Jeremiah Fears vs Kasparus Jakucionis

I have Kasparus.

People really cooled down on Kasparus Jakucionis due to shooting 24% from three over his last 18 games. He was also quite turnover prone throughout his entire season and was a risky gambler kind of passer. An illness went through that Illinois team midway through the season and Kasparus played through that illness for the most part. Ivisic spent a long time missing games while Kasparus still played. It really took that team out of rhythm and he didn’t quite recover but when Ivisic did return they started running the offense through him and Riley alot more which was a bit of a transition for Jakucionis. He showed when his shot is not falling he still has the size and feel for the game to play wide range of roles. He can mix it up on the glass, play as a cutter, get to the line. He can play ugly basketball and impact the game.

At his best Kasparus has a very unique skill and a shot maker, facilitator and someone who can create offense off his dribble in the iso. Before his slump he looked like a true shooter and with his size I think these skills are translatable to the next level, especially when he isnt opposing teams focus defensively.

Back before everyone started hyping up Fears as a top 5 pick before conference play when he was killing I think Norrin had him mid to late lottery or so which I thought was high. Not to give him to much credit because he alo had Vyctorious Miller in that range. Now after the year has wrapped up the draft community has seemed to follow James Barlowe’s opinion on him and everyone has him going 4th to 8th and if you have him outside of that range your a hater. Its weird how these mock drafts go.

My question with Fears is what does he do when the ball is not in his hands? How will he impact the game off the ball. To me his swing skill is shooting. I watched many games where his shot wasn’t falling and in order to get into rhythm he would resort to bully ball. It wasn’t your typical bully ball he more or less finds ways to use his agillity and slithery play to get to the rim and finish or get to the line. But when it doesn’t work things get really bad for him.

I get that he’s young but his age doesn’t change the fact that he needs to develop that jumper and it needs to be at a high level for him to be a top 5 pick. It really reminds me of Jalen Suggs except when Suggs shots not falling he can always fall back on his defensive intensity to keep him in the game. Also Suggs is more of a straight line driver explosive athlete whereas Fears has more of a smoothness, wiggle or bop to his game. Another example of this is Kyra Lewis. Never found his shot in the pros and didn’t have any other elite skill, his agillity and first step weren’t enough.

I think the problem is not Fears himself, he’s a great talent but the issue is when you pick him in the lottery or Kyra Lewis in the lottery teams are going to expect immediate results and not leave the player room to actually grow and develop. A good fit for him would be a team like Washington or Utah where he could get the ball but with Edgecombe or Johnson available that just doesn’t seem realistic to me. And to be honest I think Demin and Jakucionis are higher on boards as well. Ideally for the sake of his development you would like to see him fall out of the lottery altogether and in that 18 to 21 range to Washington, Brooklyn, Miami or Utah but that doesn’t seem very likely to happen.

Look at a team like Orlando for instance. If Kasparus falls to Orlando at 16 he will be a ballhandler and shot creator but not really a 1st or even 2nd option. Kind of a Jamaal Murray role. Play off of Banchero and Wagner. He doesn’t need to be a 1st option. Thats where his value lies imo is being able to create his own offense without being a hub. To me if Orlando picks Fears does he even play? How does he compliment Wagner and Banchero?

Toronto is his worst fit imo.