By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
After being selected by the Miami Heat with the 20th overall selection of the 2025 NBA Draft presented by State Farm, Kasparas Jakucionis was presented to local media in a press conference at Kaseya Center on Friday.
Beyond talking about a new and exciting stage of his career, the 19-year-old Lithuanian combo guard ruled out the possibility of playing for the senior national team of his country in the EuroBasket 2025. He was among the projected options for head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis.
The native of Vilnius has already represented Lithuania at the junior level, displaying his talents in the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024, FIBA U18 European Championship 2023, and FIBA U16 European Championship 2022, and won gold in the latter tournament, but has yet to debut with the senior national team. Following a youth career split between Rytas and FC Barcelona, and playing in the NCAA with Illinois, he is focused on preparing for his rookie NBA season and is likely to feature in the NBA Summer League.
Among other NBA options for Lithuania, Domantas Sabonis of the Sacramento Kings is expected to sit out the EuroBasket and Matas Buzelis of the Chicago Bulls remains questionable. In contrast, Jonas Valanciunas of the Kings is projected to play for the team coached by Kurtinaitis.
Lithuania is set for action in Group B of the preliminary round, taking on Great Britain, Montenegro, Germany, Finland, and Sweden in Tampere, between August 27 and September 3. The top four seeds will switch from pool play to single-elimination contests, with the knockout stage set in Riga from September 6 to 14.