Kasparas Jakucionis’ goal for his rookie season may say everything about his expected role with the Miami Heat.
During a recent appearance on The OGs Show with Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem, the 19-year-old was asked about what he hoped to accomplish in his first NBA season. He answered the question with one word: “Championship.”
This is standard athlete-speak. Which is to say, it’s cliche hyperbole. Despite having a pretty good offseason, the Heat are not considered legitimate championship contenders. We could galaxy-brain this, and wonder whether Jakucionis is talking about the NBA Cup championship. But let’s face it: He’s not.
His answer is more enlightening because it lacks specificity to himself. Even as Haslem and Miller tried getting him to predict a Rookie of the Year victory, Jakucionis remained relatively silent. And that speaks volumes.
Don’t expect the Heat to give Jakucionis a huge role
Maybe Jakucionis is simply the consummate team-first guy, and only wants to discuss Miami’s aggregate success. Or perhaps he would have more concrete aspirations if he thought the Heat were preparing to give him a significant role out of the gate.
This sounds preposterous on its face. Miami has its sights set on longer-term success more than immediate contention. Trial-by-firing a teenager viewed by many as one of the best value picks in the draft makes too much sense.
At the same time, it’s not like the Heat have fully committed to a gap year, or a brief rebuild. If anything, their brilliant heist of Norman Powell proves exactly the opposite. They are trying to thread that needle between relevance, and remaining flexible for the future.
One look at their current depth chart reveals all we need to know. They are bursting with guard depth. Powell, Tyler Herro, Davion Mitchell, and this year’s potential breakout candidate Pelle Larsson will all begin the season ahead of him in the pecking order. The steps Miami took to bring back Dru Smith suggest he could start the year in front of the prized rookie, too.
Jakucionis has enough size, at 6’6”, to scale up for some wing minutes. But even if head coach Erik Spoelstra trusts him to guard the 3 or 4 spots, he’ll still have to beat out Simone Fontecchio and/or Jaime Jaquez Jr. for minutes behind Andrew Wiggins.
Things can always change in Miami
Nobody should get too bent out of shape if Jakucionis’ development takes a backseat to begin the year. The Heat could always change course before it’s over.
Miami already looms as a team to watch at February’s deadline. And if the front office is serious about continuing its superstar-trade pursuits, it behooves the team to showcase Jakucionis as either a future building block, or a potential asset in blockbuster deals.
The Heat’s season could also go off the rails. Injuries happen. The East is wide-open, which could spell good or bad news for Miami. A consolidation trade could go down, thin out the rotation, and open the door for Jakucionis to take on more minutes.
Right away, though, it doesn’t appear he’s on track to be a prominent part of the Heat’s plans. His lack of a response to Miller and Haslem, in this case, says everything.