Rokas Jokubaitis: Knicks draftee to miss NBA Summer League / News - Basketnews.com

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The New York Knicks draftee Rokas Jokubaitis will miss the Las Vegas summer league, per BasketNews sources.

Free throws this season

74%18,0Points made:18,0Accuracy:74,4%Place in standings:6Record max:32Record min:5Most made FTs:Julius RandleTeamNBAStatisticsSchedule

A 21-year-old FC Barcelona guard underwent ear surgery after the Spanish league finals.

Jokubaitis will miss a few weeks of action to fully recover for the EuroBasket 2022, where he's expected to be a primary point guard for Lithuania national team.

The 2022 Las Vegas Summer League will take place from July 7-17. The Knicks selected Jokubaitis with the 34th pick in the 2021 NBA draft.

The Lithuanian playmaker stayed in Europe for the 2021-22 season and won the EuroLeague Rising Star Trophy.

He averaged 7.1 points (2FG: 56.1%; 3FG: 56.8%), 1.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists for FC Barcelona, which finished third in the EuroLeague.

"All those individual awards indeed bring the attention over there," Jokubaitis told BasketNews during the EuroLeague Final Four three weeks ago. "I think [Knicks] people seeing me winning the Rising Star award gives them more excitement than just simple game highlights. This award won't make things worse, that's for sure."

Jokubaitis is expected to remain in Europe one more year unless his draft rights are traded or the Knicks will call him to the NBA for the next season.

"It's very likely that I'll stay in Barcelona for one more year, so I will try to impress them [Knicks] even more," Jokubaitis added in an interview.

In the strongest domestic league in Europe, Jokubaitis averaged 7.3 points (2FG: 53.2%; 3FG: 40.9%), 1.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in less than 17 minutes.

"I think he surprised everybody. He's been huge for us all season, and we needed that this season. He works really hard on the court, and he's a great guy," Barcelona point guard Nick Calathes told BasketNews.

"We love having him here, and we love playing with him. For me, especially in every game and practice. The maturity stands out for me the most. He plays like he's 30 years old. That's how much he knows the game, and his mentality at such age is very impressive," added the former Memphis Grizzlies point guard.

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