ESPN Sends Kasparas Jakucionis to Blazers in Latest Mock Draft

The latest NBA Mock Draft from ESPN is out. The four-letter-network has the Portland Trail Blazers selecting Illinois point guard Kasparas Jakucionis with the 11th pick in the order. Writer Jeremy Woo explains the reasoning behind the selection:

The Trail Blazers are set up front for the foreseeable future with Donovan Clingan at center and don’t have an express positional need, but players such as Jakucionis, [Carter] Bryant and [Noa] Essengue could all be available here and bring broadly different skill sets.

Jakucionis’ unselfish style and ability to enhance ball movement would help Portland’s backcourt mix, with players such as Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe and Anfernee Simons all more scoring-oriented. He could feasibly slide into multi-playmaker lineups alongside the other guards in a more connective role.

Jakucionis appears ticketed for this 10-to-15 range, with his playmaking, versatility and intangibles holding strong appeal in a variety of contexts.

Jakucionis has played one year at Illinois, scoring 15.0 points with 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 31.8 minutes per game, shooting 44.0% from the floor and 31.8% from the three-point arc.

I’m not sure how I feel about the suggestion, myself. I love playmakers and I’m not opposed to the Blazers picking up a point guard, but another player who can’t shoot the three very well probably won’t help Portland’s offense. Scoot Henderson shoots much better than Jakucionis at this point. Other than perhaps an edge in distribution, can anyone suggest a reason that Jakucionis would be better than Scoot? Weigh in below in the comments section.