Sarunas Jasikevicius reportedly rejected contract extension offer from Barcelona / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: ZUMAPRESS.com - Scanpix Credit ZUMAPRESS.com - Scanpix

According to Jose Ignacio Huguet of Mundo Deportivo, head coach of FC Barcelona Sarunas Jasikevicius was offered to renew his contract recently to guarantee his continuity with Barcelona beyond the summer of 2023.

3-pointers this season

35%9,6Points made:9,6Accuracy:35,3%Place in standings:3Record max:18Record min:1Most made 3FGs:Sergio LlullTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Jasikevicius has rejected this offer. According to the report, the Lithuanian coach was offered a reduced salary in exchange for more years on the contract, but the agreement of the renewal might still happen before the next season starts.

Jasikevicius signed a three-year contract with Barca in the summer of 2020. His arrival on the bench at Palau had an immediate impact and the team fell just short of winning everything in the 2020-21 campaign. They won the Spanish ACB League and Copa del Rey titles and finished second in the EuroLeague, losing the finals to Anadolu Efes Istanbul.

Before Jasikevicius joined the team, Barcelona have not won the Spanish ACB league or reached the EuroLeague Final Four since 2014.

This season was going in the same direction as well, with the Copa del Rey already in Barcelona's pocket and the team being first in both, EuroLeague and ACB's regular season.

However, that good progress went awry. The team notably lowered its performance in the final stretch of the season and ended up being beaten by Real Madrid in both, the EuroLeague semifinals and the ACB final.

Such an ending to the season has caused some criticism of Jasikevicius. However, both externally and internally, critics of Jasikevicius are a minority and the club seemingly continues to consider him the best coach for their project as the contract extension offer and confirmation that Jasikevicius is staying with Barcelona next season suggest.

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