VILNIUS (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) – Lithuania reshuffled their deck of cards ahead of FIBA EuroBasket 2017, as head coach Dainius Adomaitis presented a trimmed-down 18-player squad for training camp, with most of the key pieces in place.

The talent-rich cast of players features all four of the country's NBA-based players, headlined by Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas, who will be the national team's main building block going into the summer.

New York Knicks swingman Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Oklahoma City Thunder big man Domantas Sabonis have both given commitments to representing the country at FIBA EuroBasket 2017, and coach Adomaitis remains hopeful about the chances of New Orleans Pelicans power forward Donatas Motiejunas joining the side as well.

The 41-year-old national team playcaller had presented an extended 31-player-strong candidate list back in May, but was forced to make some adjustments after veterans Paulius Jankunas, Renaldas Seibutis and Antanas Kavaliauskas were ruled out of consideration.

"With Jonas Valanciunas at the center spot, I have no doubts he will be our leader and a lot of our game will revolve around him."Dainius AdomaitisDainius Adomaitis

"The general health condition and injuries of some players after a strenuous season will prevent them from joining the team. As a result, we've decided to invite some new players to the training camp and see how they look in the context of the national team. That's the best we can do at this current point in time, but it is slightly different from what we would have wanted ideally," said Adomaitis in a press conference held in Vilnius on Friday morning.

The situation presents an opportunity to the 21-year-old Polpharma Starogard Gdanski center Martynas Sajus and 26-year-old Muratbey Usak Sportif big man Evaldas Kairys, who got their first call-up to the training camp.

"There were a lot of big men in the expanded list of candidates and we were looking forward to them competing for roster spots, but, as you can see, there's less of a competition in the training camp squad," Adomaitis explained.

With the impending free agency of Donatas Motiejunas in the NBA raising some question marks about the possible frontcourt rotation, the coach revealed he will be looking at possibly using more of the team's small forward wealth by bumping some of the players up a position at times.

"We have seen Jonas Maciulis, Mindaugas Kuzminskas play at the four in the past for the national team," said Adomaitis. "In general, the fiercest positional battle will be at the three. That's definitely our strongest position, especially in the number of excellent players. For example, we see that Edgaras Ulanovas has shown he can excel at the power forward position as well throughout the season with Zalgiris Kaunas."

Although there are a number of new faces on Lithuania's squad for FIBA EuroBasket 2017, a large portion of last year's Rio 2016 squad will also be present this summer as well with 7 returning players.

"There are some new players, some were with the team last year. Every coach has his own vision of what to do. It's no secret to anyone what our strengths are and we'll do our best to play to them," the coach said. "With Jonas Valanciunas at the center spot, I have no doubts he will be our leader and a lot of our game will revolve around him."

Lithuania will play the Group Phase of FIBA EuroBasket 2017 in Israel, where they will form the Tel Aviv-based Group B with Georgia, Germany, Italy, Ukraine and the hosts Israel.

FIBA