Antanas Kavaliauskas

One of the nicer surprises of this camp, Antanas Kavaliauskas pulled off a feat we see a few times every year seemingly, having a much stronger showing at the Orlando pre-draft camp than against the weaker competition found at Portsmouth.

A Lithuanian born player through and through, Kavaliauskas combines a nice shooting touch with the rugged tough-nosed mentality his countrymates are known for to make his presence felt on the basketball floor despite not being the most naturally talented player on the floor. He kicks, fights and scraps his way to plenty of rebounds (6 per game in 23 minutes per) and loose balls, throwing his body around and not being afraid of a cheap shot or two to gain the slight advantage he needs to get what he wants.

Playing alongside two excellent point guards in Jared Jordan and Taurean Green, Kavaliauskas took full advantage, playing the pick and roll or pick and pop nicely to finish efficiently around the basket or step outside to the elbow and knock down a shot.

His efforts here probably won’t get him drafted, but he at the very least will get some serious summer league love and a couple of six-figure offers from Europe thanks to his Bosman status.

The only difference between this game and the last two was a couple of shots not falling. Kavaliauskas really turned heads with his opportunistic, skilled play here. This was after a disappointing Portsmouth camp, but there is still some nice buzz on the former Aggie. Much like fellow Orlando standout Jared Dudley, Kavaliauskas is your consummate role-player – he doesn’t need touches, he passes and defends well, and can shoot it from the outside. Range on his jumper is one area he can continue to improve on, and it remains unclear if the NBA is in his immediate future. But there can be no denying that Kavaliauskas has made himself a lot of money here this week, no matter what league he ends up playing in.

After struggling at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, Antanas Kavaliauskas has bounced back nicely and strung together a pretty impressive tournament for himself so far. He’s shown some incredible toughness throwing his body around in the post, crashing the glass and dishing out plenty of pain to anyone that’s tried to get in his way. He’s also looked very smart and opportunistic with the way he moves off the ball and plays off the terrific point guard duo of Taurean Green and Jared Jordan he benefits from playing next to, setting screens and rolling towards the basket or stepping out to the elbow to knock down an easy mid-range jumper. At the very least Kavaliauskas has earned himself a few summer league invites and a lot of affection from the many European scouts who will surely covet his Lithuanian passport.

Antanas Kavaliauskas had a solid showing despite the underwhelming box-score. He hustled pretty hard in the 23 minutes he played, coming up with 8 points and 7 rebounds for his efforts, and a couple of floor burns from hitting the deck diving for loose balls. His post-up game looked underdeveloped, but on one occasion he made a very nice move throwing a jab-step at his man and then spinning into the paint to finish with an acrobatic underhand scoop, and 1. A solid effort from the Lithuanian, who clearly has to be drawing the interest of the many European scouts and GMs here in attendance.