Paulius Valinskas (born 9 December 1995) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for FMP of the

Basketball League of Serbia The Basketball League of Serbia ( sr, Кошаркашка лига Србије, Košarkaška liga Srbije; abbr. КЛС or KLS), is a top-tier men's professional basketball league in Serbia. Founded in 2006, it is run by the Basketball Federat ...

and the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Ma ...

. He is a 1.91 m (6'3") 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' ...

Early career

During the 2015–16 season with

BC Žalgiris-2 BC Žalgiris-2 is the reserve team of the professional basketball club Žalgiris Kaunas. The club is based in Kaunas, Lithuania. The team currently competes in the Lithuanian second division ''Nacionalinė Krepšinio Lyga''. They play their hom ...

, Valinskas won the National Basketball League silver medals losing to

BC Sūduva BC most often refers to: * Before Christ, a calendar era based on the traditionally reckoned year of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth * British Columbia, the westernmost province of Canada * Baja California, a state of Mexico BC may also refer to: ...

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. On November 3, 2017, during an away game against

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) 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 a central piece ...

, Valinskas scored a career high 11 points, making 3 of his 4 three-pointers. On August 6, 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 August 2, 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 French Pro A Lea ...

of the

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league ...

. On August 12, 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, for sponsorship reasons the betFirst 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 DBL and PBL. The inaugural s ...

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

and the

References

External links

Paulius Valinskas
at euroleague.net
Paulius Valinskas
at LKL.lt {{DEFAULTSORT:Valinskas, Paulius 1995 births Living people ABA League players 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 FMP players Okapi Aalstar players Orléans Loiret Basket players Point guards Basketball players from Kaunas