Knicks draft-and-stash player Rokas Jokubaitis is expected to leave FC Barcelona and play in the Summer League to pursue an NBA career, Alessandro Luigi Maggi of Sportando tweets.
Jokubaitis, 23, was selected with the No. 34 pick of the 2021 draft. The Thunder traded his draft rights to the Knicks that evening. He appeared in three Summer League games that year.
Jokubaitis reportedly signed a four-year contract with Barcelona in 2021 with options on the deal for each of those seasons. According to Maggi, Zalgiris Kaunas of Lithuania is the favorite to sign the 6’4″ guard if he remains in Europe.
In 28 EuroLeague games this season, Jokubaitis averaged 5.7 points and 3.1 assists in 16.6 minutes. He has made 41.3% of his 3-point attempts in his international career.
Yes. Finally.
I’m still waiting on Orlando’s best overall #11 pick selection ever.
I’ve literally been waiting for Knicks international prospect, Frederick Weiss, to come over from France to replace Patrick Ewing for about 25 years now. He was taken close to the end of the lottery. I’m not sure what the hold has been..:
I believe that’s who Vince Carter dunker over and that was it for him
He runs a convenience store in France.
Kid can play. Good size, some real PG skills, can shoot, and some of that fearlessness we’ve seen from this current generation of Euro players. Looked good in FIBA play. A lot remains to be seen and I’m not sure where he fits in with next year’s roster (can he play off ball?), but a deep bench role might be appropriate anyway to help him get exposure to the league and teammates, and to help learn his value to the team and around the league.
Brooklyn Nets ……..
and so it begins ———— wats next.
link to forbes.com
He’s more a traditional PG. Has good size. He definitely has a chance as a rotation piece. Knicks are good at PG. “seems crazy to say”. You develop talent so you can use it in trades.
Randle is going slow. Still not playing with contact. I hope he makes it back before playoffs. Getting closer and closer.
link to dailyknicks.com
The NYK FO liked Jokubaitis enough in 2021 to decide to draft him in lieu of the immediately available PG’s (a group which included Thibs’ favorite McBride). Fortunately, OKC offered up a 2-for-1 trade of SRPs that allowed us to get both Jokubaitis and McBride.
Not sure Jokubaitis has quite performed to the NYK’s expectations the past couple of years, but, regardless, Barcelona is a real team and he’s a real player on it. He can certainly play in the NBA. If his intent is to do it (which it appears it is), then the time come over is now. The NYK depth chart is secondary, but it’s also amenable to someone with his skill set competing for minutes.