The Miami Heat added to their young core when they drafted former University of Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Before the draft, Greg Sylvander of Five Reasons reported that “lots of people” thought Miami’s first-round pick could end up getting moved in a trade for star forward Kevin Durant, but he ended up getting dealt to the Houston Rockets.
Durant ending up in Houston could prove to be a blessing in disguise for Miami, as Jakucionis seemingly has the potential to mold into a star one day with his unique all-around game.
Maybe it’s not a coincidence that Jakucionis is a generalist rather than a specialist, as he said former Heat star LeBron James used to be his “hero.” James has long been a do-it-all player.
“When I was little, he was my hero,” Jakucionis said of James, via Sportskeeda. “He’s a complete basketball player. He does everything for the team to win. He’s a winning guy. He’s involving other players in the game. He can score whenever he wants. He defends. Basically, he is the true leader. It’s also his mental approach to the game and how he takes care of his body and how he works out. All of those things matter. I think that’s why he is who he is. Without that work, he wouldn’t be where he is now.”
The topic of Jakucionis’ favorite James performance also came up, and he had an answer that plenty of James fans would likely give as well.
Jakucionis cited James’ showing in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals versus the Golden State Warriors and mentioned James’ clutch block in the waning moments of that do-or-die game.
“I liked his block against Golden State [in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals],” he said. “That was an iconic one. That was the first game that I watched live. I woke up at 3 am with my friend [in Lithuania] and we watched that game. That was the most memorable moment for me. I was hyped. We were cheering for him. He was my little hero. I was so happy.”
Finally, he touched on what it will be like facing off against James at the highest level.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “His approach and how he takes care of his body lets him play almost the same as it was 10 years ago. It was crazy. It was crazy.”
James spent four seasons with the Heat earlier in his pro career and helped the organization win back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.
Meanwhile, Jakucionis’ Summer League stint has been full of ups and downs. Across three games played in the California Classic, it seemed as if he couldn’t have possibly played any worse.
He shot a combined 1-of-15 from the field over those three games and didn’t make up for his inefficient scoring by playmaking for his teammates, considering he totaled just six assists compared to 12 turnovers.
But Summer League jitters happen sometimes, and more importantly, he has stepped his game up since the Heat began playing in Las Vegas.
Against the Atlanta Hawks on July 11, he put together probably his best Summer League performance to this point and lived up to his reputation as a stat-sheet stuffer in that contest. He totaled 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 5-of-9 shooting from deep along with four rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
With any luck, Jakucionis will be able to emulate some parts of James’ game moving forward and become a key piece at the NBA level.
