Rytas Vilnius has brought back its homegrown player—25-year-old, 202 cm tall forward Oskaras Pleikys returns to the capital after a year-and-a-half break. A two-year contract has been signed with the basketball player.
Pleikys is well known to the Vilnius basketball community, as he started his professional path in this club’s system. Back in the 2018–2019 season, he played for Perlas Vilnius in the National Basketball League (NKL) and represented the club’s youth team in the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament (ANGT). After successful years with other teams and diligent work in his hometown Klaipeda, Pleikys signed a contract with Rytas Vilnius in the summer of 2023.
It was with the capital’s club in the 2023–2024 season that he achieved the greatest victory of his career—becoming the champion of the LKL, which is sponsored by Betsson. To ensure the big man received more necessary playing time and a more significant role, the decision was made to loan him to CBet Jonava. The player spent the past 2025–2026 season with Siauliai, where he became one of the team leaders. Additionally, the basketball player has represented Lithuania through all youth national team levels and was recently included in the men’s national team reserve list.
“Oskaras returns to the team much stronger,” said club sporting director Arturas Jomantas. “The recent period in a different environment has been highly beneficial for him. In Siauliai, he proved that he can display stable, mature performance and successfully battle under the basket with the strongest LKL big men. We are pleased with his progress and have no doubt that he will successfully bring this competitiveness and accumulated experience to our team in the upcoming season.”
In the LKL championship, representing the Siauliai club, the big man played 34 games and averaged 26:36 minutes on the court. He averaged 11.97 points, 6.18 rebounds, 1.85 assists, 1.1 steals, and recorded a performance index rating of 14.62. The player played the most impressive game of his career on May 6, 2026, against Juventus Utena—in 32 minutes, he scored 25 points, converted 11 of 14 two-pointers, grabbed 13 rebounds (6 on the offensive glass), and recorded a 35 performance index rating.
“I made the decision to return very quickly, without needing much thought, which was driven by many factors, but the main one was my deep love for this club. Even when I was not a part of this team, I always supported it with all my heart. Leaving the club was certainly a difficult period, but the thought kept spinning in my mind that I had to return here,” said the returning Pleikys. “What I missed most was that incredible support from the fans. Playing significant minutes in Siauliai allowed me to showcase my abilities as a player. I believe that today I am at a completely different level than I was before this season. Of course, I believe I have a lot of potential and can prove it through hard work in the upcoming season.”