Quiet summer debut for Kasparas Jakucionis and other observations from Heat summer league opener
Amid an underwhelming Miami Heat offseason that hasn’t yet included much roster change for a team that was swept out of the first round of the playoffs last season, the potential of first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis is one source of hope that better days could be ahead.
But Jakucionis was quiet in his summer league debut, finishing the Heat’s summer league opener with three points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field, 0-of-4 shooting on threes and 1-of-2 shooting from the foul line, one rebound, one assist and three turnovers in 22 minutes in an 82-69 win over the San Antonio Spurs’ summer squad on Saturday at Chase Center in the California Classic. It marked the first of three summer league games that the Heat will play in San Francisco before taking part in Las Vegas Summer League.
“Today was my first game and it was different,” Jakucionis said following his summer league debut. “The game style and everything is different. But I’m happy with the team’s performance. I think we played pretty good. We had good effort, we shared the ball well and we played as a team.”
Jakucionis, who was selected by the Heat with the 20th overall pick in this year’s draft, started slow. The 19-year-old guard missed two corner threes and was called for a charge on a drive to the basket during the first five minutes of Saturday’s contest, and ended up finishing the first half scoreless and without an assist in 10 minutes.
Jakucionis finally recorded his first assist early in the second half, setting up Kira Lewis for a floater with 8:40 left in the third quarter. But Jakucionis’ impressive passing ability was on display throughout the game, delivering a few nice passes that didn’t go down as assists because his teammates couldn’t make those shots.
Jakucionis then scored his first points of the day, drawing a foul on a drive into the paint and then hitting one of the two free throws with 4:40 remaining in the third quarter.
But Jakucionis’ first made goal of the game didn’t come until there was 6:50 left in the fourth quarter, scoring on a layup in transition off a steal from Heat summer teammate Bryson Warren.
On Saturday, Jakucionis split time between being used on the ball and off the ball. That’s different for Jakucionis, who was among the highest usage guards in college basketball last season.
“I can adapt to on the ball or off the ball pretty well, I think,” he said. “I feel comfortable in both areas and just try to get the best out of myself to help the team win in any situation I’m put in.”
What does the Heat want to see from Jakucionis in the coming days during the rest of summer league?
“Just energy, communication, being aggressive and just give all-out effort,” Jakucionis said of the message he has received from Heat coaches.
Heat assistant coach and summer league head coach Eric Glass has been encouraged by what he’s seen from Jakucionis through his first few days with him.
“I think Kas was very steady,” Glass said following Saturday’s summer league opener. “That’s the one thing I’ve noticed about him. Even through the training camp we had, there were never really any high moments, any low moments, he was just super steady, super solid. And I thought that’s what he brought us today.
“Obviously his shots didn’t fall today, but nobody’s did. So we’re not holding that against him. I thought he competed. I thought he ran the offense when we had him in those positions. I thought he made pretty good pick-and-roll decisions. So we were pretty happy for him, it being his first game.
Jakucionis was projected by many before this year’s draft to be a lottery pick after averaging 15 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 44% from the field and 31.8% from three-point range as a freshman at Illinois last season. But he ended up falling to the Heat at No. 20 in the first round of the draft.
“We’re going to pace him accordingly to what he can do out there,” Glass said of the summer league plan for Jakucionis. “We’re not going to overwhelm him and put a bunch of pressure on him. Right now is about him learning us and us learning him, him feeling comfortable in our system. We’re not just going to throw him into the water with a bunch of sharks. We’re going to set it up, hopefully, for some success.”
Jakucionis is one of five players on the Heat’s summer league team who are on track to be on the Heat’s NBA roster this upcoming season.
Like Jakucionis, forward Keshad Johnson, guard Pelle Larsson and center Kel’el Ware are signed to standard contracts by the Heat for next season. Johnson, Larsson and Ware are preparing for their second NBA season after spending their rookie seasons with the Heat and also playing important roles on the Heat’s summer league team last year that won the Las Vegas Summer League championship.
Johnson, who spent most of his rookie season in the G League, kicked off his second summer league with the Heat on Saturday with nine points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field, 0-of-2 shooting on threes and 3-of-4 shooting from the foul line, nine rebounds and four blocks in 28 minutes.
“I thought Keshad was great,” Glass said of Johnson. “His voice, it’s hard to see on TV, but his voice and leadership are so huge for our group. Everyone’s looking to him. He’s calling out everything. Kel’el did the same thing. They were really defending that back line and being the voice for our guys. And he just showed a great veteran presence and he looked like he had been out there before and that’s what we want from a second-year guy.”
Larsson, who played in 55 games (eight starts) for the Heat as a rookie last season, recorded a team-high 18 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, 0-of-4 shooting from the foul line and 10-of-11 shooting from the foul line and three rebounds in 28 minutes on Saturday.
“He’s just the ultimate competitor,’” Glass said of Larsson. “We got to keep him on his feet. He hit the floor probably more times than we made field goals tonight. But we love him. He and Keshad are the emotional and spiritual leaders of this team, and they just inspire and drive everybody to want to do more. We’re really lucky to have them.”
Ware, who closed his rookie season as the Heat’s starting center last season, contributed 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the field, 0-of-4 shooting on threes and 4-of-5 shooting from the foul line, seven rebounds, one assist, two steals and three blocks in 27 minutes.
“I liked what he did,” Glass said of Ware. “I’m not even talking about the box score. He had his moments that he can do better, but he was active. He was running up and down the floor. He was using his voice. Those are the things that are going to help him next season with us with the Heat and those are the steps that we want.”
Then there’s rookie center Vlad Goldin, who was recently signed by the Heat to a two-way contract after going undrafted last month.
Goldin, 24, spent three seasons at Florida Atlantic before spending his final college season at Michigan. He finished the win with seven points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field, 0-of-1 shooting on threes and 1-of-2 shooting from the foul line, three rebounds and one assist in 13 minutes in his first summer league game with the Heat.
“I like him,” Glass said of Goldin. “He’s super physical. He runs the floor. He has a really loud voice out there, so the guys feel also really confident. He made some nice plays at the rim. He got us extra possessions. So we’re learning him just like he’s learning us.”
The Heat opened Saturday’s summer opener with a starting lineup of Jakucionis, Lewis, Larsson, Johnson and Ware. The Heat then used guard Erik Stevenson, guard Javonte Cooke, Warren and Goldin off the bench.
The Heat’s summer league team is right back at it on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers’ summer team at Chase Center (4:30 p.m., NBA TV).
“It’s a lot of learning experiences. It’s a process,” Jakucionis said. “I’m excited to be in that process, to be in this moment. I’m trying to take everything I can, trying to learn as much as possible from other guys, trying to listen to everybody who gives me advice and just get that experience to make me more ready.”
Here are other observations and things to know from Saturday’s Heat summer league opener:
▪ Lewis, a high-profile summer league name who was the 13th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, closed the victory with four points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals in 20 minutes in a starting role for the Heat’s summer squad.
The 24-year-old Lewis did not play in the NBA last season, instead spending it with the Washington Wizards’ G League affiliate.
▪ Stevenson, who went undrafted in 2023 and has spent the last two seasons in the G League, was impressive for the Heat with 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 shooting on threes, five rebounds and three assists on Saturday.
▪ Cookie, who went undrafted in 2022 out of Winston Salem State and has spent the last three seasons in the G League, contributed eight points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal in 23 minutes on Saturday.
▪ Both teams struggled to make shots on Saturday, combining to shoot 51 of 146 (34.9 percent) from the field and 12 of 61 (19.7 percent) from three-point range.
▪ Summer league games are played with 10-minute quarters instead of the usual 12-minute NBA quarters.
This story was originally published July 5, 2025 at 6:42 PM.
