Even though the Miami Heat drafted Kasparas Jakucionis No. 20 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, he wasn’t expected to fall that far.
Despite suffering a midseason arm injury, the Illinois alum was one of the best freshmen in college basketball last season, averaging 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists on 44.0 percent shooting, including 31.8 percent from 3-point range and 84.5 percent from the free-throw line.
His lack of raw athleticism likely factored into his slide, but it was still an unexpected turn that nobody foresaw. In an interview with BasketNews’ Edvinas Jablonskis, new Heat teammate Nikola Jovic — who watched Jakucionis closely at Illinois — recently revealed that he was shocked, too.
“I followed him in college because he played with my really good friend Tomislav Ivisic, and that’s why I watched his game,” Jovic said. “I was really surprised when we drafted him because I really thought he was going to be like a Top 10 pick.
“But it’s for sure a good pick for us. He’s a great player. I haven’t really talked to him, but I can’t wait to see him play. And I’m sure he’ll be a great piece for us.”
Me too, Nikola. Me too. (He was a top-8 player on my board!)
Jakucionis’ Summer League magnified some of the concerns about his athleticism — or lack thereof — but he was still impactful. Despite not scoring the ball well (9.5 points in six games), Jakucionis was active at the point-of-attack defensively, on the glass and consistently read the floor well, even if it didn’t exactly translate to the “assist” category on the box score.
He didn’t let his inefficient shooting affect the rest of his game. That’s all you could ask for from a 19-year-old getting his first taste of NBA basketball, even if it’s just a droplet.
Jakucionis is likely beginning the season on the outside-looking-in, in terms of fighting for a rotation spot. There’s a world where he earns (consistent?) playing time throughout the season. Though given the Heat’s roster imbalance, his rookie rock climb became a little more shaky.
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For anyone who doesn’t see the benefits of the Ware/Bam combo, here are some facts from the Herald…
When they were on the floor together in the regular season, the Heat outscored opponents by 44 points in 541 minutes. Among two-man lineups featuring Adebayo, the Heat had a better plus-minus only when Adebayo played alongside Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler or Davion Mitchell.
What’s more, the Heat shot 49.1 percent from the field and 40.9 percent on threes when Adebayo played alongside Ware. Those numbers are much higher than Miami’s overall 46.5 season shooting percentage and 36.7 percentage on threes.
In his first 40 games last season, without Ware starting, Adebayo averaged 15.7 points. His scoring topped 20 points per game with Ware starting alongside him.
There is no doubt, that that pair works well together. Still, there should be some caution with those numbers.
Bam was pretty bad at the beginning of the season (not because not playing with Ware) but he elevated his game later, which might make those numbers a bit worse, if we exclude that bad period playing without Ware.
A weak part of this duo is Ware or better said, his effort. Towards the end of last season and during summer league that was a serious problem.
I m a bit worried about that, there is still a chance that he will become a second HW. I m sure Spo said him privately that he need to up his effort first. That he have to make that in public, is not a good sign. The reaction of of Ware was good… this time. But how he will respond next time?
He’s young. Children learn to follow rules when they are introduced to rewards and punishments for their behaviors. If Ware works hard and stays focused, he will be rewarded. If he slacks off, he will be benched. Not giving 100% is a form of quitting. Miami doesn’t tolerate that.
Yes, he is young. But effort is not related to age, except for older players.
Perhaps I have to challenge my own predispositions on KJ. I have trouble envisioning him as a PG too, mostly because of his height, just being honest. But, having said that, people that know a lot more about basketball than I project him out to become a quality player. He was highly regarded by many of the pundits and I am hoping they will be proven right.
You never know but he is big for a point guard, looking strong for his age.
He has an European school of shooting, passing and reading the game, which makes him more polished than his American peers.
He is a modern type of point guard, Cunningham, Luka, Ball, Giddey, SGA type of player.
I agree. A preference for tall PGs is where the NBA is headed.
Can’t really judge by height. Simmons – 6’10”, Lonzo – 6’6”, LaMelo – 6’7”.
Shai 6’6″
Goran Dragic gives the unfiltered tea on Heat’s hyped draft pickGoran Dragic is high on Kasparas Jakucionis. (FANSIDED September 4, 2025)
Dragic only had glowing remarks when asked about Jakucionis.
“I went to practice, shared my story. We need to give him time. I was at practice and gave him some pointers. I’m hoping to work with him. I see the talent. We need to get him to play at a higher pace…I think he’s a huge talent.”
The bottom line is that Dragic believes in Jakucionis. And if he believes in him, the fan base should too. It just may take a bit more time to reap the benefits of this draft pick. Considering where the Heat finds themselves, that’s not necessarily the end of the world.
If he gets a chance to play in the postseason and he plays good he could get playing minutes in the regular season
Did you mean Preseason?
The team should probably write 2025-2026 off as part of his training process. He may not be ready to compete for a rotation spot until 2026-2027, or later.
Sioux Falls Sky Force begins play on Nov 7. The team has 11 games in November, 6 in December not including the G League Winter Showcase and another 12 in January.
By the end of January, he should have enough experience to let him play during garbage time and additional minutes if he demonstrates he is ready to play at the NBA level.
If he is not yet ready, the Heat should have him play the season out in Sioux Falls and bring him back in April.
He is a quality player, and should get 20 minutes a game in a bad team, which Miami is not. Also, with a million of more experienced guards in the team he doesn’t have much chance.
Still, as always, there are injuries, and sooner or later in the season there will be less then 10 players available for a game. Thats his chance.
He needs seasoning at Sioux Falls. Let’s see where he is after 20 games there.
1st rnd picks should play asap we need help.looks like more of a 2g.he’ll never be able to guard nba pgs
Really?
I believe he has a potential to be a better defender then Ty, Rosier and even Goran.
1st round picks should play when they are ready to play.
the good ones play immediately/the 50/50 ers take a while.he could be ok he might not.dru/dav combo is adequate for now.team needs a closer hopefully powell can be it
Wrong! He should start immediately and when he has some rough games and makes rookie mistakes, we can call him a bust and blame the fo for another bad pick. The objective is to complain and be miserable.
There is a lot to unpack here with this comment, a comment a little out of character for one of our best posters, as far as giving reasoned responses and rational discourse is concerned. To really understand everything going on here one has to take a long range perspective. We are a franchise that has had a lot of success over the last twenty years, and a lot of trust in the front office has rightly been earned. We have grown to expect things to work out for the best and to figure out ways to continue winning.
For now, we are in one of our few rough patches, albeit a reasonably short one. But, we are picked by most analysts to be a play-in team for the third year in a row. Three years is enough of a time frame for the doubts to start to creep in, and Front Office moves are starting to be more scrutinized and more rightfully questioned.
We are at a stage where the people who appreciate where we have been are starting to clash with the people wondering where we are going. It’s a healthy interchange and a legitimate one. It is my opinion we need hfl’s questioning and a few others (myself) just as much as some of the keep the faith contingency.
Because, there is another side to this KJ discussion. No, we shouldn’t throw him to the wolves, but we also shouldn’t treat him so delicately that four years from now we’re still saying he is still so young and that he may tap into potential upside. We are doing just that with Nico right now and although all of us are hoping for the best, despite his decent EuroBasket showing, he hasn’t proven much yet.
Drafting mid round players has allowed the anytime your drafting past top ten it’s a crapshoot line of thinking, which when drafting very young, can complicate the evaluation process. In short, questioning a 6’5” pg, playing one of the most athletic positions on the court, and calling it the new nba type player, well it’s a tad over optimistic for some of us around here. I understand why that is not what some want to read, but it is a valid opinion.
Yes, yes, yes. It was only meant as a tongue in cheek comment to elicit a smile or chuckle. Nothing malevolent was meant. Folks seem to overreact one way or the other. I’m assuming nothing about the players or the team. My only intention is to enjoy them as much as possible. I look forward to training camp, exhibition games, and the season. This offseason has been like a bad root canal.
The purpose of rookie contracts and G League is to give teams time to develop younger (especially one and done) players, who by rights, should be starting their second year of college with three more seasons to go. It is cheaper to keep a developing young player on a rookie contract than a veteran placeholder who has already reached his ceiling and probably won’t get much playing time.
Some older rookies, like Jaquez, come in after four years of college better prepared to hit the ground running. Others, with less experience and training, are many times drafted by lottery teams and thrown into the fire immediately, although they may not be quite ready for the “big show.”
There are countless NBA players who started out slow in their first and second years and blossomed later. None of us has any idea what kind of player Jakucionis will ultimately be. None of us knows his ceiling.
RC, I and several other Heat fans are optimists. We prefer to imagine the best possibilities rather than the worst. We prefer to think players such as Ware, Jovic, Larsson, Jakucionis, Jaquez, Smith and others have not yet hit their ceilings. For that matter, we can also imagine what the team might be able to do if players such as Bam, Herro, Powell, Wiggins and Mitchell also have room to “kick it up a notch” or two.
I like to imagine the best possible scenarios for the team if the young ones do develop into solid rotational players or even starters, while also preparing myself for the consequences if some of them don’t. What I don’t do is make myself miserable dwelling on the worst possible scenarios, before the season even starts.
For some reason, I’m feeling more optimistic about this year’s team than I have for the past few years. I think they have a chance to win the East if they can add a couple of key players by the trade deadline.
P.S. 2025-2026 would be Miami’s fourth year in a row as a play-in team, if they finish in the 7-10 spot. It started with the 2022-2023 season when the Heat went to the NBA Finals as the #8 seed.
GO HEAT!!!
Some of us tends to be optimistic, some of us tend to be pessimistic. Its a matter of character then anything else. I already almost forgot the last year disaster and painful regular seasons in past year, but you didn’t. You are probably wiser regarding that, you will probably save yourself a disappointment.
Still, KJ needs time. In year 3 should be an important rotation player. For the rest of our young players.
-Ware needs two more years.
-For Johnson, Jovic, Pelle, JJJ… this is their year, to show what they are. We shouldnt keep them if they dont improve their game rapidly.
Exactly! You were reading my mind. Guilty until proven innocent! The American Way!
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
William Arthur Ward
The rich starts the motor.
do u see him better than dav or dru
Not now, later. In 2 years one or both may not be around.