Miami Heat get Potential Steal in Draft’s Top Slider

Each year, one or two players see the dreaded draft night slide, falling well below where they were projected going into it.

Sometimes players fall due to bad interviews, less-than-ideal physicals, and a number of other factors. Dalton Knecht, Cam Whitmore and a few others come to mind as recent draftees to slip respective of their predicted spots. At the 2025 NBA Draft just days ago, it was Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis.

The reasons still aren’t clear as to why a projected top-10 pick in Jakucionis fell all the way to No. 20, but the Miami Heat certainly aren’t complaining. 

Many expected the team to land guards such as Nolan Traore, Nique Clifford, Jase Richardson or others, but almost no one expected Jakucionis to be there. Having great need of a lead ball-handler, Miami was happy to stop the 6-foot-5 guard’s slide. 

Jakucionis is undoubtedly the best pure prospect the Heat have landed in some time. It’s not often a blue chip player falls into the 20’s, but it was an easy bet for a Miami squad that needs talent in general, especially at the point guard position.

In 33 games as a true freshman at Illinois, he scored 15.0 points, grabbed 5.7 rebounds, dished 4.7 assists and nabbed nearly one steal per game while shooting 44% overall and 32% from beyond the arc.

Jakucionis should offer an elite table-setter for Miami, providing some of the best handling and passing in the class with a dash of shot-making and potentially elite 3-point shooting.

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.”

“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.”

The Heat, better than any other team, have done solidly developing mid-first-round picks in recent years. And Jakucionis is an easy bet to land among those as a future contributor in Miami.

The Heat now look to Summer League, where they'll roll Jakucionis out as a lead handler in hopes of developing him some ahead of next season. Las Vegas Summer League tips off on July 10.