New Heat guard Kasparas Jakucionis declined to conduct a predraft workout for the Heat because he thought he would not be available by the time they picked at No. 20, according to the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. Miami also didn’t think Jakucionis, ranked in the top 10 on several big boards, would be available to them.
“We see tremendous potential with Kas,” Heat vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager Adam Simon said. “You’re talking about a 6-5 [guard] with a plus-three [pointer], good athlete but with a high IQ. So if you combine all those things with a work ethic, there’s no reason why you can’t mold him into a very good NBA player. I think that’s why we were attracted to take him tonight.”
The 6’5″ guard averaged 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists in his one and only season at Illinois. He’ll serve as a lead playmaker and help assert Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware as lob threats and roll men. Jakucionis did average 3.7 turnovers per game last year, but the Heat aren’t concerned.
“Certainly the numbers are higher than you want, but he’s high usage and he’s processing things,” Simon said. “The turnovers were high, certainly. But I think they’re turnovers that you can work with. I think those are correctable, they’re teachable to see the game. But if you just watched all his film, he’s making good reads out there, he’s making plays.”
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- The Heat are bullish on the future of Ware and this offseason is reflecting that, Chiang writes in another story. Ware was kept essentially off limits in any potential Kevin Durant trade talks, and Jakucionis has the makings of a long-term running mate for the big man. “We’re excited about his growth, we really are,” franchise legend and current Heat executive Alonzo Mourning said. “This summer I’ve already seen him getting better in his workouts. He doesn’t have to be here, this is his time off. But that kind of speaks volumes that he has kind of blocked out all of the distractions as a kid.“
- Former Georgia forward Asa Newell was ecstatic to land with his hometown Hawks in the draft, per Lauren L. Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I knew deep in my heart that I really wanted to go to the Hawks, and hearing about the trades, and me and DQ [Derik Queen] basically got traded for each other, it was pretty cool,” Newell said. “So that’s gonna be a fun matchup, for sure. But it was just like, ‘Wow.’ My heart was beating so fast when the camera came to my table, and I just, I was just so happy, especially getting dropped into a great organization.”
- Jack White, who previously played 21 games in the NBA with the Nuggets and Grizzlies from 2022-24, will workout with the Hawks and play with them in Summer League, according to ESPN’s Olgun Uluc (Twitter link). Uluc writes that an NBA return for White is a possibility.
- The Magic drafted Jase Richardson and Noah Penda, targeting two players they valued for their character, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel writes in a subscriber-only story. “The exciting part for us as always, as you guys know, we look for the person before the player, and we feel that these two young guys have our Magic DNA,” president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said. “They’re about others and that reflects itself on the court.” According to Beede, Penda was disappointed to not hear his name called in the first round but is excited about landing with Orlando, who traded four seconds to move up to get him.
Honestly, I’m not surprised Kasparas slid down the board.
Teams are mostly looking for the highest ceiling, the next big star, and I can see why they would pass on him. I think he’s quite close to the final product, despite the young age. In college, he was exactly the same player he was in Barcelona’s academy.
Also, teams looked at his background and probably couldn’t help thinking “this guy will play out his rookie contract and will go back to Europe and find it more comfortable over there.”
I kind of wish he was there at 21 to be taken by Washington, but it looks like they didn’t plan to take him anyway, they could have done that at 18. Washington could use somebody like him, somebody who will look like a competent player from day 1, and maybe give the team some structure, because the way Bilal, Sarr, Carrington and the rest played under that coach, they looked like headless chickens. And Brogdon, Smart, Middleton made no difference. CJ won’t help either.
There is so much empty talk in the NBA about “veterans setting standards”, “veterans helping young guys”, I think it’s mostly bs. You need somebody who has a proper formation as a basketball player, and plays that way because that’s the only way he knows. Kasparas is that kind of player.
Doncic is basically the same player he was the day he entered the league, he always had it in him. And he will always be someone that plays a certain way and shapes the team, even under inept coaching. Kasparas is a player of that mold (I’m not saying he’s as good as Doncic, not at all).
I get why Brooklyn didn’t take him. If they were looking for the highest ceiling, 2 previous picks they made are exactly that. Especially the French guy, Traore, who was ranked highly prior to this season. He played in a professional setting that was hard to gauge. Didn’t have the best season, but his previous projection is probably what the teams should have looked at, imo. A little bit like with Buzelis and Holland, who played for a team that made it difficult for folks to assess them. Traore pick over Kasparas is a good idea in this sense.
Kasparas will likely do well in Miami. That’s a good landing spot for him.