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.