Jonas Vainauskas, GM of Lietuvos Rytas, was interviewed by Krepsinis.net about the plans of his team for the next season. He also revealed that Vassilis Spanoulis wil be the first signing of Olympiacos which will be the biggest news in Europe. According to Vainauskas, it is very likely that Dusan Ivkovic will replace Panagiotis Giannakis as a head coach.
Lietuvos Rytas have set a very tough goal for the next season. Lithuanian champions will aim to rewrite the club’s history by reaching Euroleague quarter-finals. Vainauskas was even more specific about this goal – the team must win four games in the Top 16 stage.
Jerry Johnson is the only player who was chosen by the new coach Drazen Anzulovic. The rest of new signings were picked by Vainauskas, who in a previews interview revealed that all the decision at the club are made by him and that it won’t change until he’s in charge.
The big news this week related to Rytas was the interest in Jonas Valanciunas shown by Olympiacos. The Greek giants have not made an official offer yet. However, Jonas Vainauskas spoke to Dusan Ivkovic through his agent. Legendary Serbian coach is extremely interested in bringing Valanciunas to Piraeus once he becomes a head coach.
Though Lietuvos Rytas will not let Valanciunas leave the club this summer regardless of what offer Olympiacos are prepared to make. Vainauskas described Valanciunas as the modern version of Arvydas Sabonis and also added that it would be better for Olympiacos if Valanciunas stays in Vilnius next season and plays 30 minutes per game in Euroleague instead of jumping directly to Greece.
‘I’d like to see him [Jonas Valanciunas] playing for The Reds [Olympiacos] his entire career’, commented Vainauskas. According to him, Valanciunas should not go to NBA until he’s at least 22 years old. He should only go there as an established and not a rising star.
Valanciunas would become the second signing of Olympiacos. The first one is Vassilis Spanoulis from arch rivals Panathinaikos. Rytas GM called this move will overshadow other news this summer. It worth mentioning that Spanoulis recently said that he will try his luck if NBA and if that doesn’t go well he will stay in Panathinaikos.
