MUST-SEE Miami Heat News On Kasparas Jakucionis, Kel’el Ware & Bam Adebayo

MUST-SEE Miami Heat News On Kasparas Jakucionis, Kel’el Ware & Bam Adebayo

What’s up, Miami Heat fans? Welcome into the Heat Report by Chad Sports. And we have a lot to talk about. Miami finally snapped their five-game losing streak on Thursday night against the Nets on the road. But on the second night of a back-to-back, they fell and lost to the Boston Celtics by double digits. And this team just seems to be out of sorts, if you will. But there is a lot to talk about on Bameabio and his recent poor performance. KL Wear’s good last couple of games, but we also have started to see the rookie Casper Yakonis, the first round pick from Illinois, finally see some action with all of the injuries. I want to talk about how he performed, and that’s where we’re going to start with today’s show. He played eight minutes on Thursday against the Nets, but then with DaVon Mitchell and Andrew Wiggins out of the lineup on Friday in Boston, he played 36 minutes and started that game. Now in Brooklyn, he played just those eight minutes as I mentioned. Finished with three points, one of one from the field. It was a corner catch and shoot three with one assist and one turnover. Now, against Boston on Friday, in those 36 minutes, he finished with 17 points, six rebounds, four assists, one turnover while shooting five of 13 from the field, but a very impressive five for eight from three, which means he actually went 0 of five from the field inside the three-point arc, but shot extremely efficient from beyond the arc. So, he on the year now is six of nine from three in very limited sample size. And weirdly enough, Yakonis out of the starting players yesterday, I know plus minus does not mean anything and mean everything, but he was the only starter with a positive plus minus. He was a plus three in that game against Boston. So, Yakon certainly showed some really nice things and most of it to me isn’t even on the offensive end. I’ve been more impressed with his intensity defending and his ability to make the right rotations. Is it perfect? No. But you see that he understands what Miami is trying to do, especially defensively. And that will only help him get more action, more playing time as the season progresses. And before I continue to break him down, how would you grade Casper Yakonis’ first two real NBA stints on Thursday and Friday? A, B, C, D, or F? My grade, I think it’s a solid B+. Like, he displayed an ability to shoot the three off the catch at a high level. Obviously, none of these threes are like what he did at Illinois for the most part, which is off the dribble and in the pick and roll where the defender is just in drop coverage and he just lines up a three with no contest. No, it’s mostly off the catch, but I think I was really impressed with Yakonis’ form. Like, he’s got a really strong base to him. He’s got a consistent release, and if he’s given time to get that puppy off, I think he’s going to be a very good three-point shooter in the NBA. Now, we saw a lot of off the dribble when he was a freshman at Illinois. Will he do that in the NBA at some point in his career? I don’t know. That remains to be seen. But I think we’ve got a really good baseline for Yakonis to where teams won’t leave him open like a Haimeh Hake Jr., right? They will be fearful if Yakonis is left open on a catch and shoot three-point opportunity when that can’t be said for some players on the team like a Haime Hake Jr. and like a Kash Johnson when he gets playing time. And I think he’s been way better than Drew Smith over the last couple of games. I I really don’t understand how much we’re gonna give Drew Smith leeway anymore. And he had a phenomenal start to the season. There’s no debating that. He was shooting 40% from three. He was defending at a high level. And yeah, I still think Drew Smith is a highle defender. He might arguably be the second best point of attack defender on this team behind DaVon Mitchell. He had three steals on Friday night against Boston. But his offensive limitations, I think, to me, are just holding that second unit back for the Miami Heat. And offense wasn’t the issue against Boston on Friday. Miami shot the three ball well. We saw Fontakio go four of nine from three. Um Norman Powell really struggled in this game. One of 11 from three and that might be some of the reasons why that he couldn’t catch up with that Celtics offense. But the defense was the issue for Miami. Celtics shot 21 of 43 from three. I mean, they were giving up wide openen looks left and right. I mean, now Derek White went absolutely nuclear from beyond the arc, but this game was close for the most part. And then the Celtics really pulled away late third quarter and in the fourth quarter because their three-point shooting was just too much for Miami to handle, but the Heat’s perimeter defense I just simply don’t think was good enough. Now, I spoke on how I think Yakonis was a very solid defender in my opinion for what I was expecting. Is it perfect? No. Is he an average defender? I think he is right now. Like I don’t consider the 44 minutes he played over the last couple of games to be below average defense. I think he has a lot of effort. He got beat out a couple back door cuts. That is for sure. But when he picks up like he is in your grill. He is physical. And I think the reason why I was so high on Yakonis coming out of the draft and really thinking of him as a prospect is his ability and willingness to do anything to help winning. And I think that was the thing that you saw on display the most in these last two games. When he was on the floor, he was diving for loose balls. He was giving you his max effort. I mean, the kid had six rebounds on Friday night against Boston. He’s a 6’5 66 point guard by the way. Five of those rebounds were offensive and three of them came in the first four minutes of the game. Yakonis plays with a very high effort level. I think he is going to really develop nicely. I think this is a perfect spot for him and I’m excited to see this young man continue to grow. I think he’s a heck of a talent. I want Miami to play him more. I think Drew Smith should really be thought of as heading to the end of the rotation. Miami’s been struggling. They’re 15 13 through 28 games. Hero is going to be back soon. DaVon Mitchell is going to be back soon. Wiggins is going to be back soon. Which guard is out of the rotation? I don’t think it should be Aonus. I want to continue to see this kid develop and see what he has and if he can really help Miami win games as that second unit point guard at this stage in his career. I would move Drew Smith to the end of the rotation and give him some DMPS and see if anything changes with Yakonis in the fold. We’re going to get to Bama Debio and KL Wear here in a second. But this episode is brought to you by Prize Picks. 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I’m going to go more than on BAM points. I think he has a bounceback game. But let’s talk about Bamio because it’s been a real rough stretch for him which in fold has led Miami I think to this losing streak and Miami goes as Bam goes in terms of their ability. Now Adabio’s defensive effort in rebounding has not fallen off whatsoever. He has three straight games with double digit rebounds. Had 20 and 10 against Toronto um last Monday. He had 17 boards against the Nets on uh Thursday night and he had 10 rebounds last night against Boston. So I I I think Bam Edabio has been really effective on the glass and he’s been as effective as he usually has been defensively. But the part where he needs to up up his game is on the offensive end of the floor. I mean he has really struggled shooting the basketball lately. Um he’s shooting just 45% in his last five games, including a four of 13 game against Brooklyn, six of 13 against Boston, um four of nine against Sacramento for a week and a half ago. And the three-point shooting has really fallen off for him. He was a 34% three-point shooter on the year, but over the last five games, he’s only made one three. He’s one of 12. That’s 8%. And he’s shooting 15 of 24 at the line. I’m as big of a bam at a bio supporter as there is, but this offensive production and efficiency simply isn’t going to cut it for a guy that is supposed to be leading your team. Now, I think it’s very evident and obvious that he is not a number one player on a title team and even as one of his biggest supporters and understanding how much he impacts the game. I’ve always known this. I’ve said this for multiple years. Bameio cannot be your number one guy on a contending team. Can he be your number two guy if you have a top 10 player in the world on your team? Absolutely he can. And we’ve seen what the Heat can do with Bam as his number two or as a number two option. I mean, Jimmy Butler, I don’t think was ever going to be a winning championship level guy as a number one option. But when you saw Bam as the number two with a alpha dog clutch number one, you got two NBA Finals runs. And that is why I’ve been so pounding the table. if Giannis is available, go get him because that’s a top three guy in the NBA leading your team. And then Bam as that number two can really kind of go back to a new comfort level and be effective on both sides of the floor because this is who Bam Adabio is. Bam is never going to be someone averaging 25 and 10. That’s just not his game. He’s not offensively gifted enough. But he is good enough and he works hard enough to give you consistent 17-10 on an NBA season while playing top five, top 10 defense in the world. That’s what Bam Adabio does. But if the Heat want to be a team that contends in the East this year, you either got to go make a trade or you’re going to need Bamabio to play more efficient and productive offensive game, especially without Tyler Herro in the lineup and in the fold right now. So that’s kind of where it is. Like I don’t think Bam is really doing anything out of the ordinary. Like this is just who he is unfortunately. Uh and you really need someone to step it up or Miami to add a guy who can be that number one top 10 player, top 15 player in the world. That’s the only way Miami is going to progress here to be a contending team in the Eastern Conference. But we’ve seen KL Wear really step up over the past couple of games. He had a real rough stretch there um prior to the games in Brooklyn and Boston where he played 30 minutes against the Kings and finished that game with five points and six boards. He only played 12 minutes against Orlando in the NBA Cup game, finished with four points and six boards. In the 19 minutes he played against the Raptors last Monday. He only finished with six points, but he did grab 13 boards. He’s gotten an opportunity to play a little bit more of an extended minute share over the last two games. 30 minutes and 28 minutes in BA Boston and Brooklyn respectively. And he finished with a 20point double double in both of those games. 22 and 12 in Brooklyn, 24- 14 in Boston. And the part that’s really been fascinating to me is his three-point efficiency. He shot six of seven from three against Boston. And he’s over his last five games seven of 12 from three. That’s 58.3%. So, we’ve really seen an efficient three-point shooter in KL Wear and he really has impressed both on the glass and defensively. Now, there has been some I think slights with him defensively in terms of his ability to defend the pick and roll and on the perimeter. He is without a question a very good and above average rim protector, but you see too frequently him get beat off the dribble and um get targeted in the pick and roll. He just doesn’t have the foot speed, I think, to stay in front of guys and that’s not his fault. Like most big guys can’t do that. That is just what makes Bam so special defensively is that he can switch on to so many different guys. Wear will be phenomenal guarding big men inside. There’s no debate about that. But you saw it yesterday when Derek White switched on to Colette Wear when Jaylen Brown attacked them. They were just able to drive by him or get to their spot in the three-point step back jumper sideep anytime they want it. So there’s a lot to love about Kaware and there’s a lot that needs to work on specifically defensively. But I think we absolutely without a question need to keep on starting this man. Like I don’t know who does it. It’s going to be a tough decision. But the starting lineup of DaVon Mitchell, Hero, Norman Pow, Wiggins, and Bam. I just don’t think you should see those five start games anymore. I think you have to continue to start Bam and KL Wear because Bam and Khal Wear on the floor together have actually been very good in the advanced metrics. They have a positive net rating. They have a very solid defensive rating. But it’s the issue when you bring in a guy like Andrew Wiggins. Like Wiggins, Bam, and Wear have been awful together as a three. But Bam and Wear have been good together. Bam and Wiggins have been fine. Wiggins and Wear have been below average. So you see Bam and Wear together that has been working this year for the most part. But when you add in Andrew Wiggins is where it becomes a little bit of a train wreck. And I don’t know if Eric Spolster or Miami has the stones to do so. I think Andrew Wiggins should go to the bench. I know it is a very hot take, but you need to make a change. DaVon Mitchell has been so good this year as a defensive point guard and as a facilitator. He has a 5.2 assist to turnover ratio. It’s the best in the NBA and you need to continue to start him, especially because of his defensive ability. But then which one if I want to start wear and bam, which you really should, and I think most people do, who gets sent to the bench between Hero, Powell, and Wiggins? Well, I don’t think Powell’s going to be sent to the bench. I don’t think they have the stones to send Hero to the bench. And I don’t even know if they have the stones to send Wiggins to the bench. It’s just easy to please all the veterans and send where to the bench. But if you want to start to win games, you need to give where more opportunities and I think you need to start him. So I believe you need to figure out which one you should bench between Wiggins, Hero, and Powell. And I think it should be Andrew Wiggins because he is the most inconsistent one out of those guys, right? like Hero and Powell have their defensive liabilities, but you can kind of masquerade those at times when you have DaVon Mitchell Bam defending and wear on the interior. But with Wiggins, he is such an inconsistent player and his fit with those big men are a little bit wonky because he’s not the most consistent three-point shooter. He doesn’t really have a dribble package. You can’t trust him initiating the offense or playmaking. So it gets a little bit clunky offensively, which is why I think if you surround Bam and wear with three guards that can shoot it in Mitchell, Hero, and Powell, that might be the best uh plan of action here. So will they do it? I don’t know. Should they? I think so. Like I really do believe when Hero is back, they should start Mitchell, Hero, Powell, Bam, where that should be the starting five. And then coming off the bench, you could have Hakez, you could have Wiggins. Maybe that eats in the Fontio’s minutes. I don’t know. Maybe it does. But I would start those five, those three wings could come off the bench. I would start Yakonis as that backup big man or big backup point guard, excuse me, instead of Drew Smith and go from there. And that’s the nine that I would play. And then you have Larson there as well as that 10th guy when he comes back. But I just think you have to give wear more opportunities in the starting lineup. I think Yakonas deserves more minutes as well. Uh this team is 15 and 13. They’re an average basketball team. If you want to try to figure out if you can go to that next step without making a trade, you got to play the young guys more and you got to give them more opportunities because with these veterans, you know what you’re going to get. And it’s around 500 basketball. And I think that’s very evident at this point. So definition of insanity, right? trying to do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If you continue to start Wiggins, Bam, Powell, DaVon, Hero, you’re going to get the same things over and over again. Nothing’s going to change. So, let’s give where more opportunities. Let’s give Casper Yakonisa some opportunities. Let’s switch up that starting lineup. Does Eric Bolster have the stones to do so? I certainly hope so. All right, that’ll do it for today’s show. We’ll be back again live on Tuesday. Heat Raptors can’t go live tomorrow for Heat Knicks because of some NFL coverage. Uh so appreciate everybody. Thanks for watching today’s show and see you with a video coming out soon.

Kasparas Jakucionis headlines the Heat news as the Heat’s first round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft is finally seeing the floor. Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS and use code CLNS and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup! Jakucionis played eight minutes against the Nets on Thursday, and got the start against the Celtics on Friday with Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell out of the lineup with injury. This edition of the Heat Report, Miami Heat YouTube show, has host Nic Rohloff analyzing the debut of Kasparas Jakucionis and the latest Heat news surrounding Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware.

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– How would you rate Kasparas Jakcuionis’ starting debut? A, B, C, D or F

Kasparas Jakucionis Heat stats:
Brooklyn Nets (8 MIN): 3 PTS, 1 AST, 1 TO, 1/1 FG, 1/1 3P
Boston Celtics (36 MIN): 17 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST, 1 TO, 5/13 FG, 5/8 3P

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Miami Heat trade assets:
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Want more Heat rumors YouTube videos? Check out some of the ones posted this week:
– Miami Heat Fans Get MORE BAD News On Tyler Herro + Positive Giannis Antetokounmpo Update?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRTekU2ndOk
– Miami Heat Injury News On Tyler Herro & Nikola Jovic + Heat Lose AGAIN! Time To Push Panic Button?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJSJWomwgrU
– Miami Heat NEED To Play Kasparas Jakucionis? Heat Player SOUNDS OFF On Rookie!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lDAl4BG1V8

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