Kasparas Jakucionis impressed and flexed his potential after being given his first real opportunity in the regular season for the Miami Heat. After not seeing much run through the first quarter-plus of the season, Jakucionis is making the Heat's patience look genius now that he's beginning to pay dividends.
In what ended up being a disappointing loss for the banged-up Heat, Jakucionis, who got his first start as a pro, finished with 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists on 5-8 shooting from 3-point range. Perhaps most interestingly, Jakucionis was the only player on the Heat with a positive plus-minus who logged at least 20 minutes.
With no Tyler Herro, Davion Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins, and Pelle Larsson, Erik Spoelstra didn't have many options but to take the training wheels off of Jakucionis.
And, boy, did it pay off.
Heat fans got their first extended look at Jakucionis, logging 36 minutes against the Boston Celtics. While there were some rough spots in Jakucionis' performance on Friday night, there was certainly much more good than bad. And in a game that both Jakucionis and Kel'el Ware dominated, it did give fans a brief look at why this front office (and coaching staff) is so high on the young core.
It may be time for the Heat to unleash Kasparas Jakucionis
After selecting Jakucionis with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, many were quick to praise the Heat for selecting another diamond in the rough. However, after a shaky summer league showing and limited time on the floor in the preseason (because of injury), there still wasn't much evidence that Jakucionis was the steal of the draft that many believed he'd be.
Until now.
Even though it was one game, the Heat (and fans) have to be encouraged by what they saw from Jakucionis.
Again, it was only one game, but it was difficult not to be impressed by how comfortable - and effective - Jakucionis looked and was on the floor for the Heat. The Heat lost on Friday night, but Jakucionis was certainly a bright spot overall for the team.
And after a performance like that, it's going to be incredibly difficult for Spo not to try and find a role for the young guard. I wouldn't say that his performance is going to guarantee him a spot in the rotation moving forward, especially if we know how Spo operates, but it will leave a lasting impression.
Especially as the Heat continues to battle injuries, there's reason to believe that we're probably going to see much more Jakucionis in the rotation moving forward.
He had his coming-out party, and the Heat, once again, looks like geniuses as Jakucionis looks like another promising young prospect.