Zalgiris Kaunas was the underdog darling that charmed Turkish Airlines EuroLeague fans last season with its fantastic home atmosphere and resilient attitude. Coach Kazys Maksvytis's squad could never been written off and kept improving week by week to make its way to the EuroLeague Playoffs despite major injuries that hit the team along the way. This summer, Zalgiris brought most of the key pieces back and will also be getting back one key returnee from injury to set its aspirations even higher.
BACKCOURT
The list of Zalgiris newcomers is not long and the only new face in the team's backcourt will be Naz Mitrou-Long, a scorer who can put up 20+ points on any given night, but did not find his footing with EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in his premier season in the competition. The team's greatest strength, however, will be the return of point guard Keenan Evans, who was a mid-season MVP candidate in 2022-23 before suffering an Achilles injury. Zalgiris has the luxury of veteran change-of-pace point guard Lukas Lekavicius coming off the bench. Since Mitrou-Long is also a capable playmaker, Zalgiris looks very deep at the point and can play two of these three players together at any time during the game.
Alongside the playmaking trio, Zalgiris has veteran sharpshooter Tomas Dimsa and up-and-coming guard Dovydas Giedraitis on the perimeter, plus great strength with Ignas Brazdeikis and Arnas Butkevicius on the wings. Big guard Brazdeikis had an up-and-down EuroLeague rookie season, but still finished as the team's top scorer (11.6 ppg.). Butkevicius has been a big all-round weapon off the bench, a player who has an impact that goes far beyond the traditional stats he posts.