Paulius Valinskas (born 9 December 1995) is a Lithuanian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for Borac Čačak of the

Basketball League of Serbia The Basketball League of Serbia (), commonly abbreviated as KLS, is a Serbian basketball league system, top-tier men's professional basketball Sports league, league in Serbia. Founded in 2006. It is currently not run by the Basketball Federation o ...

and the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedoni ...

. He is a tall

combo guard A combo guard is a basketball player who combines the attributes of a point guard (1) and shooting guard (2), but does not necessarily fit the standard description of either position. In men's basketball, such guards are usually within the 6' 3" ...

Early career

During the 2015–16 season with BC Žalgiris-2, Valinskas won the National Basketball League silver medals after losing to BC Sūduva in the final. He averaged 14.5 points and 3.2 assists in 29 minutes of action and got the 2015–16 Most Improved Player Award.

Professional career

After a breakout season with Žalgiris-2, Valinskas was invited into the main Žalgiris team in the summer of 2016. During his first two years, he saw little playing time. In the 2017–18 season, he averaged 4.7 points in the LKL and 2.8 points in the

Euroleague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. On 3 November 2017, during an away game against

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

, Valinskas scored a career high 11 points, making 3 of his 4 three-pointers. On 6 August 2018, Valinskas was loaned to Lietkabelis Panevėžys. In 55 games played during the season (both in the LKL and the Champions League), Valinskas averaged 11.9 points, 3.3 assists and 2.6 rebounds, shooting 46% from the field overall. On 2 August 2019, he went on loan to French club

Orléans Loiret Basket Orléans Loiret Basket, formerly known as Entente Orléanaise and Entente Orléanaise 45 Loiret, is a professional basketball club that is based in the city of Orléans, France. "45" is the number of Loiret. The club plays in the LNB Pro B, French ...

of the

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

. On 12 August 2021, Valinskas signed with

Okapi Aalst Okapi Aalst is a Belgian professional basketball club from Aalst, Belgium. The club competes in the top tier BNXT League and plays its home games in the Okapi Forum, which has a seating capacity of 2,800 people. Okapi is a long-time participant ...

of the Belgian

BNXT League The BNXT League is a professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. The league is the first tier in both the Dutch and Belgian system, replacing the Dutch Basketball League, DBL and Pro Basketball League, PBL. The inaugural season ...

. On 4 August 2022, Valinskas signed a two-year contract for FMP of the

and the

. On 13 April 2023, he mutually parted ways with the Serbian club. In 21 games played, he averaged 14.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. On 9 September 2023, Valinskas returned to Lietkabelis Panevėžys for a third stint, signing a one-year contract. He parted ways with the club on 30 April 2024. On 12 July 2024, Valinskas was announced as the new player of KK Borac Mozzart.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;"rowspan=2, Žalgiris , 5 , , 0 , , 1.7 , , .667 , , .000 , , .100 , , .0 , , .4 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.2 , , 1.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , 25 , , 1 , , 8.9 , , .371 , , .310 , , .750 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .2 , , .0 , , 2.6 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 30 , , 1 , , 7.45 , , .519 , , .310 , , .673 , , 1.9 , , 2.3 , , .4 , , .0 , , 2.5 , , 2.3

EuroCup

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , style="text-align:left;"rowspan=2, Lietkabelis , 9 , , 7 , , 26.1 , , .425 , , .455 , , .667 , , 2.2 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , .0 , , 11.0 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , 7 , , 5 , , 26.1 , , .509 , , .483 , , .774 , , 1.6 , , 3.8 , , .3 , , .0 , , 13.1 , , 10.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 16 , , 12 , , 26.9 , , .466 , , .468 , , .727 , , 1.9 , , 2.5 , , .4 , , .0 , , 11.9 , , 8.7

References

External links

Paulius Valinskas
at euroleaguebasketball.net
Paulius Valinskas
at lkl.lt
Paulius Valinskas
at realgm.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Valinskas, Paulius 1995 births Living people 21st-century Lithuanian sportsmen ABA League players Basketball players from Kaunas BC Lietkabelis players BC Žalgiris players BC Žalgiris-2 players Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Belgium Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in France Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in Serbia Lithuanian men's basketball players KK Borac Čačak players KK FMP players Okapi Aalstar players Orléans Loiret Basket players Point guards Shooting guards