As if the Miami Heat offense needs any more octane.

The team is in the top five in scoring and pace since the start of its stunning 2025-26 season, and it has yet to see a minute from its prized first-round pick, Kasparas Jakucionis who, while inconsistent this summer, showed preseason flashes of the court vision that convinced the Heat to take him 20th overall in June. That was well below where most draft pundits projected him, so Miami felt it had a steal — someone in the Goran Dragic mold with a little more of a pass-first mentality.

With the Heat currently loaded in the backcourt, however, Jakucionis has been getting run, and getting to run a team, in Sioux Falls with the Skyforce. And the progress there has been encouraging, with the assists rising as the turnovers decrease.

Kasparas Jakucionis in the G-League last night:

18 PTS
5 REB
7 AST
3 STL
2 TO
5/5 FTM (100 FT%)

The turnovers are going down each game and he’s playing with more confidence. The potential is there. pic.twitter.com/5pHfaO5LNF

— 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 (@WadexFlash) November 27, 2025

Jakucionis’s G-League debut was sloppy (two assists, six turnovers) but as in summer league, he tends to taper down the errors as he becomes more comfortable, and he shoots better in rhythm. The defense has been impressive throughout and that, more than anything, will endear him eventually to Erik Spoelstra.

There’s no great rush to elevate him, not with Davion Mitchell fourth in the entire NBA in total assists, and Tyler Herro, Norman Powell,, Dru Smith and at times Pelle Larsson sharing the backcourt,

And Jakucionis is still most effective running pick-and-rolls, which the Heat have de-emphasized in their own offense this season, to great effect. But that’s never going away completely, with more likely coming back as Herro re-integrates. And you can see how the Heat’s final form could be a heavier dose of them with Jakucionis at the controls.

He’s only 19, though, and Miami has been patient with other recent draft picks and it’s paid off. Kel’el Ware is emerging now, and Nikola Jovic got an extension, even if his development has stalled so far this season and he’s currently on the outside looking into the rotation.

That’s a potentially formidable young core, and Larsson and Jaquez Jr., aren’t all that much older — nor is Herro for that matter. We won’t know for a while if the Heat got their most recent pick right, but the odds are they have, if their prior selections are any indication. The key now is consistent upticks in decision-making and defense, no matter where he’s playing, and Jakucionis is showing that.