Neptunas duo Butkevicius and Girdziunas heading to Lietuvos Rytas; Lietkabelis part ways with Stalbergs

Three leading Betsafe LKL clubs were involved in big shake-ups over the weekend, with Neptunas losing two national team players to Lietuvos Rytas and Lietkabelis parting ways with their Latvian coach Arturs Stalbergs.

The second-placed Neptunas were met with unexpected news of Arnas Butkevicius and Mindaugas Girdziunas leaving the team to join one of the team's main rivals from Vilnius, signing long-term deals.

Butkevicius, second in the league in efficiency, was inked for three and a half seasons, while Girdziunas will wear a Lietuvos Rytas jersey for a minimum of two and a half years.

Meanwhile, Lietkabelis decided to fire their head coach Stalbergs after the team suffered their third consecutive defeat in the Betsafe LKL, dropping to fourth place after an 88-74 loss to Vytautas.

The club announced that Ukrainian specialist Vitaliy Cherniy will be the caretaker while they search for a full-time replacement.