Prospect Highlight: Kasparas Jakucionis 2006 LTU Barcelona
Kasparas Jakucionis might be the next young guard to work his way into the FC Barcelona system as the 2006-born Lithuanian has already shown he can dominate at the last level the club has for him.
Kasparas Jakucionis might be the next young guard to work his way into the FC Barcelona system as the 2006-born Lithuanian has already shown he can dominate at the last level the club has for him. What the club will do with the 1.92m combo guard is an interesting case study.
Kasparas Jakucionis is a native of Vilnius and he was already playing organized basketball before becoming a teenager. In the 2018-19 U13 league, the 12-year-old Jakucionis averaged 21.9 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.9 steals. He also played in the U14 league that season, and then picked up 19.4 points, 13.7 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 3.8 steals at the U14 level in 2019-20, also adding 3.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals at the U15 level.
Jakucionis split levels in 2020-21 with 23.8 points, 14.5 rebounds, 9.5 assists and 3.9 steals at the U15 category and 12.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.3 steals at the U16 level.
Jakucionis on December 10, 2020 was even called into the Perlas Energija Vilinius team in the second division NKL, playing 12 minutes against Silales Lusis and scoring 2 points and grabbing 1 steal - at about 14 and a half years old as the youngest player in the league that season.
Prior to the 2021-22 season, the then 15-year-old had a number of offers on where to continue his career and he decided for Barcelona.
"I decided to go to Barcelona because I liked the environment, the practice and everything. And I have improved. I really love Barcelona," Jakucionis told the ANGT website.
Jakucionis mentioned that he talked shortly with Barcelona's Lithuanian coach and point guard duo Saras Jasikivicius and Rokas Jokubaitis.
"I talked to them but not a lot," he said. "I like them a lot. But they did not have a big impact for me going there."
Jakucionis played in the Spanish cadet league in 2021-22 and helped Barcelona reach the Semi-Finals of the domestic championship. He had 16 points and 5 assists in a 75-69 Round of 16 win over Canterbury Academy and then picked up 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals in an 87-72 Quarter-Finals victory over Cajasiete Canarias (Tenerife).
But in the Semi-Finals, Jakucionis was held to just 2 points on 0-of-8 shooting with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in a 76-69 loss to Unicaja Andalucia - who were led by Mario Saint-Supery with 39 points.
After that season, Jakucionis had a major success in the summer as he helped Lithuania win the title at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2022. He had an excellent tournament with 9.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.4 steals. After picking up 15 points in a 77-61 Semi-Finals win over Greece, Jakucionis thrived in the Final against Spain - many of the players he knew from the Spanish cadet league including Barcelona teammate Iker Garmendia.
Jakucionis came up with his best game of the tournament in the Final with 15 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals as Lithuania won their first U16 continental crown since 2008 - with the golden generation of Jonas Valanciunas, Edgaras Ulanovas and Vytenis Cizauskas.
"Playing against Spain, I had a lot of motivation to show them that Lithuania was not bad in basketball and that we can beat them," Jakucionis said. "And we did, and it was amazing."
The following season, Jakucionis started with Barcelona’s second team in the fourth division EBA in 2022-23 and he averaged 9.6 points on 31 percent three-point shooting to go with 3.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals. He also his debut at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament, and he shined in Zadar.
Jakucionis tallied 19.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.0 steals for a PIR of 25.0 to earn the MVP of the ANGT Zadar. He had 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in Barcelona's 81-54 victory over fellow Spanish side Casademont Zaragoza in the first-place game.
His season had a major highlight on April 19, 2023 when he made his debut in the Spanish ACB, hitting a three-pointer for 3 points in 30 seconds against Coviran Granada. At 16 years, 10 months and 18 days old, Jakucionis was the third-youngest player to debut for Barcelona behind only Eric Vila (16 years and 6 months) and Dame Sarr (16 years, 6 months and 18 days).
After that high, Jakucionis experienced a major downer as Barcelona once again bowed out at the Quarter-Finals of the Spanish Junior Championship in early May. After having won the title in 2021, Barcelona were bounced in the last eight by Valencia Basket in 2022 and then lost 81-74 to Joventut Badalona in 2023 despite Jakucionis picking up 18 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
A couple weeks later, Jakucionis and Barcelona were in Kaunas for the ANGT Finals which took place parallel to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four - hoping to put behind them the Spanish Junior Championship disappointment and win their first ANGT title since 2016.
Jakucionis was back home in his native Lithuania and he had a strong tournament with 17.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.3 steals. Barcelona beat Panathinaikos Athens 67-66 thanks to Dame Sarr’s block at the buzzer, and then they knocked off Crvena Zvezda Belgrade 93-77. But Barcelona could not get past Real Madrid in the final group game, losing 72-54 to the eventual champions despite Jakucionis picking up 18 points and 6 rebounds.
The 2023 off-season saw Jakucionis play a year up at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2023 and he averaged 13.0 points on 39 percent three-point shooting, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists. Lithuania lost to Türkiye 76-72 in the Round of 16 but bounced back with a 95-59 win over Czechia in the Classification 9-16 to make sure they don’t have to worry about a relegation fight in the end.
Jakucionis returned to Barcelona this season and stepped up his level in the fourth division EBA, and is averaging 21.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.5 steals.
Barcelona in the off-season let head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius walk and promoted Roger Grimau from the club’s youth team. And the long-time Barcelona veteran player knew Jakucionis well having coached him in 2022-23 season
"(Jakucionis) is one of the most professional players I have ever seen and he is only 16. He is so mature," said Grimau, who played 170 games over nine EuroLeague seasons - eight of them with Barcelona, with whom he won the 2003 EuroLeague title.
Grimau called Jakucionis to the Barcelona pro team in late November and the youngster hit a three-pointer in 3 minutes of action against Girona. Jakucionis then made his EuroLeague debut on January 12, 2024 as he played 1:34 minutes against Zalgiris Kaunas, hitting his only shot for 2 points to go with 1 rebound. And Jakucionis played his second ACB game of the season on January 21 with 2-of-2 three-pointers for 6 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist in 3 minutes against Granada.
That is a lot of production in just 3 minutes and Jakucionis has shown he can produce. In fact he has already proven the EBA is not a high enough level for him. After picking up 29 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists on January 7 against Vic, Jakucionis poured in 39 points with 6 three-pointers for the second time this season on February 3. Then on February 11, he registered his first triple-double with 26 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists agianst Navas.
In mid-February 2024, Jakucionis was invited to the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp at the NBA All Star Weekend. He was on the Pacers team that won the 5x5 championship and he was selected as one of the All-Stars.
Barcelona Coach Grimau’s history with Jakucionis bodes well for the young Lithuanian, who will turn 18 on May 26. Jakucionis will undoubtedly get some more playing time this season with Barcelona’s pro side - though not likely any big minutes appearances. But that look - and especially the time he spends practicing with the big team - will give the Barcelona executives an important insight into what they have right now in Jakucionis.
The bigger question is what happens next season. Jakucionis will spend the entire 2024-25 campaign as an 18-year-old. He is already more than dominating the EBA fourth division, and repeating the level next season will not really do a lot for his development. But would he be ready for Barcelona’s A team already in the fall of 2024? If not, and if Barcelona leaders don’t think a third season of EBA is the right answer either, then Barcelona will probably have to look at sending Jakucionis on loan somewhere for 2024-25. But we still have plenty of basketball to be played until then.
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