A well-rounded veteran returned home with the announcement Monday that Neptunas Klaipeda inked forward Donatas Zavackas to a two-year deal. Zavackas (2.03 meters, 34 years old) arrives from Vanoli Cremona, where he averaged 5.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 16 Italian League games last season. He started the 2013-14 season with Telekom Baskets Bonn and joined Cremona in December. Born in Klaipeda, Zavackas played for Neptunas in the late 1990s before joining the University of Pittsburgh and briefly returned to the team in the 2006-07 season. He has also played for Anwil Wloclawek in Poland, BC Besancon in France, Liege Basket in Belgium, Snaidero Udine in Italy, Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk in Ukraine, Siauliai and Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius in Lithuania, EnBW Ludwigsburg in Germany and VEF Riga in Latvia. He helped L. Rytas lift five trophies (Baltic League, Baltic Cup, Lithuanian League, Lithuanian Cup and above, the Eurocup) in 2009, winning again the Lithuanian double (league and cup titles) in 2010. Zavackas also won back-to-back Latvian League titles with VEF in 2012 and 2013. “I grew up in Klaipeda and is a real honor for me to defend this city,” Zavackas said after the agreement. “It is always a pleasure to return to this team.”
