Just a few days ago, the Illinois basketball team looked good in a rout of the Iowa Hawkeyes.
The Illini had been playing bad leading up to the contest. We had dropped three in a row all by double-digit points, so things weren’t going well for the Orange and Blue.
Illinois needed that game against Iowa. Most of the talent on the roster played well in that game, but one player who had a below-averaging outing was Kasparas Jakucionis. That hasn’t slowed down his NBA prospects, though.
In an NBA Mock Draft that was published on Tuesday, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report had Jakucionis still going pretty high. In fact, he had him going in the lottery at No. 7 overall. The team that is projected to pick the talented guard is the Brooklyn Nets.
While Jakucionis is the highest projected Illinois player to get selected in the 2025 NBA Draft, he isn’t the lone player who could hear his name called. Wasserman also has Illinois forward Will Riley getting picked in the first round. He has the current No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder, taking Riley with pick No. 20.
It wouldn’t shock me to see Illinois basketball get three players selected in the 2025 NBA Draft
I like the potential of Riley going to the Thunder more than I like Jakucionis going to the Nets. Brooklyn is a pretty bad franchise that can’t seem to get heading in the right direction. I don’t expect Jakucionis to do a lot of winning with that franchise.
Riley, on the other hand, would be going to one of the best young teams in the NBA. He would have a chance to develop a bit in the G-League and then give the Thunder some quality minutes.
I understand that Jakucionis and Riley are the two main options for NBA Draft picks, but I could see another Illini player sneaking into the draft.
Illinois has a 7-foot-1 player who can play around the rim but can also hit from three-point range. Tomislav Ivisic is athletic, can run the court, and his offensive skills are way beyond his years.
When you look at Ivisic’s numbers, here is where he ranks on the team; 12.8 points (2nd), 7.9 rebounds (1st), 2.1 assists (3rd), 0.6 steals (3rd), 1.2 blocks (1st), 50.8% FG (2nd), and 34.2% 3PT (2nd). So, he is in the top three on the team in all of those statistical categories. Don’t be shocked if he declares for the NBA Draft and stays in the draft process. NIL might keep him in college, but Ivisic will get NBA looks.