Miami Heat fans, and perhaps the front office too, can take a deep breath after Miami's Summer League game against Atlanta.
Ironically, Miami blew a huge lead and got outscored by 15 points in the 4th quarter to lose 105-98 to Atlanta, but it was the play of Kasparas Jakucionis that made all Heat fans feel a little bit better about the No. 20 pick in the draft.
Kasparas Jakucionis has a great game for the Miami Heat
The three games Jakucionis played in during the California Classic were nothing short of a disaster. He was a turnover machine and made zero three-point shots over the three games in San Francisco.
So perhaps all Jakucionis needed was a change of scenery to Las Vegas because he looked way more confident on Friday and looked like the player Miami thought they were getting with the No. 20 pick.
While he wasn't flying by guys to the rim and he also finished the game -11 as his defense is still hit or miss, his jump shot finally started to fall, and he was far better with the ball in his hand.
Jakucionis finished with 24 points in 28 minutes off 7-12 shooting, including 5-9 from three. And they weren't all just open catch and shoot threes; some of these he had to create on his own.
He had just four assists, but he also had only two turnovers. He also had two steals, but he did commit five fouls in those 28 minutes.
The biggest hope for Jakucionis is that this sparks confidence in his game that was lacking during his first three efforts in a Heat uniform. While out in San Francisco, Jakucionis looked like a G-League guy that Miami had on the court just to fill space.
Combined with Walter Clayton Jr., the guy Miami wanted but was beaten to the punch by Utah, having a great summer start, and the narrative surrounding Jakucionis wasn't a positive one.
Miami will now get Saturday off before it takes the court again on Sunday at 7:30 PM to take on Cleveland. The Heat have three total games left in the summer and will wrap up next Thursday against Detroit.