Kasparas Jakucionis appears primed to make his Miami Heat regular-season debut. Jakucionis has a real shot to make his debut Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets after he was upgraded to questionable on the injury report.
Of note, Norman Powell was upgraded to questionable before he made his return to the Heat's lineup against the LA Clippers. With the way the Heat operates, there's at least a fair chance that the decision to upgrade Jakucionis on the injury report suggests he could be inching closer to his debut.
Jakucionis has been battling a groin injury since the end of the preseason. He only ended up playing one full exhibition game for the Heat before he left four minutes into his second appearance.
Jakucionis left a lasting impression during his one preseason performance, finishing with eight points and 10 assists in 25 minutes. It'd be shocking if Jakucionis gets that much run during his debut for the team, but it will be interesting to see what type of initial role he may have with the team.
The Heat need to let Kasparas Jakucionis run
And in the Heat's new fast-paced offense, there's reason to believe that Jakucionis could truly thrive.
Without a true, natural backup point guard on the roster, there's a clear role that Jakucionis could end up filling. While Davion Mitchell has done a tremendous job emerging as the team's primary playmaker on the offensive end of the floor, Jakucionis could certainly help free him up on that end of the floor.
Jakucionis is probably the best natural playmaker on the roster and the Heat need to let him run. Even if it is just 10-15 minutes per game, it would be wise for the Heat to see what exactly they have in Jakucionis.
He's far from a finished product, but if the summer league and preseason were any indication, Jakucionis does have a skill set that would benefit this offense. And we could be inching closer and closer to getting the first look at Jakucionis in a Heat uniform.
I still have my doubts about whether this spot on Wednesday night against the Nuggets is the ideal moment to give Jakucionis the green light, but I suppose if the rook is ready, he's ready.
That said, it wouldn't be all that surprising if we saw the Heat hold off on his debut until they get back to Miami later this week.
Either way, help is certainly on the way. And the Heat is preparing to unleash Jakucionis.