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14-year NBA veteran center Jonas Valanciunas may return to Europe next season, with his home country team Zalgiris Kaunas among the EuroLeague teams interested in signing him, according to BasketNews sources. Valanciunas, who turns 34 on May 6, still has one year left on his Denver Nuggets contract. However, the franchise holds an option to terminate it in the summer. This could happen either by the Nuggets themselves or if Valanciunas is traded to another NBA team. The Lithuanian center will remain under an NBA contract until July 8, 2026. This date was extended from June 30 ahead of last season, giving Denver the opportunity to trade his contract after the free agency period begins on July 1.
The Lithuanian center will remain under an NBA contract until July 8, 2026. This date was extended from June 30 ahead of last season, giving Denver the opportunity to trade his contract after the free agency period begins on July 1. In exchange for the timing change, a $2 million compensation clause was added. This means Valanciunas would receive this amount if his contract is terminated by July 8. According to BasketNews, several EuroLeague clubs are monitoring the situation, including Zalgiris Kaunas.
Marc Stein: Also: Former lottery pick Cam Reddish, who began this season playing in Lithuania after spending the previous two seasons with the Lakers, has entered the @nbagleague player pool, league sources say. Reddish left his previous club Šiauliai in December.
While the Lithuanians had hoop skills, they didn’t have enough money to compete as an independent nation four years later in Barcelona. To get his team into the Games, Sarunas Marčiulionis, who signed with the Golden State Warriors in 1989, began fundraising in the Bay Area with then-Warriors assistant Donnie Nelson (son of legendary head coach Don Nelson). The Grateful Dead — formed in Palo Alto, Calif., in 1965 by Weir, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Ron McKernan and Bill Kreutzmann — saw an article about the fundraising efforts in the San Francisco Chronicle and decided to help. Through the band’s nonprofit, the Rex Foundation, they gave the Lithuanians $5,000 and a box of tie-dye T-shirts.
Artūras Karnišovas, a forward who averaged 11.2 points per game during Lithuania’s bronze-medal run, called the 1992 Games “a truly special time in my life.” Karnišovas is now executive vice president of basketball operations for the Chicago Bulls. “The chance to represent Lithuania as an independent country after so many years made it even more meaningful,” Karnišovas told The Athletic. “What Bob Weir and the Grateful Dead did for us is something I will never forget, and we, both as a team and as a country, are incredibly grateful for their support. Without it, we probably wouldn’t have had the means to train, travel, or even qualify for the 1992 Olympics. At the time, I was just a college sophomore. Little did we know that this tie-dyed story and experience would grow into something so powerful and lasting for so many years.”
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“Our basketball players won the bronze medals, but to us it was a hundred times more valuable than gold,” Kęstutis Vaškelevičius, Ambassador of Lithuania in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, told The Athletic. “It gave the young country confidence and pride. We realized how significant the contribution and support from the Grateful Dead had been. Even today, a large part of the younger generation knows this story. The Grateful Dead’s support for Lithuania, both financial and moral, has become an important page in our country’s history.”
Jonas Valanciunas' commitment to the national program has remained unwavering throughout his NBA career, as he has not missed a major international tournament since 2011. Still, he left his participation in the 2027 World Cup qualifiers this summer uncertain. "We'll see, we'll see what's gonna happen. Now I'm not playing, so we'll see. Summer is way ahead, man," said Valanciunas, who led Lithuania at the most recent EuroBasket alongside Rokas Jokubaitis, averaging 15.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.
Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Cam Reddish has officially parted ways with the Lithuanian team BC Siauliai. The club announced that Reddish decided to leave for personal reasons, and both sides reached a mutual agreement to part ways, with the club retaining the agreed-upon buyout guarantees.
The talks surrounding the NBA's potential expansion into Europe have now reached the highest political circles. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has entered the discussion and called for NBA and EuroLeague unity in his latest Facebook post.
Gitanas Nauseda: "Division is a regression. And Europe already has enough division; we must not let this virus spread into basketball. EuroLeague and FIBA have already resolved painful disputes in the past, and instead of reopening old wounds, I invite the NBA to invest in the EuroLeague. Productive cooperation, not competition, between the EuroLeague, FIBA, and NBA would lead to progress and unity in European basketball."
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Cam Reddish, the 10th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, is expected to leave the NBA after six seasons and take his talents to Lithuania. According to BasketNews sources, the 26-year-old wing is in advanced talks to sign with BC Šiauliai, a club with a solid track record in Lithuanian basketball. Reddish's contract would include an exit clause for the 2025–26 season, allowing him to leave if opportunities in the NBA, EuroLeague, or other top-level competitions emerge.
Eric Nehm: FINAL: Greece 87, Lithuania 76 Greece has advanced to the semifinals of Eurobasket for the first time since 2009. They take on Turkey on Friday. Giannis Antetokounmpo ended the game with 29 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists.
After a full day of preparation, Valančiūnas said Lithuania has a clear plan but acknowledged the difficulty of stopping one of the best players in the world. “We spent two days—actually one full day—preparing for the Greek national team. They’re a good team with weapons, especially as a shooting team. They have Giannis, who’s very strong individually, so we have to do a good job. We prepared, we have a game plan, and tomorrow we’ll show it,” Valančiūnas said.
Marc Stein: The @EuroBasket quarterfinals are set: Lithuania v Greece Türkiye v Poland Germany v Slovenia Finland v Georgia More NBA from me: https://tinyurl.com/3uasyd2p