CBS Sports’ latest NBA mock draft by Kyle Boone has the Portland Trail Blazers selecting Kasparas Jakucionis with the 11th pick. This draft also makes an assumption that seems to be gaining some chatter around the league — that the Milwaukee Bucks would trade Giannis Antetokounmpo to the San Antonio Spurs for the second and 14th picks, among other unspecified players and compensation.

Jakucionis is a freshman guard out of the University of Illinois from Lithuania. Although he is only 18 years old and has a season of Big 10 basketball behind him, he already has professional experience, albeit rather limited. After playing youth basketball in his native Lithuania, he joined the youth setup of FC Barcelona in Spain. Jakucionis played primarily for the junior team and the club’s reserve team, earning a selection to the 2023–24 U-18 EuroLeague All-Tournament Team. He made his professional debut for the FC Barcelona first team in April 2023, playing a single minute of a single game, scoring two points and getting a rebound.

Kyle Boone writes:

Portland’s backcourt is in dire need of a revamp and retool in some way. Jakucionis could help reset the position with a true lead guard who has tools to elevate talent around him.

I’m not sure how many Blazers fans would agree with a “dire need of a revamp and retool”, but a quality player who can play either point guard or shooting guard could beneficially increase competition at a time when the Blazers need to have players locking down positions for the long term. He doesn’t appear to be destined to be a full-time point guard though, for better or worse, although he’s shown that he can play that role when necessary.

Guard
6’ 4 ¾” without shoes
6’7 ¾”
205.2lbs
Birthday: May 29, 2006 (18 years old)

Scouts have found a lot to get excited about with Jakucionis. He has size, plays with physicality, is credited with having very good game awareness and vision, crashes the boards well, and has no problem beating defenders and getting to his spots. Perhaps his biggest problem is that his stats at Illinois raise a few questions. He shot 44% from the field but only 31.8% from three. The consensus seems to be that he has a better shot than the numbers would indicate, but it’s hard to argue with numbers. Clearly he’d have to improve his shooting, especially from beyond the arc. Jakucionis pulled down 5.7 rebounds, dealt 4.7 assists, had 0.9 steals and averaged 15 points per game in 31.8 minutes. He’s credited with a high basketball IQ that he uses to his advantage on the defensive end, getting in passing lanes and breaking up plays.

Many mock drafts have Jakucionis going one spot earlier to the Houston Rockets. This mock draft has Houston going with Collin Murray-Boyles instead, allowing the Blazers to select Jakucionis. There are quite a few players from Europe who have found impressive success in the NBA, and Jakucionis has the benefit of both European training and a year at a U.S. university as well. One thing is for sure: It would be fun to hear Mark Mason introduce a player in Lithuanian again. Perhaps he’ll get that chance with Jakucionis.