Heat exec sees ‘tremendous potential’ in No. 20 pick

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Heat exec sees ‘tremendous potential’ in No. 20 pick

Zachary Weinberger · ClutchPoints

Fri, Jun 27, 2025 ·

3 min read

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The post Heat exec sees 'tremendous potential' in No. 20 pick appeared first on ClutchPoints .

MIAMI – With the Miami Heat 's 20th pick in the NBA Draft, Wednesday night saw the team draft Kasparas Jakucionis out of the University of Illinois, despite being originally projected by many analysts as a borderline lottery pick. As Jakucionis now joins Heat stars like Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro , the future outlook on the 19-year-old is high, as he receives praise from the team's Vice President and Assistant General Manager, Adam Simon.

The Miami front office executive has been a key member in drafting and scoping out young talent and has been effective in doing so, judging by the recent picks from the team throughout the years, especially in the middle of the first round. There's no doubt that when Jakucionis kept sliding and ultimately ended up at 20, it seemed to be an easy pick, as Simon said to local media that the Lithuanian-born player has "tremendous potential."

"We see tremendous potential with Kas," Simon said. "You're talking about a 6-5 [guard] with a plus-three [pointer], good athlete, but with a high IQ. So if you combine all those things with a work ethic, there's no reason why you can't mold him into a very good NBA player. I think that's why we were attracted to take him tonight."

Simon would also reveal after the end of the first round that despite picking him, the team expected him to go higher in the draft.

"We didn't think he would be there," Simon said. "We had him higher, obviously, than where we picked him."

Heat executive envisionsKasparas Jakucionis fitting in seamlessly

While the Heat had been linked to Walter Clayton Jr. out of the University of Florida, he would be selected with the 18th pick as he will play for the Utah Jazz. As for Jakucionis, the young prospect would say that he didn't work out with Miami, as Simon confirmed, but it wasn't without trying.

"We tried to get him in," Simon said, "but they didn't think they would be there at 20."

The biggest strength about Jakucionis is his play-making ability, especially in the pick-and-roll game, which is a major dynamic for Miami with such bigs as Adebayo and Kel'el Ware. Coming into the draft, the team needed a true point guard and a facilitator who had some offensive upside.

Jakucionis fits the bill for the most part as the scoring department is an area that will need to improve, as while he's a solid finisher at the rim, his shooting has been deemed inconsistent. Still, Simon would say to ClutchPoints that he will "fit" into the organization seamlessly.

"Kas is going to come in and fit," Simon said. "He's as good a gym rat as you'll find. The guy loves being in the gym. He admitted he's not much on other things besides basketball. He just really loves being in the gym. The Illinois coaches talked about never having to find him. He was always there, always working."

Jakucionis's rookie season with the Heat will no doubt be an intriguing storyline to watch next season.

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