Rolands Smits leaves Barça and signs for Zalgiris

BARCELONA, 3 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Zalgiris Kaunas announced this Sunday the signing of the Latvian player Rolands Smits, who arrives from Barça after five seasons, and will sign a two-year contract.

“The front line of Zalgiris Kaunas will be reinforced by the great Latvian player Rolands Smits. The 2.07 meter player, who turned 27 last week, has signed a two-year contract,” the Latvian club announced.

According to Zalgiris, “the versatile Latvian, who can play in the power forward and center positions, has come off the bench under Sarunas Jasikevicius and has been the substitute for Nikola Mirotic, the Euroleague MVP,” he said.

In the Spanish championship, Smits averaged 5.2 points and 2.9 rebounds, shooting 35.3 percent from long range. In the Euroleague, his statistics were similar: 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in an average of 15 minutes on the court.

Born in Valmiera, he moved to Spain at the age of 16 and began his professional career at Fuenlabrada. During his stay, the player was named the best young player in the Eurocup during the 2016-2017 season, which caught the attention of Barcelona.