LAS VEGAS — At a crossroads in his career and unsure of where he'll go next, Rokas Yokubaitis believes he's ready for the NBA.
“I think I'm ready, I have years of maturity and experience in Europe,” Yokubaitis said, “and I want to come here.”
Of course, the motivation of both parties must be aligned, but the Knicks have not said anything positive or negative about their willingness to sign Jokuvaitis to an NBA contract.
I entered the NBA league on July 13th and finally feel like I'm ready to play in the NBA. NBAE via Getty Images
Jokuvaitis, New York's 34th pick in the 2021 draft, spent the past three seasons overseas before returning to the Knicks for Summer League this month but had mixed results, including five assists, two steals and 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting in Wednesday's win over the Kings.
It was Jokuvaitis' best performance of the summer and a glimpse into his potential as a high-IQ playmaker and shot-maker.
On one play in the third quarter, Jokuvaitis snuck up behind a Sacramento player with the ball, stole it and jammed it in front of Knicks executives Frank Zanin and Brock Aller.
“He's been aggressive on both ends of the court,” Knicks coach Dice Yoshimoto said. “He's gotten better at getting to the ball. He understands defensive tactics better. From what I've seen on film, he's done a great job so far.”
Jokuvaitis hadn't performed well in previous games, so the Knicks brought him off the bench behind Tyler Kollek, who scored the game-winning points on an and-one layup with 2.4 seconds left in the game.
Jokuvaitis watched the dramatic finish from the bench, but Wednesday still went down as his best appearance yet in Las Vegas.
In three games this summer, Jokuvaitis averaged 9.3 points and 2.7 assists in 17 minutes per game while shooting 71 percent from the field. The 23-year-old Jokuvaitis, who was drafted by the Knicks two picks ahead of Miles McBride, acknowledged he was adapting to the less-structured style of summer league.
A match in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament earlier this month. AP
“There are a lot of differences between basketball here and European basketball,” said Yokubaitis, who played the past three seasons for Spanish European powerhouse Barcelona. “Here, there aren't many rules and plays, and you just focus on feeling out your teammates.”
“So it's good for me to get to know as many basketball players as possible. [styles as possible]”I want to play for as many teams as possible, whether it's European or American basketball, because you never know where you're going to end up playing in life.”
It's unclear where Yokubaitis will go next — he's under contract with Barcelona for another season, but rumors and reports suggest the team will look elsewhere for a point guard, specifically Spurs draft pick Juan Nunez.
Jokuvaitis, a left-handed combo guard, confirmed he was in talks to return to professional team Zalgiris in his native Lithuania, but denied reports that a deal had been finalized.
“The whole of Europe is talking about this,” Jokubaitis said. “But my contract with Barcelona is still there. It's not like I'm in negotiations. [with Zalgiris] “But I'm still far from a contract. But I've signed with Barca and in a few weeks I'll know where I'm going to go. But now I've got a few games to play in the summer league so we'll see what happens.”
The NBA is the toughest path but often the most lucrative, but the Knicks have a solid guard line-up with Cam Payne under contract and Jokuvaitis has experience playing at the highest level in Europe.
He's open to anything.
“At the moment I don't have any particular preference. I've played in Europe all my life and I've always wanted to come back here to see how I do here,” he said. “My options are open and I thought why not give it a go here too?”
