2025 NBA Draft: Kevin O’Connor has more explaining to do on recent draft grades

2025 NBA Draft: Kevin O’Connor has more explaining to do on recent draft grades

The first-round of the 2025 NBA Draft has concluded, and so everyone’s takes are flying all over the place about which team(s) had the best night versus which teams had the worst.

We all have opinions, and we all overreact to what’s happening in front of us. While 99 percent of the time I won’t criticize someone’s draft grades or draft take on draft night because these players still have to play the games in the end, Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor had a pretty questionable draft grade regarding the Miami Heat’s selection of Kasparas Jakucionis, giving them a night-worst D+.

“The Heat were probably hoping for Walter Clayton Jr. with this pick. For every beautiful assist Jakučionis had as a freshman, there’s an equally ugly bone-headed turnover,” O’Connor wrote. “He had 11 games this past season with more turnovers than made shots. As a primary creator, he’s not a Tyrese Haliburton type. Think more along the lines of Spencer Dinwiddie; he’s one of your guys on the roster, but he’s not THE guy.”

.@KevinOConnorNBA's first round draft grades are in 📝 pic.twitter.com/Qs8JVMqsBF

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 26, 2025

While I disagree to a certain extent (I had him No. 7 on my board), that’s acceptable, if you really believe that way about the player.

Plus, he also went on to say that he thought the Heat had the worst night of any team in the NBA Draft, for reasons essentially nothing to do with the pick itself.

"What's going on in Miami?"@KevinOConnorNBA breaks down why the Heat had the WORST draft night 👀 pic.twitter.com/gOrJTjb7jE

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 26, 2025

While O’Connor’s grade on Jakucionis was slightly lower than the consensus ranking, he still had him ranked as a lottery prospect. Here’s what he wrote about him in his final big board entering Wednesday:

“Jakucionis is a slick shot-creator with a creative passing gene and a fearless scoring ability, carving up defenses with crafty finishes, step-back jumpers, and jaw-dropping passes,” he wrote. “But as a freshman he’d follow up those highlights with turnover brain-farts that derail the hype train.”

Outside of the brief mentioning of his turnover issue (which is one of his weaknesses, admittedly), his aforementioned analysis is … pretty contradictory to what was written and said above. Better yet: O’Connor had him as the fourth-best guard, plus had him going 16 in his final mock draft to Memphis.

So now help me understand the logic behind the D+, the worst of the entire night.

Again, there’s always a worst and there’s always a best. But I can’t understand the logic behind Miami, who desperately needed a lead playmaker, one who you gave flowers to, having the worst night, when the rationale has practically nothing to do with the pick itself.

Of course, situations factor into a player’s career, but the Trail Blazers have 17 centers, drafted a big who you barely had a top-40 grade on and it’s a C+?

2025 NBA Mock Draft: Vendetta Blogger Edition

O’Connor is one of the more respected draft voices in the community. I just want to understand your logic. Jakucionis may not end up working out as swimmingly as some may believe. The inverse could also happen–as it can with Yang, Yanic Konan Niederhauser and others who were drafted above consensus.

But a D-grade for a team in the 20s when you had a lottery grade on said player, especially when the grade didn’t have much to do with the player itself, is, well, confusing.

Help me understand the logic, please!

***

Click Here for more NBA Content

Subscribe to Vendetta’s Twitch

Subscribe to Vendetta’s YouTube

Check out the Vendetta Shop

Check out Vendetta Fantasy Contests