A deeper look into the next steps for the Miami Heat's Kasparas Jakucionis

With the 20th pick in the 2025 NBA draft, the Miami Heat were on the clock looking at a single name that they truly didn't believe would still be sitting there at that pick.

This young point guard with high upside out of Illinois named Kasparas Jakucionis was the easy pick for Adam Simon and the scouting department, as drafting best available, especially at those late first round spots, is the way to go.

Although the Heat felt they got lucky with the ability to add him to the roster, there wasn't a real expectation he would have the red carpet laid out for him such as Tyler Herro or Jaime Jaquez Jr did.

Usually with Heat rookies, it's a grind. Erik Spoelstra and the staff will force you to earn it, which is what he did behind the scenes early this regular season.

The injury of Tyler Herro for much of the season definitely played into this as well, but his work ethic just jumps off the page when describing his game. Not even using the cliches of being a "hard worker" and "never leaving the gym," that is quite literally the case with the 19 year old Jakucionis.

That behind the scenes work paid off as his minutes and playing time began to increase, as he played in 53 games this year and started in 12 of them.

His role wasn't exactly what some expected coming out of college, as he was previously programmed to this on-ball point guard/play-maker role at Illinois.

But as the Heat often test their young guys, they didn't want to put him in a box. They used him as a combo guard and off-ball threat in Summer League, and that stuck in his rookie season.

Shooting over 42% from three in your first year shouldn't be taken lightly, as his catch and shoot three ball was as pure as anyone. Coach Spoelstra would often call him one of the best shooters on their roster, and his confidence only grew from there.

The other area of his game that shined was on the defensive side of the ball, as his stable on and off ball containment is what allowed his playing time to continue.

"It was one of my main focuses, starting in Summer League," Jakucionis said in his exit interview talking about his defensive impact. "Just trying to play defense as hard as I can, try to get better at that, and learning from Davion (Mitchell) and Dru (Smith)."

Talked to Kasparas Jakucionis yesterday in his exit interview about his defense in his rookie season:

- Calls it one of his main focuses
- Says it started in Summer League trying to defend as hard as possible
- Getting advice from Davion and Dru pic.twitter.com/ndbvbgJJ18
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) April 17, 2026

But while addressing the positives from his rookie year, this off-season is about putting that behind him and getting right back to work to take that next jump.

So what does that second year jump look like?

I'd say the biggest one is off the dribble scoring. As noted before, they wanted to get him a ton of reps early on within that off the catch role, knowing that his on-ball vision will always be the thing he hangs his hat on.

But if the on-ball usage is going to really increase, the scoring threat in that space needs to see some improvement.

In those limited pick and rolls he saw within the Heat's new screen-less offense, we saw the passing continue to pop. Lob passes to his big man roller Kel'el Ware, high level skip pass reads on the move, and pace pushing full-court dimes in transition.

Yet that stuff only can be leveraged if defenses respect his scoring ability off the dribble. Whether it's the pull-up three or an in-between go-to shot, there needs to be a push to get his confidence up in that space and instill in him that he's encouraged to take those shots.

Once that hits a certain level, the passing stuff will be his largest asset.

B/R gives Kasparas Jakučionis a B grade for his rookie year:

“Jakučionis is a big, do-it-all-guard who shot the ball extremely well. In his 12 starts he put up 8.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and made 45.8 percent of his three-pointers. With Norman Powell hitting free… pic.twitter.com/koq1HqfB0u
— The HEAT Realm (@WadexFlash) April 20, 2026

"I would say getting stronger in the weight room," Jakucionis said when asked about the areas of his game he wants to get to work on. "Working on my handles...Get into the paint, play off two feet. Try to make the right reads from there and get some more paint touches for sure."

Some young guys on this Heat roster will be asked to hone in on specific things, such as Jaime Jaquez Jr cleaning up that jumper from three point land.

But Jakucionis is right, it's about really hitting all three aspects for him this off-season: on-ball, off-ball, and putting on muscle in the weight room.

And from what has been seen from his insane work ethic in all three of those areas, I have no reason to believe that he won't come back a much better player in year two.

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