The 2025 NBA Draft was filled with surprises, good and bad trades, and players who were steals late in the first round.
One of the biggest steals of the draft was Kasparas Jakucionis. The former Illinois basketball guard was projected somewhere between No. 8 and No. 16 in Wednesday night’s first round, but he ended up dropping all the way to pick No. 20.
The Miami Heat were waiting with open arms for Jakucionis. This had Heat fans elated by the pick, as the franchise hasn’t been in fans’ good graces for quite some time. The Jimmy Butler fiasco seemed to be the tipping point, and everything since then hasn’t been good.
But the selection of Jakucionis helped turn the tide a bit. It also had one prominent Boston Celtics fan frustrated by the situation.
Bill Simmons of The Ringer liked the pick for the Heat, as he went on a rant about the selection of Jakucionis.
“He (Jakucionis) fills the box score. He’ll play for Miami. He’ll play 23 minutes a game next year, and he will get like 12 points, five assists, five rebounds, and one steal. Like, he just, he’s just gonna be good.”
As usual somebody good in the draft falls to Miami. Jakucionis is good. Sean Marks should be arrested.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) June 26, 2025
An upset Simmons doesn’t come as a surprise. A diehard Boston fan and Heat hater, Simmons has been dealing with his Celtics falling apart after star Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles earlier this year. Since that point, Boston has started to piece out their team, saving money for the future and building draft picks to potentially rebuild around Tatum when he returns.
Bill Simmons’ issues with Kasparas Jakucionis being picked by the Miami Heat stem from years of battles
The Heat have been a torn in Simmons’ side for years now. Even when Miami is down, they find a way to cause chaos for Boston fans.
Since 2010-11, the first year LeBron James entered the picture for the Heat, Boston has struggled to get past Miami in the playoffs. Miami has played Boston six times in the playoffs and has won four out of those six series, with three of those wins coming in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Simmons continued on his rant about the Heat and their ability to find talent.
“It really is annoying to me. They’re going to sign (Jonathan) Kuminga, or do some sign-and-trade with him. And guess what, he’ll be good for them too. And then all of a sudden, we’ll be like Jesus Christ, we’re back with the Heat? We thought we killed them. We thought they were dead. We thought we cut their head off.”
Bill Simmons is pissed Kasparas fell to Miami at 20
— Heat Culture (@HeatCulture13) June 26, 2025
“He fills the box score.. He’s just gonna be good. It really is annoying to me. Then they’ll sign Kuminga and guess what? He’ll be good for them too. Then all sudden we’ll be like Jesus Christ we’re back with the Heat? I… pic.twitter.com/vGDMtjARCm
Billy Boy isn’t wrong. I think he is probably pretty accurate on the production of Jakucionis in year one. He put up 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 0.9 steals per game as a freshman with Illinois.
Tyler Herro is the player Miami is building around in the backcourt. Davion Mitchell was a nice midseason addition. But, honestly, there aren’t any surefire depth pieces on the Miami roster, so that leaves a lot of minutes to be had by Jakucionis.
This is the first time Simmons has been mad at Jakucionis in Miami, but I will confidently say, it won’t be his last. Jakucionis is going to be in Miami for a while, and this will be a fun battle to watch in the coming years.