The Miami Heat didn’t anticipate the sophomore slump that Jaime Jaquez Jr. fell into last season. And if some recent speculation is any indication, the Heat wasn’t very happy with how he approached his second season after a strong rookie campaign.

In the words of ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Heat was “not thrilled with [Jaquez’s] overall demeanor after the success in his rookie year.” The fact that he took a pretty big step back in his sophomore season probably didn’t help matters any.

Nevertheless, this bit of information from Windy does give the indication that the Heat were disappointed in not only the results for Jaquez, but also his process heading into last year. The hope is that it begins to change heading into his all-important third year, but that’s far from a foregone conclusion.

This is a huge season for Jaime Jaquez Jr.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what the Heat were turned off by Jaquez this past season, but something clearly has to change. If the Heat wants to get the most out of Jaquez, they’ll need to see a change of approach from him. And if Jaquez wants to ensure he gets a contract extension after this season, he’ll need to take a big step forward.

For both the Heat and Jaquez, this is going to be a big year.

In a season in which the Heat needs to establish a foundation for the future, one that may need to extend beyond Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, it’ll be truly important for a player like Jaquez to break out of last year’s funk.

If Jaquez is going to emerge as a staple of the future for the Heat, he’ll need to prove that he can put whatever happened during his sophomore season behind him.

Because if he can’t, it’s pretty clear that his days in Miami might be numbered. And if the Heat aren’t able to get the most out of Jaquez this early in his career, it does send a pretty clear sign about him.

Again, we don’t truly know what the issue was with Jaquez last year. For all we know, it could’ve been that he just never seemed 100 percent healthy. Maybe that was it. Nevertheless, we’re certainly going to learn a lot about Jaquez and his standing with the Heat this season.

If I were to guess, I’d imagine we’re going to see a big bounce-back year from Jaquez. With everything that is on the line this season, both he and the Heat certainly need it.