Former All-Big Ten Conference guard Kasparas Jakucionis amongst the Milwaukee Bucks’ haul of four roster players, three first-round picks, one pick swap and one second-round pick in a trade highlighted by Giannis Antetokounmpo headed to Miami.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

June 23, 2026

A footnote in the overnight trade sending two-time National Basketball Association MVP and 2021 NBA Finals MVP selection Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami is former Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis will continue his professional career in the building where his collegiate career ended.

Jakucionis was amongst the Milwaukee Bucks’ haul of four roster players, three first-round picks, one pick swap and one second-round pick in a trade highlighted by Antetokounmpo headed to the Miami Heat. Jakucionis, the 6-foot-5 guard who just completed his rookie season with Miami after being selected 20th overall in the 2025 draft, was included in the package sent north to Milwaukee in a blockbuster deal hours before the start of the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft (7 p.m. CST on ABC and ESPN) that included veteran wing Tyler Herro, center Kel'el Ware, guard Jaime Jaquez Jr., three first-round picks (including No. 13 overall in tonight’s draft), one pick swap in 2030 and a 2033 second-round pick.

ESPN NBA reporter Shams Charania was the first to report this news late Monday evening.

Before being selected 20th overall by Miami, Jakucionis saw his one and only season in college basketball end in the locker room of Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum as he had 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and six turnovers in the 2025 NCAA Tournament second round loss to three-seed Kentucky. Just two nights earlier, Jakucionis recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists, which is an Illinois freshman record for an NCAA Tournament game, and added nine rebounds in the team’s first round win vs. Xavier in Milwaukee.

The 20-year-old Jakucionis averaged 6.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 42.9 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from three-point range. The only player in franchise history who played in more regular season games with the Heat franchise as a teenager is Justise Winslow, who played in 69 games as a 19-year-old in his rookie season in 2015-16.

“I’m very encouraged by the progress that he’s made,” Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said of Jakucionis ahead of the Heat’s postseason run that ended by being defeated in overtime at Charlotte in the play-in round after being the 10-seed in the Eastern Conference. “He’s willed himself through his work and consistent actions to be pretty consistent in our rotation the last several weeks. That was hard-earned. He’s a lot better now than where he was coming into training camp, and certainly where he was in summer league. He’s relentless, and he wants to get better. You have to respect his competitive spirit. He’s a competitor out there, even as a young player, so he’ll continue to get better.”

Jakucionis closed the regular season with appearances in 52 of the Heat’s final 56 regular-season games and logged double-digit minutes in 45 of those 52 appearances. The late-season playing time for the former Illini guard came after he logged only 53.7 seconds in the NBA through the Heat’s first 26 games of the season and spent most of the first part of his rookie season in the G League with the Heat’s developmental affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. The 6-foot-5 guard closed his first NBA regular season with a team-best three-point shooting percentage (66 of 156). Among the 242 NBA players who attempted more than 150 threes this regular season, Jakucionis closed with the 10th-best three-point percentage.

Since the Heat’s season ended on April 14, Jakucionis’ name has been circulated among speculation involving a trade for Antetokounmpo.

“It’s part of it,” Jakucionis told the Miami Herald last week during a media session to interact and take photos with youth players at a junior basketball camp at SLAM! Miami charter school. “I really don’t pay too much attention to that because I can’t really control it. So I’m just trying to focus on what I do, on the court, off the court. Try to get better now, focus and now soon I’m going to the national team to play for my country. So that’s the main goal, getting better.”

With the reality of Jakucionis being dealt just 224 miles from where he played the 2024-25 season at Illinois, the former Illini guard will now prepare to win a starter or rotational spot on a rebuilding Milwaukee Bucks squad that currently has 23-year-old Ryan Rollins at the point guard spot along with Miami Heat teammates Hero and Jaquez Jr. at scoring perimeter/wing positions as well. With the Bucks also now holding two lottery picks in tonight’s first round (No. 10 and 13), Milwaukee is in a position to potentially reunite Jakucionis with one of his former Illini teammates as Michigan 6-foot-10 forward Morez Johnson Jr. is projected to be selected in that 10-18 area of picks in the first round after producing 13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 62.3 percent from the field this past season that saw the Wolverines win the 2026 national championship.