The NBA Draft Lottery was on Monday night, and the Illinois basketball team had two players in the crowd watching as the draft order was revealed.
Illini guard Kasparas Jakucionis is projected as a lottery pick in June. Before the draft takes place, NBA scouts and evaluators get a chance to see what each player is like at the NBA Draft Combine.
On Monday, the combine started with measurements. That was followed up by shooting drills on Tuesday. Jakucionis went through those drills, and let’s just say, the results were not where they needed to be.
The biggest glaring issue for Jakucionis was the shooting drill off the dribble. Each of the 67 participants got 30 field goal attempts. The leaders of the drill made 26-of-30, 86.7%. Jakucionis was 16-of-30, 53.3%, during the drill. He ranked in an eight-way tie for 48th out of 67 participants.
Despite the struggles off the dribble, Jakucionis did manage to perform well in the spot-up portion of the drills. He knocked down 17-of-25, 68%, which ranked No. 18 out of the 67 players.
This was the Kasparas Jakucionis Illinois basketball fans saw during the 2024-25 season
When I look at the numbers from day one of the drills at the NBA Draft Combine, they honestly make sense. There is a glaring issue with Jakucionis’ game that might hurt him in the NBA.
Toward the end of the season, specifically, Jakucionis had a hard time creating and making shots off the dribble. When he needed to create, he couldn’t get a lot of space, and he couldn’t get open buckets.
Jakucionis was very good at coming off screens and moving without the ball, though. He could find space by using other players and using his mobility on the court. His excelling in the spot-up shooting drill is not surprising at all.
The bad thing for Jakucionis is that he is going to need to be able to score off the dribble in the NBA. He will need to show that he can do that, or he is going to struggle. Jakucionis has talent, but the NBA shooting drills do shine a light on some of the issues with his game. Hopefully, his ball-handling and other attributes will help balance some of the shot-creating woes.