On the evening of 15 July, Kaunas stayed awake until late. Žalgiris announced Jonas Valančiūnas on a two year contract, and Lithuania, a country where basketball is not a sport but a second religion, welcomed its prodigal son in the only way it knows: it slaughtered the fattened calf, opened its coffers and began to dream.
Fourteen seasons in the NBA, the fifth overall pick in the 2011 draft, career averages of 12.8 points and 9 rebounds, and now, at the age of 34, the most recognisable Lithuanian basketball player of the past fifteen years is returning to where it all began.
Tomas Purlys described it in the most Lithuanian way possible. After Arvydas Sabonis, Valančiūnas is probably the second player entitled to be called a legend.
Just as Sabonis returned to Kaunas in 2001 to remind Europe how his enormous frame could dominate the paint, Valančiūnas is now coming back to complete the circle. The difference is that this time, according to Lithuanian reports, completing the circle will cost approximately €2.5 million per year.
And in Lithuania, as two time European champion Martynas Gecevičius notes, people know how to count.
What Left and What Arrived
To understand the scale of the transformation, we must first take inventory.
Five players departed: Sylvain Francisco for ASVEL, Moses Wright for Olimpia Milano after his proposed move to Barcelona remained only on paper, Ignas Brazdeikis, Laurynas Birutis and Mantas Rubštavičius.
Six arrived: Saben Lee from Anadolu Efes, Carsen Edwards from Virtus Bologna, Sterling Brown from Partizan, familiar face Marius Grigonis from Panathinaikos, Marek Blaževič and, of course, Valančiūnas.
The roster, in a single breath.
Guards: Williams Goss, Lo, Lee, Edwards, Grigonis, Giedraitis and Sirvydis.
Forwards: Brown, Ulanovas, Butkevičius, Tubelis and Sleva.
Centres: Valančiūnas and Blaževič.
On the bench for a second season is Tomas Masiulis.
Fourteen EuroLeague level players. Ten of them, however, are competing for the three perimeter positions, while only four occupy the front line, including just two natural centres.
Luxury above the waist, fine print below it. Remember that, because we will return to it.
Offence: Old School Basketball With New Money
Last season, Žalgiris made history in its own way: 23 victories, fifth place in the regular season, the best finish of the modern EuroLeague era for Kaunas, and a 3 to 1 playoff elimination against Šarūnas Jasikevičius and Fenerbahçe.
The irony hurts a little more than usual. The student came within touching distance of the Final Four, only to be stopped by the teacher.
That team ran on the fuel supplied by Francisco, who averaged 16.5 points and 6.5 assists, earned a place on the All EuroLeague First Team and finished second behind Vezenkov in the MVP voting.
It also relied on Wright’s vertical athleticism.
This season’s team has a different engine: heavier, slower and more calculated, with its centre of gravity positioned low and deep inside the paint.
Valančiūnas will establish position near the basket, attract double teams and serve open shots to a perimeter group that, quite frankly, knows how to make them.
Brown, Grigonis, Sleva, Sirvydis and Butkevičius are all elite catch and shoot options on a team that spent months last season near the top of the EuroLeague in three point percentage.
Alongside him, Ąžuolas Tubelis could form one of the most imposing frontcourt partnerships in the competition.
In Lithuania, people are already joking that the 2026 Žalgiris will play as though Sabonis and Tanoka Beard have found themselves on the same court again.
Old school basketball, financed with new money.
Edwards is expected to become the primary scorer behind the centre. Two seasons ago, he was the EuroLeague’s leading scorer with Bayern Munich at 20.4 points per game.
Last season in Bologna, he averaged 17.3 points but produced a modest performance index rating, playing a style of basketball that Purlys described as an overreliance on individual decisions within a system that did not suit him.
In Kaunas, he will not be allowed to run wild as he did in Italy. According to the Lithuanians, that will be good for him as well.
There is, however, one significant concern.
Francisco was not replaced by a comparable creator because no such player was available on the market.
His production will have to be recreated collectively through Edwards, Lee, Williams Goss and the passing of Valančiūnas from inside the paint.
Should the numbers add up, Žalgiris could develop into one of the strongest offensive teams in Europe.
Should they not, the team will find itself searching for a creator during difficult finishes, in the moments when the Frenchman raised his hand and took responsibility last season.
Defence: Where the Fairytale Will Be Decided
The problem with Valančiūnas is not simply that, at the age of 34, he cannot chase guards in transition.
His presence also narrows the defensive menu.
Forget the constant switching defences that have become a staple of the modern EuroLeague. With the Lithuanian on the court, Masiulis will have to use a more passive pick and roll coverage.
The centre will remain close to the paint, perimeter defenders will fight aggressively over screens, and the ball handler will be directed towards his weaker hand.
The calmer voices in Lithuania, however, believe the concern has been exaggerated.
Valančiūnas protects the basket through his size and completes defensive possessions with defensive rebounds, which are, after all, the final and most important chapter of every defensive stand.
Purlys points out that Tavares, Fall and Milutinov are hardly renowned for their mobility, yet they add value rather than subtracting from it.
The perimeter, strengthened by Lee and Brown, also possesses better individual defenders at the point of attack than it did last season.
The fear, to use Gecevičius’ word, lies elsewhere.
The roster lacks an athletic and mobile centre capable of covering the different styles presented by opposing teams.
Tubelis will carry heavy minutes and responsibilities at two positions. Ulanovas will move to the power forward position more frequently.
Should Tubelis suffer an injury, the front line would be reduced to Valančiūnas, Blaževič and Sleva.
That is why nobody in Kaunas is closing the door on adding another big man during the season.
The defensive chip has not malfunctioned. It simply requires new software, and Masiulis has until October to write it.
Ten Perimeter Players and One Basketball
This brings us to the most delicate issue, one that cannot be measured statistically.
Edwards, Brown, Lee, Grigonis and Lo are accustomed to roles that provide them with the ball and a significant number of possessions.
In Kaunas, there will not be enough basketballs or minutes for everyone.
Lo will see his role reduced.
After two seasons in Athens marked by back injuries and limited appearances, Grigonis is not returning to rediscover his rhythm through thirty minute performances. He is returning to fight for his place in an overcrowded rotation.
Everyone agrees that the hierarchy must be established early and with absolute precision.
Valančiūnas and Edwards will be the main offensive pillars.
Williams Goss will operate as the strategist and the thermostat controlling the pace.
Tubelis will be the versatile tool and emotional core.
Everyone else will become a soldier with a clearly defined assignment.
The longer it takes to establish those roles, the greater the danger of dissatisfaction and disconnected basketball.
Žalgiris, however, possesses an unexpected advantage.
Valančiūnas was not signed only for his points and rebounds. He was also acquired to become an institution inside the dressing room.
When a man who has spent fourteen years living the life everyone else dreams about enters the room, voices naturally become quieter.
Purlys calls them good and enjoyable problems.
They are problems Žalgiris has never previously had the luxury of facing.
The Lithuanians Cast Their Votes
Expectations in Lithuania range from restrained optimism to open dreaming.
Jonas Lekšas of Krepsinis.net writes that reaching the Final Four no longer sounds absurd, but the reasonable demand is first to confirm last season’s level.
That will not be easy when rival clubs are strengthening themselves with larger budgets.
Purlys goes one step further. He believes the team is stronger than last season and that finishing in the top four should be the clear objective.
Gecevičius gives the roster construction a score of nine, perhaps even nine plus, but brings his prediction back down to a playoff position somewhere between sixth and eighth.
Above all of this hangs the pressure.
In Lithuania, as Lithuanians themselves admit, pressure is manufactured on an industrial scale.
Ticket prices are rising, budgets are growing and supporters calculate the value of every contract.
They will show little understanding should Valančiūnas commit two early offensive fouls or appear slow while defending a pick and roll.
The EuroLeague, with its double teams, travel demands and unforgiving schedule, is a different sport from the NBA in April.
This will be Jonas’ real postgraduate degree.
The Verdict
The Žalgiris of 2026 and 2027 is no longer the likeable provincial club that sells passion and exports talent.
It is a team shopping from the expensive shelves, retaining its own players and bringing its legends home.
There are questions.
Who will provide the creation Francisco left behind?
Where will the missing athleticism in the front line come from?
How will the team balance a dressing room filled with accomplished players and experienced egos?
None of these problems, however, are impossible to solve through hard work, a clear hierarchy and a coach who proved last season that he knows how to establish order.
Most importantly, the club once again possesses something money cannot buy.
Fifteen thousand people inside Žalgirio Arena will be waiting for the boy who left for Canada as a teenager and returned as a man to finish the story where it began.
The dream in Kaunas has acquired weight, both literally and metaphorically.
Fortunately for them, the shoulders being asked to carry it are among the broadest ever seen on a European basketball court.
