Heat rookie Kasparas Jakucionis reflects on first summer league experience: ‘I learned a lot’
Summer league was quite the experience for Miami Heat rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis. There was some good and there was some bad.
Most importantly, there was plenty to learn from.
“I’m happy to have this experience,” Jakucionis said at the end of his first summer league after being taken by the Heat with the 20th pick in the first round of last month’s draft. “I think we learned a lot as a team. Also for me individually, I think I learned a lot and just gaining experience every time is good. So I’m just trying to take it all in from coaches, from players who have been here. I’m just trying to listen and trying to take as much information as I can.”
The 19-year-old Jakucionis struggled at times, like when he totaled just 12 points on 1-of-15 from the field, 0-of-11 shooting from three-point range and 10-of-12 shooting from the foul line in his first three summer league games at the California Classic.
Jakucionis also flashed the intriguing upside that led some to project him to be a lottery pick in the draft before he fell to the Heat at No. 20, recording an efficient 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 5-of-9 shooting on threes, four rebounds, four assists and two steals in the Heat’s first game of Las Vegas Summer League.
In the end, Jakucionis averaged 9.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 3.7 turnovers per game while shooting 14 of 44 (31.8%) from the field and 6 of 28 (21.4%) from three-point range in six appearances during his uneven but important summer league showing. He only missed two of the Heat’s eight summer league games this year, including being held out of Friday’s 93-92 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in Las Vegas to wrap up summer league with a 4-4 overall record — 2-1 at the California Classic and 2-3 at Las Vegas Summer League.
“The organization had seen what they needed to see from Kas, and he played his amount of games,” Heat assistant coach and summer league head coach Eric Glass said of the organization’s decision to sit Jakucionis for Friday’s summer league finale. “And we’re trying to get some other guys in there.
“But I think the biggest takeaway from Kas is we got to learn him, he got to learn us. We got some stuff on tape. And now we have seven, eight weeks to get him better, to get him ready for the start of the season and to improve his skills. And that was good. It’s important to have that learning process and help him understanding as a 19-year-old what it’s going to be like to play professional basketball against grown men in the NBA. And he’s ready for that challenge and we’re excited.”
Jakucionis didn’t shoot the ball well during summer summer league and he totaled 15 assists to 22 turnovers during his six summer league appearances. But he was able to make an impact in other ways by drawing enough fouls to go 23 of 25 at the free-throw line and also impressing with his hustle and defense during summer league.
“That was a good teaching point for him and we were all encouraged by the mental makeup he had,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said while appearing on an ESPN broadcast of a Heat summer league game in Las Vegas “Look, it was uneven offensively — there’s no doubt about it. He had a lot of turnovers, some mistakes. All the intangibles — the defense, the hustle plays, the passing, all of that he was able to do while having some uneven offensive play.
“Sometimes that can take a spirit or confidence away from a player, but he found a way to impact the game, impact winning. That’s what our scouts really liked about him as a young player. They watched him a whole lot more than we did at Illinois.”
But turnovers and three-point shooting were two issues Jakucionis also dealt with during his lone college season. While still impressing as a freshman at Illinois with his passing and playmaking ability, he averaged 3.7 turnovers per game for an exceptionally high turnover rate of 25.4% and shot just 31.8% on 5.2 three-point attempts per game last season.
Struggling with those same areas in summer league will serve as another teaching point at this early stage of Jakucionis’ development.
“Basketball is not all about shots,” Jakucionis said of his approach. “One day it can fall in and the other day it won’t fall in, but you still have to stick with the process and do everything you can on the floor and just give 100 percent.”
Next up for Jakucionis is some time spent in his home country of Lithuania after a whirlwind of a few months that included the end of his one college season, the NBA Draft Combine, pre-draft workouts, the NBA Draft and summer league. He’ll return to Miami in early August to begin preparing for his first NBA training camp and season.
“Every experience helps you,” Jakucionis said at the end of his first summer league. “As much experience as you have, the more comfortable you feel moving forward. I’m just so happy to have this opportunity.”
