Kaunas Zalgiris Thread

[Straight forward]

Seems like Sirvydis and Zalgiris deal is basically done. We can just assume Sirvydis in. Next season will be very interesting, specially if Zalgiris will sign Jokubaitis. To me it's funny to hear doubs about Jokubaitis abilities Oh my god. Usual LTU fans ignorance. Jokubaitis would be a big win for Zalgiris. Huge. And best possible options after Eavans, IMO. Off course, they still need very strong starting level SG. It must be a shooter, a guy who can shoot from three by his own will. IDK if they can sign such guy. Sirvydis can evolve into this guy in 2-3 years, but when he will reach that level, he will be all gone to top clubs That's the reality.

Jokubaitis, Lekavicius, (foreigner)
Foreigner, D. Giedraitis, Sirvydis

I think this might be the case next season. I wouldn't even be surprised if Zalgiris sacks both Lekavicius and Dimsa.

https://twitter.com/andreacalzoni11/status/1777763239562273226

[Straight forward]

Another thing. It's interesting whenever Zalgiris considering Tubelis already. Let's face it, the upside to be very good EL player is absolutely there. He's not particularly ready to be important role player right from the scratch and he spit on Zalgiris logo, but with what he does now in LKL he simply can not be ignored. There's a good chance in next season's LKL finals he will be hardly stoppable in Rytas jerseys. He might drop his 35pts on Zalgiris after another year and snatch some 60eff. Dude's a baller and just turned 22yo.

[zalias]

zalgiris re-signed birutis... it will be his 3rd year on zalgiris and im still not sure what he actually does on the court. he's not a good rim protector, mediocre rebounder, horrible perimeter defender, weak post game, no mid range or 3 pointer, somewhat decent hook shot and floater. if he stays as a back-up center i guess its not the end of the world, but hayes has to go, even if he's a really good defender it's not worth to keep a player who does nothing offensively. hayes is a part of the reason why zalgiris looked so stagnant and predictable at times, if your starting center is not capable of playing simple pick n roll it limits your options and you're forced to play isolation basketball.

[Straight forward]

zalgiris re-signed birutis... it will be his 3rd year on zalgiris and im still not sure what he actually does on the court. he's not a good rim protector, mediocre rebounder, horrible perimeter defender, weak post game, no mid range or 3 pointer, somewhat decent hook shot and floater. if he stays as a back-up center i guess its not the end of the world, but hayes has to go, even if he's a really good defender it's not worth to keep a player who does nothing offensively.

I'm guessing the idea is to expect more consistent offensive bursts from Birutis as he only grows into his prime. So letting him go now doesn't make much sense, specially when Zalgiris has no LTU bigs who can surely step up and give more. I think he's not very expensive, he's a Lith who understands the culture and Andrea should get even more offense from him. It's OK move, IMO. He's super useful in LKL too.

[zalias]

tubelis to zalgiris is definitely something to keep an eye on, but im sceptical about it. if tubelis is smart he will go to eurocup or champions league, going to zalgiris to replace lavrinovicius at this stage of his career would not be ideal and of course are some potential deal-breakers like his past history with zalgiris and his buyout.

[Straight forward]

tubelis to zalgiris is definitely something to keep an eye on, but im sceptical about it. if tubelis is smart he will go to eurocup or champions league, going to zalgiris to replace lavrinovicius at this stage of his career would not be ideal and of course are some potential deal-breakers like his past history with zalgiris and his buyout.

Yeah, for him personally it wouldn't be smart. He needs to play. Playing a season with Rytas seems to be spot on. But I think Zalgiris will miss a chance to sign him. I don't even doubt bigger clubs already considering to sign him long term. But Tubelis seems to be smart. He picked Neptunas just to play a lot and get it going at PRO level. It was a good move. Now he just messing around in LKL. Already MVP of the league and he drags Neptunas to the top of LKL standings.

[zalias]

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5qZj3pMbpQ/

this would've been a perfect season to have someone like lelevicius, rubstavicius, murauskas on zalgiris roster. trinchieri seems to be genuinely interested youth basketball, he often goes to nkl, rkl games and its not the first time he mentioned zalgiris youth system in a postive context. he gave butka important minutes against real when this game was important for zalgiris financially. it's unfortunate zalgiris do not have any big talents currently.

[LuDux]

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5qZj3pMbpQ/

he gave butka important minutes against real when this game was important for zalgiris financially.

Instead of playing Ulanovas 40 minutes at SF and 20 at PF. Reminds of Canak playing young players big minutes

[Straight forward]

Zalgiris fans make Sirvydis wellcoming videos, but Real seems to have serious interest in him (it's long known Baslonia is interested too). I hope Sirvydis will sign with Zalgiris though. That's better for the NT. In Real he would wash the bench for 2 more years.

Next step for him is to contain proper physical presence via all game. At times he's a bit careless and tends to lose focus. When he's 100% on it, it's really hard to contain him offensively. In EL he must make few more steps more at both ends to become a beast. EL is more physical so it will take a bit of time, but after 2 years he will be hands down top clubs material with a chance to play important or very important role.

As soon as 2027, Sirvydis will be pretty much elite versatile SF (swingman). I would hope that he would back up Buzelis at that point. Meaning Buzelis is better than him being 23yo. Nevertheless - position 3 with Buzelis, Sirvydis, Brazdeikis in 2027 should be 100% covered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klYKxuKep20&ab_channel=AGHighlights

[Straight forward]

This made my day so much! Total solidarity from my side:

https://www.facebook.com/100000025901754/posts/7821532627857523/?rdid=AP7WEUZMfDEPuJAs

[Straight forward]

Jokubaitis, Lekavicius
Brazdeikis, D. Giedraitis, D. Sirvydis

Backcourt would be fun next season, ain't it Hope this becomes true. People forget how Zalgiris made PO with Brazdeikis balling and Evans being out in 2022/2023 season.

[Straight forward]

Seems like Zalgiris found poor man's Evans for the 1 position:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nFFxolcXm0&ab_channel=TOPBASKETBALLHIGHLIGHTS

[zalias]

the fact that zalgiris is paying a buyout to another euroleague team probably shows that the free agent market is very dry. i wont pretend like i know much about francisco but he reminds me more of taylor than evans. medicore three point shooter who relies a lot on his speed and quickness

[Straight forward]

the fact that zalgiris is paying a buyout to another euroleague team probably shows that the free agent market is very dry. i wont pretend like i know much about francisco but he reminds me more of taylor than evans. medicore three point shooter who relies a lot on his speed and quickness

How about this:

Jokubaitis, Francisco, Lekavicius
Brazdeikis, D. Giedraitis, Sirvydis

If Zalgiris would unleash something like that (or instead of Brazdeikis physical scorer, SG with good size is needed), Zalgiris home works will be top notch. If Franc is taken as a starting PG, I'm not impressed, but we'll see.

[zalias]

im not sure if they want brazdeikis back, he was in a perfect situation on zalgiris but decided rotting on oly bench is better. basketnews, iirc, also mentioned oly is not concerned with iggy and expect him to have a bigger role next year, so its unlikely they release him after paying a buyout