How Kasparas Jakucionis Will UPGRADE Miami Heat Offense | Expert Scouting Report

How Kasparas Jakucionis Will UPGRADE Miami Heat Offense | Expert Scouting Report

all right welcome to Lockdown Heat i’m Wes Goldberg thanks for making Lockdown Heat your first listen every day make sure you hit that subscribe button on YouTube follow us on your favorite podcast app have a ton of draft content covering Miamiy’s pick of Casper Yakonis here and in a minute I’m going to be joined by Tyler Medcaf from the No Ceilings YouTube channel tremendous resource for all things NBA draft scouting prospects college basketball and the like so really excited to talk to him in a minute about why Cass might have slid to Miami at 20 whether or not he has any concerns in his game and is fit with the Miami Heat here we go you are Locked on Heat your daily Miami Heat podcast part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day all right thanks for making Locked on Heat your first listen every day i’m here with Tyler Medcaf from No Ceilings awesome YouTube channel tremendous resource uh for the NBA draft breakdowns on prospects a ton of draft talk um and one of my favorite go-tos when I’m doing all my draft prep so let’s just jump right in the Heat take Kasparis Yakonis at 20 the big story is why he was even there in the first place uh do you have any insights into into why he fell because ESPN had him 11 um I know you guys had him really high a lot of people had him as a projected lottery pick why did he end up there at 20 for Miami honestly no clue um I And a bit of it is just the kind of chaos that went on ahead of uh Miamiy’s pick um the Hansen Yang pick through uh things into disarray uh I think a lot of people were surprised by Jagory Diamond going at eight we had him there but Casper just felt like the kind of talent that maybe a team just would have traded up for um I know a lot of teams in like that late lottery range and mid first round really liked him but every year we see just someone inevitably fall because of one or two chaos picks ahead and then teams he is probably number two on a lot of teams boards and they just went with the other guy um and then you know obviously Utah trading up ahead of Miami to take Walter Clayton pushed him down even further everything we were hearing was Walter Clayton was a lock to go 20 to Miami and then all of a sudden a guy who I had at eight on my board falls into their lap at 20 so I I kind of hypothesized the same thing right sometimes there’s really no specific people want to find like a specific reason oh my god something happened in this guy’s background or whatever to cause him to fall i thought the same thing he’s probably number two on everybody’s board but the number one guy on their board was just there and they went ahead and took him um I did a little bit of poking around in terms of hey was there injury concerns we know that he was dealing with the arm injury that that is not a concern it’s not showing up in any of the stuff i’m sure you’re hearing the same thing it he just sort of fell and you look at the the logical landing spots brooklyn at 8 uh Portland I thought at 11 made a lot of sense but of course they trade back uh Memphis moves up to get their guy Cedric Coward who was a guy that I really liked i never thought he was gonna fall to 20 but I also didn’t think uh Cass would fall to 20 so here we are but uh and then and then uh Portland just goes crazy and takes Chinese Joker at 16 so you keep going down the list you’re like I guess there wasn’t any real logical landing spot and Miami has him fall into his lap i don’t know how high the heat were on Miami i was hearing the same stuff about Walter Clayton Jr it’s so tough to know with Miami how much of it is smoke or not i kind of think they really did like him yeah but I also think that they’re really excited to get their hands on a guy like Yakonis here because they don’t really have a guy like that on the roster but let’s dive into a little bit of the scouting report um I know you’ve done a ton of work on him what do you like about his game i mean for starters he’s just a pro out of all of the guys that I watched this year in person um you know I know this sounds cliche but his workout was by far the most impressive and it was exactly what you see from guys who like NBA guards where he’s working on like that off foot like funky footwork finishes and finishing through contact and finishing at weird angles and being off balance and it was really high intensity a lot of variety and we see that like that that’s great on its own but then when we see it pop up in games with the creative finishing and the rim pressure and the way that he utilizes that weird funky footwork to get to wherever he wants and finishes through contact it’s like oh Okay so stuff you’re working on you’re immediately turning it around and applying it to the game that’s really fun um and then you know as a person and he was going up into the stands with talking to Illinois fans and signing autographs taking pictures with kids this is during their warm-up um because they had you know driven up to Minnesota and they were he was going out of his way to connect with them awesome person uh work ethic all that stuff off the charts but then even on the court great positional size one of the most creative and dynamic playmakers in the class needs to fix the turnovers i buy the shot you mentioned the arm injury definitely factored in but can play on or on on or off ball really creative player today’s episode of Lockdown Heat is brought to you by Game Time have you ever decided at the last minute to head to a ball game with friends or family maybe it’s game day and you suddenly realize you want to be in the stands that’s exactly where Game Time comes in it’s the easiest way to grab last minute tickets without the stress with the money that you save on the tickets you could splurge on food drinks merch or even invite a bigger group to come with you game time makes it all possible game time makes buying tickets fast and simple prices on the app actually drop the closer you get to first pitch and they’ve got incredible lastminute deals clear seat views and the lowest price guarantee that takes the worry out of buying tickets so take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time download the Game Time app create an account use the code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account redeem the code Loca for $20 off download the Game Time app today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed is there a player comp that you like for him to help Heat fans maybe get a clearer picture yeah and the two names that I’ve kind of kept going to are like Andrew Nemhard and Chanty Phillips i love those i’ve loved both of those those are great yeah and it it fits a lot of what Miami needs because they’re looking for I don’t know you’re not really going to find a primary playmaker probably at 20 nemhard certainly does a lot of secondary almost it’s probably unfair to Hallebertton to call Nemhard the 1B on that team but it’s as close to a 1B as you’d get right it’s more than a secondary playmaker does run a lot of pick and roll let’s let Salbertton play off the ball a little bit more um and Ricardo always talks about having two point guards in the starting lineup and I kind of feel like that might be the Yakona’s path too it’s probably not the number one option on a on a high level offense but could be maybe a 1B or a 2A or however we want to phrase it so um Adam Simon the the Heat GM kept using the word toughness when it came to Yakonus you talked about his character a little bit but why do you think he kept going back to toughness as as a key word there because I didn’t see that a lot in the scattering report writeups with him um so I’m wondering if you have any insight on that yeah and the Illinois team battled a ton of injuries and illnesses and stuff throughout the season and he was part of that too with the forearm injury and he probably could have shut it down or you know sat out for a week or something tried to let it heal but they desperately needed him and he just kind of kept coming back over and over and over and you know the the physical toughness you know I I think he plays really physical but you know he’s not like a get in your face type of guy but every time you knock him down he’s getting back up immediately and I think it’s more so that that mental toughness of fighting through adversity always going to bat for his guys always trying to give everything he has even if the shot isn’t falling he’s not going to shy away from it even if you know he commits a turnover here or there he’s not going to shy away from trying to set up his teammate the next possession it’s kind of like that short-term memory that we talk about with quarterbacks it’s that that ability to bounce back through adversity even if things even when he’s having an off night let’s talk about the turnovers a little bit that’s the biggest con with him you and I buy his shot you already said that i said that in our immediate reaction afterwards um the turnovers are an issue and you know again am I poking around what was the stat I that I was texting with uh a scout they actually gave me a stat i’m checking it now awesome radio while I check our messages uh 24 turnovers in the last four games uh which is not awesome what’s your concern level on the turnovers yeah and on the season turnover rate of 25.4 which is really really high um ideally you’d like that to be 20 or lower and my my biggest issue with it is that it seemed like I I don’t worry too much about the passing stuff because he was like by far the most dynamic and high volume playmaker on the team so like some of the passing stuff I think is him trying to force the issue a little bit um especially during those stretches where they had guys in and out of the lineup and he just trying to get guys going the playmaking stuff I don’t worry about too much it’s more so the handle that can get a little loose like when he gets into the middle of the floor when he tries to attack gap coverage um and tries to split defenders it can get a little high it can get a little loose and like those offball digs from help defenders can be more disruptive than they should be so he’s definitely got to tighten that up and when we look at the turnovers that’s definitely my my bigger concern rather than any of the passing accuracy or decision-m stuff um would you create would you consider him a creative passer like what at what level is he as a as a pick and roll ball handler like what’s he doing on the court what’s he seeing he really good flurry vision really creative runs an awesome twoman game so like some of the stuff like him and Bam and him and Khalil Wear can potentially run I think should be really fun he’s the the way he moves off screens stops on a dime reads his defender really well so if they’re really trying to fight through and blow it up he’ll stop on a dime peel back and then uh one of my favorite clips is he did that with Thomas with uh Thomas Evasic his center and immediately cut back went back to where he came from got the pass drop defender went with him and he immediately kicked it back to Evasich for the wide open three um so like that kind of stuff happens a ton and then just the way that he implements that change of pace that funky footwork gets to his spots it just inevitably draws help defenders and he’s really good at shifting angles to set up rollers set up divers cutters um and pretty good passing vision out of drives reading the weak side the passing stuff that gets a little wonky is when he’s more on the perimeter trying to read the weak side um like those skip passes get a little too inconsistent but when he gets into the paint and is able to kind of distribute from there that’s where I feel like he’s at his best um we talked already on draft night on this show about um what Yakonis could do for the Heat roster but I’m curious what do you think the Heat could do for Yakonis what do you think about this fit for him from his perspective i love it cuz I I I think you know we talked about him being that combo guard he’s you know technically a point guard but he can’t play on or off ball he is in like the 68th percentile and spot up scoring so Tyler Hero’s obviously emerged as one of their primary creators so I don’t think he’s going to affect any of that at all but instead take some of those responsibilities away from him and just make his life easier where he can pivot back more towards being that shooting guard and second side creator um that’s a little more of a comfortable and natural fit for him um and then just and he culture blah blah blah um but it you know it it’s real or it’s out there for a reason and I I think his approach to the game I think his uh how much he cares how much he works at it is going to fit like a glove and I I would be shocked if if the shot if the second half of the season is what the shot looks like in the long run I’d be floored i think he’s a really competitive defender not much of a defensive playmaker but the way he gets through screens moves his feet really well rarely out of position i I think is a perfect fit and it honestly wouldn’t shock me if he’s if he’s pretty quickly one of their start their starting point guards love it tyler Medaf no ceilings thanks so much for the time man anytime

HEAT strike gold with Kasparas Jakucionis at no. 20. Is Miami’s next playmaking star already on the roster?

Kasparas Jakucionis’ unexpected fall to the 20th pick in the NBA draft has HEAT fans buzzing. Wes Goldberg and No Ceilings draft expert Tyler Metcalf break down the Lithuanian guard’s pro-ready game, creative finishing, and playmaking potential. They explore Jakucionis’ fit alongside Tyler Herro and address concerns about his turnover rate. The discussion covers his impressive pre-draft workouts, comparisons to established NBA guards, and how his skills could reshape Miami’s offense.

Become a Locked On Heat Insider on Subtext! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonheat

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-heat/

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/nba

📲 Follow Locked On Heat on Twitter
Locked On Heat https://twitter.com/LockedOnHeat
David Ramil https://twitter.com/dramil13
Wes Goldberg https://twitter.com/wcgoldberg

📸 Follow Locked On Heat on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lockedonheat/

📺 Follow Locked On NBA: https://linktr.ee/lockedonnba

📢 Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! | Offers from our sponsors: lockedonpodcasts.com/offers

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4k
Did you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices — no console required. Head to Amazon.com/firetvlockedon to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required.

OLIPOP
Get a free can of OLIPOP! Just buy any two cans in store and they’ll reimburse you for one. Head to drinkolipop.com/LOCKEDONNBA to claim your free can and find OLIPOP near you.

CarGurus
Buy or sell your next car today with CarGurus at CarGurus.com to make sure your big deal is the best deal.

WayFair
Give your home the refresh it needs with Wayfair. Head to Wayfair.com right now. Wayfair. Every style. Every home.

Monarch Money
Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel
Right now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

#miamiheat #heat #nba #kasparasjakucionis