Miami Heat Rookie Catches Fire in First Vegas Game

Much has been made about Kasparas Jakcuionis’ start to his professional career. And rightfully so given his start.

Through three games in the California Classic in Summer League, Jakucionis scored just four points per game on a frigid 6% shooting, failing to hit a single 3-pointer on 11 tries. Even worse, his passing — one of his strengths in the pre-draft process — wasn’t as advertised, with him seeing a 1-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Many fears were quelled though with Jakucionis’ first Las Vegas performance, where he looked like the best player on the court with several NBA-level players.

In total, Jakucionis finished with 24 points on a fiery 7-for-12 shooting, adding four assists, four rebounds and two steals in the process. 

Jakucionis saw one of the best halves of his young career to start the game, going for 19 points, three rebounds and three assists. His shot-making hit another gear, seeing plenty of high-difficulty 3-pointers go down. On the day he finished shooting 5-for-9 from beyond the arc, a massive improvement from the California Classic.

His second half didn't go nearly as well, but his impact was still felt with stingier than expected defense and tons of potential assists. The Heat eventually dropped their game to the Hawks, 105-98.

Jakucionis was one of the biggest slider of the ’25 draft, slipping all the way to Miami at No. 20 after allegedly having top-10 stock. While he’s certainly seen his early struggles, he still projects to be a scoring guard with table-setting passing for Miami down the line.

There's no guarantee he'll earn major minutes in Year 1 for a Heat team likely looking to make a splash in the East, but Miami has a great track record of developing talent in recent years.