Kasparas Jakucionis has been one of the few bright spots in what has quickly evolved into an otherwise forgetful season for the Miami Heat, but the recent hesitation to hand him the keys at the point guard position should have fans furious.
In fact, it could lead to this season being remembered as an utter failure.
The Heat understandably brought Jakucionis along slowly this season, but during the early portion of March, it did seem as if he was finally getting a stranglehold on a consistent spot in the rotation for Erik Spoelstra.
However, over the last couple of weeks, it seems as if all of that has now gone out the window.
The Heat are hesitating to trust Kasparas Jakucionis
In a six-game stretch during the first two weeks of March, Jakucionis averaged 24 minutes per game. Since then, though, he's averaging just 13 minutes per game.
Over the last few games, specifically, Spo has drifted away from Jakucionis more than ever, and it's absolutely difficult to understand. In the Heat's past two games, Jakucionis has registered two DNP-CD's.
With the way his recent play was trending, Jakucionis' fall out of the rotation (for now, it seems) is absolutely indefensible.
Especially if this season was always considered a "gap" year, the development of their young players should be of the utmost importance. That means Jakucionis' minutes should be increasing, not falling off a cliff. It makes even less sense considering how well the rookie guard was playing up to the sudden shift.
Kasparas Jakucionis didn't deserve a demotion
During a 14-game stretch from February 8 through March 12, Jakucionis was averaging 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists on 54 percent shooting from the field and 48 percent shooting from 3-point range in 22 minutes per game. The Heat went 11-3 during that stretch.
All of a sudden, that role quickly vanished for Jakucionis. In the games since, he's averaging just six points, two rebounds, and two assists per game on, perhaps most importantly, only 13 minutes per game. That includes two DNP-CD's over their last two outings.
It's not just that the Heat should be prioritizing the development of their young talent at this point in the season, but it's also not like Jakucionis turned in some bad performances to warrant a reduction in minutes. Spo just elected to trim his rotation, and Jakucionis was one of the players who fell on the outside looking in.
That's perfectly fine for a contender, but that type of mishandling of a young talent could have way more of an impact than the Heat can realize now. Plus, if the Heat is serious about the development of their young talent, it would make way more sense to get them this valuable experience of a playoff pursuit now.
The decision to cut (or limit) the young players out of the rotation just to let a group of ill-fitting veterans chase a spot in the Play-In Tournament is downright insulting. It also opens an organization that prides itself on being great at player development to much criticism.
If the Heat leaves this season without clarity on the future of their young core (including Jakucionis), they'd only have themselves to blame.
Perhaps most importantly, it could also be a huge reason why this season may go down as one of the bigger failures in recent Heat history.