Miami Heat Draft Kasparas Jakucionis with No. 20 Pick

The Miami Heat offer one of the more intriguing teams this offseason, reportedly entering into trade talks league wide, while still needing to add developmental prospects to the roster. 

At Wednesday’s 2025 draft they did just that, adding Kasparas Jakucionis with the No. 20 pick overall.

A 6-foot-6 guard, Jakucionis was one of the top freshmen producers in the class. Across 33 games at Illinois, he scored 15.0 points, grabbed 5.7 rebounds and dished 4.7 assists while shooting 44% overall and 32% from beyond the arc.

Jakucionis projects to be a strong option as a lead guard, offering high-level shot-making and table-setting passing. He needs to clean up turnovers and general inefficiencies, but has star traits worth pouring into. In the least, he should be able to function as a connective wing with high feel for the game.

The Heat saw a disappointing season by their standards, making it into the postseason as the No. 8 seed, but losing in a quick four games to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were soon ousted themselves. Miami has a number of interesting pieces, including Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, Aaron Wiggins and plenty more, but still feels far away from contention.

Their latest pick should help them inch closer to their goal of returning to contention in a wide-open East. With internal development, they should be able to make a splash with teams like the Pacers, Celtics and Bucks set to be less talented.

Per an earlier scouting report from NBA Draft on SI: Jakucionis has phenomenal lead guard skills, boasting great court vision at 6-foot-5. Driving and dishing is the name of his game, as he thrives on setting up his teammates. When it comes down to it, the Illinois freshman simply makes those around him better. He’s a team player who generally makes things happen when the ball is in his hands. At times he gets caught trying to do too much, but as he continues to get more reps at the college level, Jakucionis will learn to better determine when he needs to take a step back and let the game come to him. 

No. 20 was Miami’s only pick of the draft so far, though the second round will commence on Thursday, June 26. The next major milestone in the NBA offseason will be the 2025 NBA 2K25 Summer League held in Las Vegas, NV, which will take place from July 10-20.