The Miami Heat Got a Lottery Level Talent with Their 20th Pick
Kel’el Ware and Bam Adebayo now have a guy who will toss them lobs with ease, and I think Miami fans will be pleased when Kasparas Jakucionis suits up for the Heat. The 19-year-old stems from Lithuania and played a season at FC Barcelona before leaving to play college at Illinois. At Illinois, he averaged 13.5 points per game, 4.5 rebounds, and 6.2 assists while shooting 32.7 percent from the three-point range. These are solid stats for a first-year college player, but the stats don’t tell the full story for Jakucionis.
Many draft analysts were surprised to see Jakucionis with most ranking him as a mid to late lottery selection. He ended up falling to 20, and when you watch him play, it’s no wonder why he was so highly rated by analysts. At six-foot-five and 205 pounds, he’s going to give Miami very good size at the guard position to pair with their other six-foot-five guard, Tyler Herro. Jakucionis has a fairly stout frame, which I believe he can develop further as he progresses in his career. His size helped him become rather effective at drawing fouls, and we can hope to see him at the foul line pretty often next season.
Jakucionis’s claim to fame has been his elite playmaking ability and court vision. It feels like it has been far too long since the Heat had a guy who could find the open man no matter where they are on the court. Tyler Herro has grown into an above-average playmaker, but the offense feels lost at times when he’s off the court and isn’t the man taking the ball up the court. Jakucionis’s potential is through the roof, and I think we’re going to see some amazing highlights when he links up with his big men next fall. Much has been said about his turnover rate, and it’s definitely really high and could cause him some trouble early on in his career. He tends to be a little sloppy when handling the ball, or could try to do a little too much on the playmaking end, which could cause growing pains as he figured out what he could get away with in the big leagues.
I think the shooting has potential for Jakucionis, especially off the pick and roll, but his shot creation ability could use some work. I really don’t expect him to turn into an elite shooter, but I think he can generally be a positive if granted open opportunities for him to let it fly. Defensively, I don’t think he’s anything too special, but Erik Spoelstra’s defensive scheme has the specialty to turn nothing into something on the defensive front. He plays with an above-average motor, and I think he has what it takes to use his physical traits to become a positive defensive player.
Kasparas Jakucionis wasn’t a guy that many Heat fans and reporters had on their mock drafts, but that’s really because he wasn’t even supposed to be there when the Heat picked. He is still a young player and has some things to improve on that will likely cause him some rookie struggles. This is to be expected, but I think it could be a bit of a process for him that will take time, but the flashes will be there. Heat Vice President of Basketball Operations, Adam Simon, speaks really highly of Jakucionis, and given Simon’s draft record with the team, I think that should be considered an inspiring endorsement for the player the team could be getting.
