Heat rookie Kasparas Jakucionis is averaging 17.8 points on 61.9 percent true shooting over his last five G-League games. (Mandatory Credit: Mike E. Roemer/NBAE via Getty Images)
Kasparas Jakucionis may have made his NBA debut Monday night in the final minute of the Miami Heat’s 140-123 blowout victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. But that is not the only basketball the team’s rookie has played lately.
The No. 20 overall pick has spent the last few weeks in the G-League with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, where he’s shown the good, bad and ugly. Currently, the 19-year-old is shelved behind a litany of guards, making it difficult for him to crack the regular team’s rotation despite his upside.
But the strides he’s made over the last two weeks with Sioux Falls has been quite encouraging.
Kasparas Jakucionis has acclimated well with increased reps:
Given his skillset, current role and rawness as a prospect what Kasparas Jakucionis needed more when he was reassigned to Sioux Falls was simple: Reps.
There’s growth for him to make with his foot speed, as a ballhandler, shooter and on-ball defender. And those were live-game reps he wasn’t getting in the preseason — due to injury — nor during the regular season.
“The most important thing right now is he just needs to play,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said in mid-November, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “It’s not even necessarily about evaluating him right now. … He even asked me, ‘What do I need to work on?’ And I was like, ‘Don’t stress out about that right now.’ It’s about getting out there and playing, and then we’ll take that next step when it comes.”
It hasn’t all been perfect for him across seven Skyforce games. At times, he’s struggled to not only get to the rim, let alone finish around it; his playmaking has been chaotic (in good ways … but at the expense of turnovers … he’s 2-3 steps ahead when others aren’t sometimes); his 3-point shooting has been hit-and-miss, literally.
Jakucionis is averaging 17.8 points on 45.3 percent shooting and 61.9 percent true shooting over his last five games. He’s also averaging 5.2 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 3.0 steals per game. That included a 25-point game on 9-of-15 shooting (4-7 3PA) with nine rebounds, six assists and four steals across 31 minutes Saturday against the Grand Rapids Gold.
It’s easy to look at the box score say he’s improved. But Jakucionis has continued to show legitimate flashes as an on-ball defender, finisher and decision-maker — albeit against worst competition.
Barring injury, it’s likely in the Heat’s best interest for Jakucionis to get as many reps as possible in the G-League this season. Though the organization knows his progress better than any of us do. Thus, there’s a world where he does get legitimate run at certain point this season. Most of us likely want to see it — it’s just a matter of if it will come.
The Skyforce won’t see the court again until Saturday, Dec. 6 against the Iowa Wolves at 8:00 p.m. EST.
***
This is a developing news story. Stay tuned for updates!
To check out our other content, click here.
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/X here!
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!
Check out Hot Hot Hoops on Facebook here!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!