2025 Rookie Observation (18): Will the Lithuanian backcourt star become a weakened version of Doncic?

Kasparas Jakučionis/Lithuanian team: University of Illinois (NCAA)

Date of birth: May 2006

Birth place: Vilnius, Lithuania

Grade: Freshman

Position: Double-Energy Guard

Bare feet Height: 194.9cm

Weight: 93.1kg

Wandspan: 202.6cm

Stand height: 254cm

Template: All-round weakened version of Luka Doncic Doncic)

Expected market: Lotto to the middle and late stages of the first round

National high school students rankings: International players are not ranked

Honor: 2025 Big Ten League Best Team Three, 2025 Big Ten League Best Rookie Team

Note 1: Before joining the University of Illinois, he has completed his debut in La Liga in the 2022-23 season

Note 2: Favorite players are Luca Doncic and Shea Gilgers Alexander (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)

Note 3: I believe that my biggest achievement so far is to help Lithuanian U16 youth team win the 2022 U16 European Cup championship

This season's data: 33 appearances, 31.9 minutes per game, 15 points, 5.7 rebounds (1.4 frontcourt rebounds), 4.7 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.3 blocks, 3.7 turnovers and 2.7 fouls, shooting percentage of 44% (4.5/10.3), three-point shooting percentage of 31.8% (1.6/5.2), and free throw shooting percentage of 84.5% (4.3/5.1).

Advantages:

Yakuccionis is a tall and skilled backfield organizer. Although his wingspan looks a bit average, his strengths in body are very outstanding among players in the same position, and he can also use his strengths in body to complete some scores at the basket. Yakusionis has skillful skills, his dribbling ability is excellent. He can use change directions and fake moves to complete breakthroughs. He has excellent man-ball combination ability. His finishing ability after the breakthrough is also good. He can also use fouls to create threats. Yakusionis also has a certain ability to shoot at medium and long distances. He can find a mobile phone by controlling the ball, and the threat of his mid-range shot is quite high. Yakusionis has a fast shooting speed and standard shooting movements, and his efficiency outside the three-point line still has a lot of room for improvement.

Yacuccionis has excellent passing ability and overall view. Although he is a freshman star, he is already the team's main controller, and it is not easy to do this. Yakusionis is good at using pick-and-roll to complete passes to big inside players who are going down. He can also find teammates in open positions during the process. His role in understanding the opponent's defense is also very outstanding.

Yacuccionis also has certain defensive prediction ability on the defensive end. He can sometimes predict the opponent's ball route and complete some steals.

Disadvantages:

Yacuccionis has very average athletic ability, his bounce looks a bit bad, and he lacks enough impact and explosive power. Yakusionis' shortcomings in this regard make it difficult for him to break through the opponent's defense line more directly. He needs to use pick-and-roll or rhythm changes to complete the breakthrough. When facing opponents with stronger defensive capabilities and more complete defensive systems, it is a huge question whether he can maintain such a finishing ability at the basket. Yakusionis' shooting stability is just a big problem. His outside shooting percentage is obviously relatively low. Considering that he actually made a lot of shots, he should have done better in this regard.

Yacuccionis has average movement speed and may struggle on the defensive end when encountering players with strong flexibility, fast speed and excellent explosiveness. Yakusionis' physical condition is actually not outstanding among the wing players. In addition to his lack of athletic ability, even players who are defending the second or third position will not have an advantage. Yakusionis may become a potential target of strike on the defensive end.

Yacuccionis has a pretty good pass ability, but his turnover count is also quite shocking, and his assist-and-turnover ratio is also very unsatisfactory. Judging from the situation on the field, Yakusionis has great problems in his concentration. He often makes some inexplicable mistakes, which is simply incomprehensible. This kind of slackness that Yakusionis often appears on the court is not a good sign.

Expected market:

Judging from the current situation, Yakusionis's draft market is still good. He is considered to have a chance to be selected in the middle and late sections of the lottery zone, but he also has the risk of falling out of the lottery zone. It seems that Yakucionis should be the third best point guard in this draft so far, second only to Dylan Harper and Jeremiah Fears, slightly better than Egor Demin, who also comes from Europe. Considering that Yakusionis has a very distinctive feature and his high point guard attributes, he will indeed become the focus of the draft..

Personal prediction:

Personal opinion that Yakusionis' draft market seems to be somewhat high. Yakusionis is a player with a very, very high risk factor. On the one hand, Yakuscionis' upper limit may be very high. If he can improve his three-point shooting percentage and reduce his mistakes, he may really have a chance to become Doncic at about 70% to 80%, which is absolutely enough for most teams; on the other hand, it takes a lot of effort to help Yakuscionis realize his talent, and he is very likely to be unable to realize his talent in this situation. And if Jacucionis is not given enough opportunities, it will be difficult for him to make substantial improvements in his abilities.

Target teams:

Portland Trail Blazers, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards

The above teams are basically teams that need to improve in the No. 1 position. Relatively speaking, the Mavericks, Spurs and Heat should be teams that need to achieve results next season. They may not necessarily use Yakuscionis, who has clear advantages and disadvantages, as their number one choice in this case. Of course, the situation will also change with the situation on the day of the draft. Relatively speaking, the Trail Blazers, Nets and Wizards all need this type of player. They should also be able to provide Jacucionis with greater fault tolerance, which may be more beneficial to his growth.