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The Athletic's Sam Vecenie released a pre-lottery mock draft on his "Game Theory" podcast earlier this week along with regular co-host Bryce Simon. It's a comprehensive breakdown of the first round. Full scouting reports on what Vecenie and Simon see as the top 30 picks.

That includes Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis going No. 7 to the Brooklyn Nets after running a simulation for the lottery (which takes place Monday to set the official draft order).

Here's the video, all cued up.

Vecenie is incredibly high on Jakucionis as a creator. Calls the Lithuanian guard "one of the two or three best passers" in the 2025 draft class.

"What I love most about Jakucionis is the passing and playmaking, right?" Vecenie said. "Just has this innate understanding of where help defenders are coming from and where they're going. Consistently can manipulate defenders. Throws the ball with velocity with either hand as a live-dribble passer. Places the ball into tight windows consistently as a passer. Just sees angles in, like, really creative ways."

But Vecenie does have some questions about Jakucionis as a shooter. Mostly in terms of how his athleticism might affect his shooting.

"There are real building blocks for him to be a good shooter," Vecenie said. "He's just not quite there yet. (He made) 33 percent of his pull-up threes this year — very difficult shots for the most part just because he doesn't separate. At the end of the day, that's the biggest question. Can he consistently separate as an on-ball player to take advantage of the passing consistently? Even with ball screens, can he maintain the advantage consistently or not?"

Scott Richey covers college basketball for The News-Gazette. His email is , and you can follow him on Twitter ( @srrichey ).