- Darius Songaila
-
Darius Songaila
Songaila grabbing a rebound, playing for the Wizards.Position Power forward/Center Height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) Weight 248 lb (112 kg) League Turkish Basketball League
EuroleagueTeam Galatasaray Medical Park Number 25 Born February 14, 1978
Kapsukas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet UnionNationality Lithuanian
College Wake Forest Draft 2nd round, 50th overall, 2002
Boston CelticsPro career 2002–present Career history CSKA Moscow (2002-03)
Sacramento Kings (2003-05)
Chicago Bulls (2005-06)
Washington Wizards (2006-09)
New Orleans Hornets (2009-10)
Philadelphia 76ers (2010-11)
Galatasaray (2011-present)Olympic medal record Men's Basketball Competitor for Lithuania
Bronze 2000 Lithuania European Championships Gold 2003 Sweden National team Bronze 2007 Spain National team Darius Songaila (born February 14, 1978) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player. He is also a member of the Lithuania national team. He can play power forward and center positions. He currently plays for Galatasaray Medical Park[1] in Turkey.
Contents
Early years
Songaila attended the New Hampton School in New Hampton, New Hampshire. He played the Nike Hoop Summit in 1998. He was also named to the All-European Under-22 Championship 2nd Team.
College career
Songaila played college basketball at Wake Forest University. He was named 3rd Team All-ACC in 2000 and 2nd-Team All-ACC in 2002. He was also named Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press as a senior.
Pro career
Songaila was selected with the 50th pick of the 2002 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics, who eventually dealt his rights to the Sacramento Kings.[2]
He joined CSKA Moscow for the 2002–03 season and won the Russian Basketball Super League.
Songaila signed with the Kings in June 2003. He averaged 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds in 154 games (28 starts) with the Kings over two seasons.
Songaila signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Bulls in September 2005. He had his most successful season yet with the Bulls, averaging 9.2 points and 4.0 rebounds in 62 games (7 starts). However, he suffered an ankle injury in March 2006 and missed the final 20 games.
On July 17, 2006, Songaila signed with the Washington Wizards. The deal reportedly was worth 23 million dollars over five years.[3] He missed the first 45 games after a surgery for a herniated disc and averaged 7.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 37 games (1 start).
Songaila eventually became a big part of the Wizards' bench and an occasional starter. He averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 2007–08. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Songaila became a starter because of the injuries suffered by teammates Brendan Haywood and Andray Blatche. He started a career-high 29 games and averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds.
On June 23, 2009, he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves along with Oleksiy Pecherov, Etan Thomas, and a first-round draft pick for Randy Foye and Mike Miller.[4]
On September 9, 2009, he was traded to the New Orleans Hornets along with Bobby Brown in exchange for Antonio Daniels and a 2014 second-round pick.[5]
On September 23, 2010, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers along with rookie forward Craig Brackins in exchange for Willie Green and Jason Smith.[6] Songaila had career lows with the 76ers, notably in points (1.6 ppg). With the 2010-2011 NBA season coming to an end, he became an unrestricted free agent.
In July 2011 he signed a one-year contract with Galatasaray in Turkey worth $1.5 million.[7]
NBA career statistics
Legend GP Games played GS Games started MPG Minutes per game FG% Field-goal percentage 3P% 3-point field-goal percentage FT% Free-throw percentage RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 2003–04 Sacramento 73 7 13.4 .487 .000 .807 3.1 .7 .6 .2 4.6 2004–05 Sacramento 81 21 20.6 .527 .000 .847 4.2 1.4 .6 .2 7.5 2005–06 Chicago 62 7 21.4 .481 .400 .817 4.0 1.4 .6 .3 9.2 2006–07 Washington 37 1 18.9 .524 .000 .852 3.6 1.0 .5 .3 7.6 2007–08 Washington 80 13 19.4 .458 .000 .918 3.4 1.7 .7 .2 6.2 2008–09 Washington 77 29 19.8 .532 .000 .889 2.9 1.2 .8 .3 7.4 2009–10 New Orleans 75 1 18.8 .494 .167 .811 3.1 .9 .8 .2 7.2 2010–11 Philadelphia 10 0 7.1 .467 .0 .500 1.0 0.2 .0 .0 1.6 Career 495 79 18.6 .499 .158 .844 3.4 1.2 .6 .2 6.9 Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 2003–04 Sacramento 7 0 12.1 .625 .000 1.000 1.9 .3 .0 .1 3.7 2004–05 Sacramento 5 0 15.0 .421 .000 .800 2.8 .6 .4 .2 4.0 2006–07 Washington 4 0 22.5 .488 .000 1.000 3.3 1.0 .8 .0 10.8 2007–08 Washington 5 0 15.4 .421 .000 .867 2.6 .8 .2 .0 5.8 Career 21 0 15.6 .484 .000 .897 2.5 .6 .3 .1 5.6 References
- ^ Darius Songaila Signs with Galatasaray
- ^ "NBA Draft Board". nba.com. http://www.nba.com/draft2002/board/index.html. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
- ^ "Agent: Songaila signs 5-year, $23M deal with Wizards". http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2522205.
- ^ "Source: Foye, Miller head to Wiz". 2009-06-24. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4282279. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
- ^ "HORNETS ACQUIRE SONGAILA, BROWN FROM TIMBERWOLVES". NBA.com. 2009-09-09. http://www.nba.com/hornets/news/hornets_acquire_songaila_brow_2009_09_09.html. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ^ "Rookie Craig Brackins traded to 76ers". 2010-09-23. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5607517. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
- ^ Galatasaray lands big man Songaila
External links
- Player profile @ NBA.com
Lithuania squad – 2000 Summer Olympics – Bronze medal 4 Jasikevičius | 5 Marčiulionis | 6 Timinskas | 7 Štombergas | 8 Šiškauskas | 9 Giedraitis | 10 Adomaitis | 11 Žukauskas | 12 Masiulis | 13 Maskoliūnas | 14 Einikis | 15 Songaila | Coach: Kazlauskas2002 NBA Draft First round Yao Ming · Jay Williams · Mike Dunleavy, Jr. · Drew Gooden · Nikoloz Tskitishvili · Dajuan Wagner · Maybyner "Nenê" Hilario · Chris Wilcox · Amar'e Stoudemire · Caron Butler · Jared Jeffries · Melvin Ely · Marcus Haislip · Fred Jones · Boštjan Nachbar · Jiří Welsch · Juan Dixon · Curtis Borchardt · Ryan Humphrey · Kareem Rush · Qyntel Woods · Casey Jacobsen · Tayshaun Prince · Nenad Krstić · Frank Williams · John Salmons · Chris Jefferies · Dan Dickau
Second round Steve Logan · Roger Mason · Robert Archibald · Vincent Yarbrough · Dan Gadzuric · Carlos Boozer · Miloš Vujanić · David Andersen · Tito Maddox · Rod Grizzard · Juan Carlos Navarro · Mario Kasun · Ronald Murray · Jason Jennings · Lonny Baxter · Sam Clancy · Matt Barnes · Jamal Sampson · Chris Owens · Peter Fehse · Darius Songaila · Federico Kammerichs · Marcus Taylor · Rasual Butler · Tamar Slay · Mladen Šekularac · Luis Scola · Randy Holcomb · Corsley Edwards
Lithuania squad – EuroBasket 2003 – gold medal 4 Gustas | 5 M.Žukauskas | 6 Macijauskas | 7 Štombergas | 8 Šiškauskas | 9 Songaila | 10 Slanina | 11 E.Žukauskas | 12 K.Lavrinovič | 13 Jasikevičius | 14 Šalenga | 15 Praškevičius | Coach: SireikaLithuania squad – 2004 Summer Olympics – 4th place 4 Ginevičius | 5 Žukauskas | 6 Macijauskas | 7 Štombergas | 8 Šiškauskas | 9 Songaila | 10 Slanina | 11 Žukauskas | 12 Lavrinovič | 13 Jasikevičius | 14 Šalenga | 15 Javtokas | Coach: SireikaLithuania squad – 2006 FIBA World Championship – 7th place 4 Delininkaitis | 5 Žukauskas | 6 Macijauskas | 7 D. Lavrinovič | 8 Gustas | 9 Songaila | 10 Kalnietis | 11 Kleiza | 12 K. Lavrinovič | 13 Jasaitis | 14 Jankūnas | 15 Javtokas | Coach: SireikaLithuania squad – EuroBasket 2007 – Bronze medal 4 Kaukėnas | 5 Gustas | 6 Mačiulis | 7 D.Lavrinovič | 8 Šiškauskas | 9 Songaila | 10 Jasaitis | 11 Kleiza | 12 K.Lavrinovič | 13 Jasikevičius | 14 Jankūnas | 15 Javtokas | Coach: ButautasLithuania squad – EuroBasket 2011 – 5th place 4 Kaukėnas | 5 Kalnietis | 6 Delininkaitis | 7 Pocius | 8 Jankūnas | 9 Songaila | 10 Jasaitis | 11 Valančiūnas | 12 Lavrinovič | 13 Jasikevičius | 14 Petravičius | 15 Javtokas | Coach: KemzūraGalatasaray - current roster Categories:- 1978 births
- Living people
- Lithuanian basketball players
- Lithuanian expatriate basketball people in the United States
- Lithuanian expatriates in Russia
- Olympic basketball players of Lithuania
- Boston Celtics draft picks
- Chicago Bulls players
- PBC CSKA Moscow players
- Sacramento Kings players
- Washington Wizards players
- Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Olympic bronze medalists for Lithuania
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball players
- Power forwards (basketball)
- Eurobasket-winning players
- New Orleans Hornets players
- Philadelphia 76ers players
- Olympic medalists in basketball
- Galatasaray men's basketball players
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