The Miami Heat are working through one of the most difficult periods in the last 17 years. They’re currently on an eight-game losing streak and look like potential doormats for when the play-in tournament begins.
As such, Pat Riley is likely scanning the entire basketball landscape in search of reinforcements for next season. According to a mock draft from Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman, one of those reinforcements could come in the form of Kasparas Jakucionis out of Illinois.
“There is currently both optimism and debate about how much Kasparas Jakucionis’ positional size, clever maneuvering, shotmaking skill and passing IQ can offset his lack of explosiveness and quickness,” Wasserman wrote. “…Too much recent evidence suggests skill and IQ can outweigh athletic limitations for a ball-handler, particularly for a plus shooter. And despite a recent slump from behind the arc, there are years of promising shotmaking data/tape for scouts to go back to from Jakucionis’ time with Barcelona and Lithuania.”
Jakucionis is a silky-smooth playmaker with two-way potential. He has the size to be a genuine defensive threat and the skill set to be among the most shifty ball-handlers in the NBA. His lack of burst will likely be offset by his off-the-dribble creation, and Miami’s gritty style of play could also benefit his development.
Erik Spoelstra Unsure of 4th Quarter Struggles
Miami’s fourth-quarter struggles re-emerged as the Heat fell to the New York Knicks on March 17. During his postgame news conference, head coach Erik Spoelstra admitted that right now, he’s struggling to find a solution to the team’s inability to find another gear.
“That’s the thing that we’ve been racking our time, our brains, everything, trying to find solutions for that,” Spoelstra said via Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “We have not come up with solutions and we’ve pretty much tried everything. That’s why I said, I haven’t been able to come up with solutions for that. This has been one of the biggest challenges of a regular season that I’ve been a part of. And we just have to stay the course.”
Miami must find a way to close out games. Toughness and grit have been a calling card of the Heat under Spoelstra. As such, it’s logical to remain optimistic about Miami’s ability to turn things around. However, it’s also realistic to understand that may not occur until after some roster moves in the summer.
Spoelstra Believes Heat Lack Competitive Spirit
Miami’s March 15 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies followed a similar pattern. Spoelstra’s team crumbled down the stretch, further amplifying the current struggles the franchise is facing. During his postgame news conference, Spoelstra questioned his team’s competitive spirit.
“We lost our competitive spirit there in the second half,” Spoelstra said. “Enough has been said in the locker room, but we have a certain standard of how we expect to play and compete. We did not meet that standard tonight. When we meet that standard, it doesn’t mean that we’re going to win, obviously, we’re struggling to figure out how to win games, but you know, last night (vs. the Boston Celtics), we met a standard from a competitive standpoint tonight, tonight we did not.”
Jakucionis could undoubtedly be a player to help turn Miami’s fourth-quarter woes around. He’s already an experienced professional due to his time in Europe. His scoring, playmaking, and overall basketball IQ would be core additions to an ailing rotation.
Of course, Pat Riley and the Heat will undoubtedly face a battle to land Jakucionis, as he may not be on the board by the time Miami is able to make a draft pick.
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