Don’t look now, but a former Illinois basketball star is going to take the NBA court sooner than you think.
The Miami Heat picked Kasparas Jakucionis No. 20 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft. This was a steal of a selection, but the star Illini guard has yet to take the court due to a right groin strain.
This injury has kept Jakucionis out for the first four games of the season. His stretch of missing time could be coming to an end soon, though.
According to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, both Tyler Herro and Jakucionis are joining the Heat on their four-game road trip. This trip starts in San Antonio on Thursday night, taking on Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.
Tyler Herro and Kasparas Jakucionis join Heat on trip. Erik Spoelstra: "I think it just speeds up the whole process when they’re around the guys" https://t.co/UFr8N6zMWt Also, Norman Powell says "I don’t plan on being out too long"
— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) October 30, 2025
This is pretty big news considering I thought there was no chance Jakucionis makes his NBA debut on the road. I thought for sure that when the Heat returned to Miami on November 7 against the Charlotte Hornets, that was when he would step foot on an NBA court.
The Miami Heat are strong and will be getting even stronger with Kasparas Jakucionis and Tyler Herro
It is kind of crazy to think about what the Heat have done this season. They are 3-1 with wins over the New York Knicks and on the road by 32 against the Memphis Grizzlies. This hot start, some would say white hot start, is without two key players on the roster.
Herro is an All-Star player, and he will be joining the squad relatively soon. Jakucionis is a dual-threat guard who can do a little bit of everything and is their first-round pick from this year’s draft.
Without those two guys, and Norman Powell from the last game against the Hornets, Miami has three wins in four games, and they have put up 144 and 146 points in two of those contests. This is a really good team that is about to get even better with more talent on the horizon.