The Heat have selected Kasparas Jakucionis with the 20th overall pick in the 2025 draft.
Jakucionis, a 6’6″ combo guard, spent time as a teenager with BC Rytas-2 in his home country of Lithuania and then with FC Barcelona in Spain before coming stateside a year ago to play for Illinois.
In his lone college season, Jakucionis started all 33 games he played for the Fighting Illini and was the team’s leading scorer with 15.0 points per game on .440/.318/.845 shooting. He also led the team with 4.7 assists and grabbed 5.7 rebounds per contest. He has good size for a ball-handling guard and has been lauded by draft experts for his effectiveness in the pick-and-roll.
While Jakucionas struggled to finish at the rim at times, he did a great job drawing fouls, averaging 5.1 free throws per game, which ranked 11th in the Big Ten conference. He also knocked down his free throws at a high clip.
One worry for Jakucionas is his ball security, as his 123 turnovers ranked 5th in the entire NCAA last season, but he brings a clear, well-rounded ball-screen skill set and good passing instincts.
Jakucionas joins a Heat team that needs point guard play, regardless of whether or not they retain restricted free agent Davion Mitchell. With his size, Jakucionas should be able to play next to Mitchell or Tyler Herro.
While he didn’t shoot the cover off the ball at Illinois, he displayed some off-ball ability that will fit nicely next to Herro’s improved play-making. If he can improve as a shooter and defender, Jakucionas has the potential to be a major upside swing for Miami.
Man this class is pretty strong when Jakucionis is #20. Im a ACC guy so I’ll say (Ty Jerome + Mark Price)/2 = Jakucionis
Good comp. I’d say that most here didn’t see or know how good Mark Price was.
Huge ceiling for this guy. Potential star.
Most here don’t know how good Ty Jerome is lol. Let’s be real most dk how good Ja Morant or Chris Paul or James Harden is, like literally.
They got really lucky that he slid this far.
I see some Goran in his game.
Good pick up for the 20th spot.
Can’t believe Nets passed on him. He’s is in the right place. Heat will do him right
I think he can be a nice Point Guard but I do think he needs a year to develop.
Kasparas and Riley really giving off Nico Mannion and Josh Green energy
That 19/20 Arizona team went 21-11 put had Nico Green Zeke Koloko
This Illinois team has gone 22-13 with Kasparas and Riley. Morez Johnson Jr was the 30th best high schooler and after a disappointing year just transferred as have two others.
Kasparas is turnover prone and can’t shoot.
I don’t think this was a great pick
You too can be a free throw merchant, miss most of your shots while needing to push off to create separation, and be the next MVP.