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nov 13 2026Matt Thomas won't be without a team for long. The American shooting guard, who terminated his contract with Unicaja on Friday, has reportedly agreed to join Rytas Vilnius through the end of the season, according to Lithuanian outlet Krepsinis.net. The club has yet to officially confirm the signing.
Staying in the BCL
If the deal closes, Thomas will continue playing in the Basketball Champions League, but now with the reigning champions. Rytas won its first title in May in Badalona, after rallying from 20 points down against AEK in a final decided in overtime. This season, the Lithuanian team is 3-1 in its group.
The Vilnius club wants to strengthen its perimeter game with a player who is, above all, a sharpshooter. Thomas proved that in the BCL with Unicaja: in his two games he averaged 11.5 points in roughly twelve minutes, and against Reggiana he scored 20 points with six three-pointers. In the Liga Endesa, however, he barely played due to Tyler Kalinoski's return and the non-EU player limit.
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A Well-Traveled Career
At 32 years old, Thomas has played two stints in the Liga Endesa. The first was with Obradoiro and Valencia Basket, with whom he won the EuroCup in 2019. Then came the NBA and the EuroLeague. Last season he started at Covirán Granada, where he was one of the league's best shooters, and in January he moved to Beşiktaş. If confirmed, Rytas will be his first team in Lithuania.
