Invitational Softball Championship.

Joe Curley writes the Local Chatter column for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcsjoecurley on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Local Chatter: Jaquez begins transition to NBA with Heat