Getty Rokas Jokubaitis #0 of the New York Knicks passes against the Detroit Pistons during the 2021 NBA Summer League.
With no offer from the New York Knicks, Rokas Jokubaitis will return to the Euroleague to play for Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The Israeli ball club officially announced Jokubaitis’ signing on Wednesday, July 24, following the Lithuanian guard’s stint with the Knicks Summer League team.
Jokubaitis’ new deal is for three years, Maccabi Tel Aviv said.
“I’m very happy and can’t wait to start playing in front of you, one of the best fans in Europe,” Jokubaitis said in a video posted by Maccabi Tel Aviv on their X account. “Thanks to the coaching staff, the management and the whole club for trusting me. I’m really happy and can’t wait to start the season.”
Sveiki, Rokas! 👋
Jokubaitis was the 34th overall selection in the 2021 NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Knicks acquired his rights along with Miles McBride (36th overall pick) in exchange for Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (32nd overall pick).
The 23-year-old Jokubaitis spent the last three seasons with Barcelona, where he was named the Euroleague Rising Star in 2022 and won the Spanish Cup championship. Jokubaitis and Barcelona agreed to part ways this summer as the Spanish ball club shifted their focus on Juan Nuñez, the 36th overall pick of the San Antonio Spurs in the last NBA Draft, for the upcoming season.
Rokas Jokubaitis’ NBA Summer League Stint
Jokubaitis made out of his opportunity this summer with the Knicks.
The 6-foot-4 Lithuanian guard averaged 9.8 points and 3.8 assists against 3.0 turnovers in 19.1 minutes off the bench for the Knicks in the 2024 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. He added 1.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals across five Summer League games.
“With years of maturity, experience I have from Europe, I think I’m ready,” Jokubaitis said in Las Vegas, via the New York Post. “And I would like to come here. … There are a lot of different things between this basketball and European basketball. Here, there’s not so much rules or play, just to feel your teammates.
“So it’s a good thing for me to know as many basketball [styles as possible]. European, American basketball, as many as possible because I don’t know where I’m going to play in my life.”
Knicks’ Crowded Backcourt
Unfortunately, the Knicks have no room for Jokubaitis in the upcoming season after acquiring Tyler Kolek, the 34th overall pick of the last NBA Draft, in a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers and signing veteran Cam Payne.
The rookie point guard and the nine-year veteran join McBride and All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson in the Knicks’ crowded backcourt.
Kolek started ahead of Jokubaitis in the NBA Summer League and was impressive enough to leapfrog Payne in the pecking order of the Knicks point guard heading into the training camp, according to SNY’s Ian Begley.
The crafty playmaker out of Marquette took the NBA Summer League by storm, averaging 7.0 assists per game, the most by any player who has played five games in the Las Vegas tournament this year. He also normed 9.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals for the Knicks.
However, Kolek will still have to fight for a regular rotation spot in the training camp and the preseason games.
“Will Kolek be in Tom Thibodeau’s rotation? I don’t know the answer to that question. You can certainly pencil in Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart and the Knicks’ yet-to-be-named backup center into Thibodeau’s rotation. Based on current projections after the Payne signing, Miles McBride is in the Knicks’ regular rotation. So to play Kolek, Thibodeau would need to expand his rotation to ten players,” Begley wrote.