Magic forward Ignas Brazdeikis will debut for Lithuanian national team / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: RS - Scanpix Credit RS - Scanpix

The promise given to head coach Kazys Maksvytis has come to fruition. Orlando Magic forward Ignas Brazdeikis is coming to the Lithuanian national team's training camp and will play for the squad during friendly games and the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.

3-pointers this season

36%8,5Points made:8,5Accuracy:35,8%Place in standings:2Record max:11Record min:6Most made 3FGs:Osvaldas OlisevičiusTeamFIBA WC QStatisticsSchedule

"I want to play, and I will play for Lithuania," Brazdeikis said during a meeting with Maksvytis back in his home in Orlando.

Brazdeikis was born in Lithuania but spent his years growing up in Canada, and has a Canadian passport. It took almost two years for the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LKF) to sort out the bureaucratic details behind his transfer that allowed him to play for Lithuania.

Brazdeikis had already played for Canada in the 2015 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship and 2016 Under-17 FIBA World Cup for Canada, hence, not only a change in citizenship but also a FIBA grant was needed.

The official FIBA confirmation that allows Brazdeikis to play for Lithuania reached the Lithuanian Basketball Federation this week.

"We are happy to get the final FIBA confirmation and approval for Ignas Brazdeikis to play for the Lithuanian men's national team," LKF secretary-general Mindaugas Balciunas told. "We hope Ignas will bring the much-needed talent."

"Ignas already has tickets to Lithuania, he will join the national team from the very beginning. His first game will be on June 26th in Siauliai," Balciunas concluded.

The Lithuanian national team will start its training camp on June 16th. The team will play four matches during the first stage of preparation for the upcoming EuroBasket - two friendly games and two FIBA World Cup Qualifiers games.

The national team will travel to Bulgaria to play the first of the two official games on July 1st. The second Qualifiers game will take place on July 4th back in Lithuania against the Czech Republic.

Brazdeikis has been in and out of the NBA during his first three years in the league.

Brazdeikis only played six matches in the G-League this year, averaging 20.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists for the Lakeland Magic.

The Lithuanian forward played 42 games in the NBA this past season, averaging 5.0 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists for the Magic.

Thank you for reading us! Help us even more.