Darius Songaila

Early years

Songaila started his basketball career with Lietuvos rytas Marijampolė in second-tier Lithuanian league, the LKAL in 1995. In 1997, he moved to the United States where he attended the New Hampton School in New Hampton, New Hampshire. Songaila played the Nike Hoop Summit in 1998. He was also named to the All-European Under-22 Championship Second Team.

College career

Darius Songaila played college basketball at Wake Forest University. He was named Third Team All-ACC in 2000 and Second Team All-ACC in 2002. He was also named Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press as a senior.

Professional 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.

He joined CSKA Moscow for the 2002–03 season and won the Russian Basketball Super League. He signed with the Kings in June 2003, and averaged 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds in 154 games (28 starts) 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 over five years. 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.

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.

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. Songaila had career lows with the 76ers, notably in points (1.6 ppg). With the 2010–11 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.

In March 2012, several weeks after leaving Galatasaray, Songaila signed with Blancos de Rueda Valladolid. Later that year, he signed with BC Donetsk.

On October 8, 2013, he signed with Lietuvos rytas Vilnius for one season. On July 22, 2014, he signed a one-year deal with Žalgiris Kaunas.

At the end of the 2014–15 season, he retired from the professional basketball.

Coaching career

On August 5, 2015, Songaila was appointed as an assistant coach for Žalgiris Kaunas.

In August 2018, he became a quality assurance assistant in the video department for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In September 2019, Songaila was promoted to a player development assistant. In November 2020, Songaila was promoted to assistant coach.

On November 1, 2024, he signed with Manisa Basket of Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL), as an assistant coach to Kazys Maksvytis.

In 2025, Songaila was the head coach of the Lithuania under-20 team that won silver medals in the 2025 FIBA U20 EuroBasket.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

|- | 73 || 7 || 13.4 || .487 || .000 || .807 || 3.1 || .7 || .6 || .2 || 4.6 |- | 81 || 21 || 20.6 || .527 || .000 || .847 || 4.2 || 1.4 || .6 || .2 || 7.5 |- | 62 || 7 || 21.4 || .481 || .400 || .817 || 4.0 || 1.4 || .6 || .3 || 9.2 |- | 37 || 1 || 18.9 || .524 || .000 || .852 || 3.6 || 1.0 || .5 || .3 || 7.6 |- | 80 || 13 || 19.4 || .458 || .000 || .918 || 3.4 || 1.7 || .7 || .2 || 6.2 |- | 77 || 29 || 19.8 || .532 || .000 || .889 || 2.9 || 1.2 || .8 || .3 || 7.4 |- | 75 || 1 || 18.8 || .494 || .167 || .811 || 3.1 || .9 || .8 || .2 || 7.2 |- | 10 || 0 || 7.1 || .467 || .000 || .500 || 1.0 || 0.2 || .0 || .0 || 1.6 |- class="sortbottom" | 495 || 79 || 18.6 || .499 || .158 || .844 || 3.4 || 1.2 || .7 || .2 || 6.9

Playoffs

|- | 7 || 0 || 12.1 || .625 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.9 || .3 || .0 || .1 || 3.7 |- | 5 || 0 || 15.0 || .421 || .000 || .800 || 2.8 || .6 || .4 || .2 || 4.0 |- | 4 || 0 || 22.5 || .488 || .000 || 1.000 || 3.3 || 1.0 || .8 || .0 || 10.8 |- | 5 || 0 || 15.4 || .421 || .000 || .867 || 2.6 || .8 || .2 || .0 || 5.8 |- class="sortbottom" | 21 || 0 || 15.6 || .484 || .000 || .897 || 2.5 || .6 || .3 || .1 || 5.6

EuroLeague

|- | 18 || 16 || 21.6 || .475 || .286 || .847 || 3.9 || 1.1 || .6 || .2 || 12.8 || 10.8 |- | 10 || 10 || 15.3 || .455 || .000 || .714 || 2.8 || .4 || .4 || .0 || 6.5 || 3.3 |- | 10 || 8 || 21.9 || .473 || .000 || .667 || 4.8 || 1.3 || .7 || .1 || 8.2 || 8.0 |- | 24 || 2 || 14.5 || .492 || .000 || .778 || 2.5 || .9 || .6 || .1 || 5.8 || 4.5 |- class="sortbottom"

State awards

• Lithuania: Recipient of the Commander's Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (2001)
• Lithuania: Recipient of the Commander's Grand Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania (2003)
• Lithuania: Recipient of the Commander's Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (2007)

References

References

1. link. (January 11, 2014 , krepsinis.net {{in lang). lt
2. "NBA Draft Board". nba.com.
3. (September 23, 2005). "Bulls sign free agent forward Songaila".
4. (July 17, 2006). "Agent: Songaila signs 5-year, $23M deal with Wizards".
5. (June 24, 2009). "Source: Foye, Miller head to Wiz".
6. (September 9, 2009). "HORNETS ACQUIRE SONGAILA, BROWN FROM TIMBERWOLVES". [[NBA.com]].
7. (September 23, 2010). "Rookie Craig Brackins traded to 76ers".
8. [http://www.euroleague.net/news/i/86586/180/galatasaray-lands-big-man-songaila Galatasaray lands big man Songaila]
9. [http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=10839 Darius Songaila signs in Ukraine]
10. lt
11. "Zalgiris Kaunas announces Songaila". Euroleague.net.
12. (June 7, 2015). "Darius Songaila baigia profesionalaus krepšininko karjerą". ve.lt.
13. (August 5, 2015). "Suformuotas Kauno "Žalgirio" trenerių štabas – su Dariumi Songaila ir Šarūnu Jasikevičiumi". 15min.lt.
14. (August 5, 2015). "Songaila Calls It A Day, Turns To Coaching". FIBA Europe.
15. (August 5, 2015). "Zalgiris names Saras head coach through 2018". Euroleague.net.
16. (August 26, 2018). "Darius Songaila announces he's set to start work in player development for Spurs".
17. (September 20, 2019). "Spurs announce coaching staff additions, basketball operations promotions".
18. (November 12, 2020). "Spurs promote from within for Tim Duncan replacement".
19. "Darius Songaila Manisa Basket'te".
20. "Songaila paskelbė 20-mečių rinktinės dvyliktuką".
21. (July 20, 2025). "Italy overcome Lithuania to claim FIBA U20 EuroBasket 2025 title".
22. "Darius Songaila".