Jasikevicius agrees to 3-year deal

[KoriEllis]

Sarunas to sign Barcelona contract By Eli Sahar

www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/474467.html (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/474467.html)

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Lithuanian point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius has agreed on a three-year contract with Spanish club Barcelona that will commence after his contract with Maccabi expires at the end of the coming season, according to a report to be published today in El Mondo Deportivo.

The Spanish daily claims the contract will be worth $6.5 million over a three-year period, a sum that would make the Lithuanian the highest paid player in Europe. The contract will include an exit clause allowing Jasikevicius to leave for the NBA.

Jasikevicius was one of the top players at the recent Olympic basketball tournament and his performance there, including a devastating display of three point shooting against the U.S. Dream Team, sent his status skyrocketing.

A source at Maccabi said yesterday that Jasikevicius was a consummate professional and would continue to play at the highest level for Maccabi next season. With the Lithuanian, who took back-to-back Euroleague titles with Barcelona and then Maccabi, on his way out, the Israeli champions will be expected to groom Yotam Halperin to replace Jasikevicius after next season.

[KoriEllis]

The Spanish daily claims the contract will be worth $6.5 million over a three-year period, a sum that would make the Lithuanian the highest paid player in Europe. The contract will include an exit clause allowing Jasikevicius to leave for the NBA.

$6.5M over 3 years would make him the highest paid player in Europe.

That should give us an idea how much all these other guys make ... not much.

[ducks]

to me now a team just has to offer him half the mle for 3 years and the guy should hook up

[Solid D]

Not bad joining up with Bodiroga.

[ChumpDumper]

Told ya.

[Solid D]

The contract will include an exit clause allowing Jasikevicius to leave for the NBA.

With penalty/buy-out or without? That is the trick question.

[tlongII]

That should give us an idea how much all these other guys make ... not much.

I would trade salaries with him any day!

[KoriEllis]

Jasikevicius hits jackpot but not in NBA
Brad Friedman, SportsTicker contributing writer

www.usatoday.com/sports/b...otes_x.htm (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/europe/2004-09-09-international-notes_x.htm)

The rise of Lithuanian point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius on the Olympic world stage has led to him earning the highest-paying contract in European basketball, which potentially could prevent him from competing in the NBA.

The deal, which was first reported by the El Mondo Deportivo newspaper on Tuesday, is worth $6.5 million over three seasons with the Spanish faction F.C. Barcelona. The deal will go into effect after Jasikevicius' current contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv expires next summer.

Barcelona tried desperately to pry the 28-year-old away from Maccabi in July, but it was only willing to pay half of the $1 million buyout that the Israeli club was demanding.

Throughout his first campaign with Maccabi this season, Jasikevicius longed to return to F.C. Barcelona, the club he competed for from 2000-03. Last April, Israeli Web site Haartz.com quoted the player's confidants as saying, "He had enough of Israel and the local media's treatment of him."

Jasikevicius is wildly popular in Barcelona, having led the city to a European title and a domestic league and national cup championship in 2002-03. When his contract ended after that season, Maccabi Tel Aviv, scheduled to host the 2004 Euroleague Final Four and hoping to solidify its chances of reaching that event, lured Jasikevicius away with a two-year, multi-million deal.

Although he struggled early in the season, prompting criticism from the Israeli press, Jasikevicius ultimately was the hero for Maccabi. In a 107-99 overtime win over Zalgiris Kaunas in the final game of the top-16 playoffs, Jasikevicius scored 37 points in 28 minutes, sending Tel Aviv to the Euroleague Final Four.

"I have never been a part of a game like this," he said following the game. "If God was here, he was yellow (Maccabi's team color) for sure."

Maccabi used the momentum to roll over CSKA Moscow in the semifinals, 93-85, and blow out Skipper Bologna in the title game, 118-74. The club also captured the Israeli Premier League championship and the Israeli National Cup that season, giving Jasikevicius a total of 11 trophies for his career.

It was not until Lithuania finished fourth in this Olympics that a Jasikevicius-led team failed to emerge as champions in the last eight competitions he has participated in.

Even so, Jasikevicius' performance in Athens won him plenty of admiration around the world, especially from his NBA counterparts.

"I didn't really know how good he really was," Team USA and Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade said after Jasikevicius scored 28 points in a 94-90 victory over the United States in the preliminaries. "He made some big shots for them tonight. He had a heck of a game."

"He was hitting open 3's and then hit the four-point play," Team USA and Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer said about Jasikevicius' 12 points in the final 2:47. "It was an incredible moment for him. I think he played a terrific ballgame and the last stretch that he had was magnificent. He is a (heck) of a player."

The showing prompted many to speculate that the ex-Maryland Terrapin would land in the NBA next summer, not Spain. That still could occur, as his F.C. Barcelona agreement will reportedly include a NBA exit clause, which under certain circumstances, would allow him to escape to an NBA team.

Anticipating the number of NBA offers Jasikevicius is likely to field, however, F.C. Barcelona's three-year, $6.5 million offer is likely an attempt to price NBA teams out of the market, and it may do exactly that.

During a short time span this July, Jasikevicius' Maccabi contract also allowed him to escape to a NBA team penalty-free, but the period passed without him receiving an offer substantial enough to void the final year of his agreement with Tel Aviv.

The closest Jasikevicius has ever came to playing in the NBA was last fall, when it is rumored the San Antonio Spurs attempted to sign him after point guards Tony Parker and Anthony Carter went down with injuries.

"I know he has been approached seriously by more than one NBA franchise and that he had a deal with a prominent NBA team last September but he had already signed with Maccabi," said NBA international scout Jason Filippi. "I am a big Jasikevicius fan and I think without a doubt that he can play in the NBA. He would probably be best suited as a combo guard type or the first guard off the bench for a good team."

Despite the growing contingent of supporters who want to see Jasikevicius cross the Atlantic, the move no longer seems to be of utmost importance to the fiery playmaker.

"I was desperate to make it to the NBA when I was younger," he said in an interview last year. "Now, it would be nice to try. If it happens, though, it happens."