The waters still aren’t settled after the huge news that Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the move.
This late-night/early morning trade was expected sometime, but it finally happened. Antetokounmpo was finally sent to the Miami Heat, along with Bobby Portis, for a slew of draft picks and players, one of which included former Illini Kasparas Jakucionis.
Jakucionis seemed like just a nice throw-in piece that would help put the Heat over the edge, but it is now being reported that he was way more than that. It sounds like he was the linchpin that made the trade actually work.
According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, Jakucionis was the reason that this Miami-Milwaukee deal might not have gotten done. In the post on social media, Fischer reports that he had been hearing that the Heat didn’t want to get rid of Jakucionis.
Kasparas Jakucionis was Miami's version of Boston's Hugo Gonzalez hang-up. Had been hearing all day the Heat did not want to part with the Illinois product on top of their Herro-Ware-Jacquez-No. 13 structure. That's an All-Star guard, three recent first-round picks still on…
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) June 23, 2026
The package of Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jamie Jacquez Jr, and three first round picks could have fallen through if it wasn’t for the icing on the cake, which was Jakucionis.
Miami clearly finally gave in and added Jakucionis to the deal. I would imagine the fear was that the Boston Celtics were going to finalize a deal, which included 2024 Finals MVP Jalen Brown, and steal Antetokounmpo out from underneath them.
The Giannis Antetokounmpo trade details show you how highly NBA teams regard Kasparas Jakucionis
This is one of the biggest NBA trades in the past decade. Antetokounmpo heading to Miami has reset two NBA franchises for the next half-decade or so.
What it really showed me is how much these teams think of Jakucionis. The Heat were going after a nine-time NBA All-Star, and there was a chance that Jakcuionis and his talent were holding up the trade and could have possibly made it crumble.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee had all of that talent and draft picks that were coming their way, and they were still like, yeah, we want the Illinois kid. And rightfully so. Jakucionis had a big rookie year. He averaged 6.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 52 games with the Heat.
It is exciting times for both the Heat and Bucks franchises. I am intrigued to see what Jakucionis can do with the starting job and a familiar team around him next season. The world is his oyster, and he can now take control of his own team.
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