The Miami Heat drafted Kasparas Jakucionis NO. 20 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft. (Mandatory Credit: Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Miami Heat front office hasn’t been perfect. I’d argue that no NBA front office is perfect, even though there are a few that are clearly better than others.
None of those are the Heat (unfortunately). But if there’s one thing they have consistently succeeded at, it’s drafting. Not all of them have been hits, but since they selected Bam Adebayo No. 14 overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, a few notable names they’ve drafted Tyler Herro (No. 13), Nikola Jovic (27), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (18), Kel’el Ware (15), Pelle Larsson (44) and, most recently, Kasparas Jakucionis (20).
Not all of them have been “steals” or the best rookies in their respective classes, but they’ve done an amicable job finding good talent outside of the top-13 — which isn’t always easy to do, depending on the year.
And according to a couple of anonymous evaluators in NBA circles, the Miami Heat may have gotten away with another.
2 NBA executives, scouts say Heat rookie Kasparas Jakucionis will be steal of 2025 NBA Draft:
Recently, ESPN NBA Draft analyst Jeremy Woo surveyed 20 anonymous executives and scouts, and two believe that Kasparas Jakucionis will be the steal of the draft. The only two players who had more votes were San Antonio’s Carter Bryant and Minnesota’s Joan Beringer, who had five and four votes, respectively.
Others who received votes were Atlanta’s Asa Newell, Brooklyn’s Danny Wolf, Utah’s Walter Clayton Jr. and Toronto’s Collin Murray-Boyles, among others.
In a recent poll from ESPN’s Jeremy Woo, where he surveyed 20 anonymous NBA executives and scouts, two believe that Miami Heat rookie Kasparas Jakucionis will be the steal of this year’s draft.
The only two players who received votes were San Antonio’s Carter Bryant and… pic.twitter.com/UC9qOtCbEa
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) July 25, 2025
Woo asked those scouts a handful of questions, including which player will win Rookie of the Year, which rookie will be the best pick outside of No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg and which player will be the top overall selection in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Jakucionis, 19, averaged 9.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals in six Summer League games with the Heat, including 15.0 points and 3.0 assists on 44.8/35.3/100 shooting splits in Las Vegas, Nev.
It typically takes at least 3-4 years to not only evaluate how good a player’s prospects are, but also how good their respective draft class is, too. Growth isn’t always linear, and not every player is put in the right situation to properly grow.
However, it’s encouraging to see this. Jakucionis was the No. 7 player on my board at the time of the draft, so I think there’s some merit to this. I thought it was a home run at the time, and even after his uneven SL, I’m quite high on it. Although I’m not very smart — or at least as smart as these evaluators who do this for a living.
We saw the flashes of the playmaking, shotmaking and point-of-attack defense, but it remains to be seen how much Jakucionis will be involved as a rookie — if at all.
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