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Darius Songaila Wants To Return To The NBA, According To Report

According to a story from lrytas.lt that was picked up by Yahoo!, former Washington Wizard and Lithuanian Olympic basketball team member Darius Songaila is hoping to return to the NBA as essentially an end of bench player next year. Notably, he mentions a desire to be closer to his daughter, who resides in the United States, as his primary motivation. Songaila last played in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers and is under a short-term contract with Ukraine's BC Donetsk.

Songaila's hardly a good player at this point in his career, but he could conceivably help a team as a pick and pop option who can pass from the high post. However, his subpar athleticism and rebounding made him at best a rotation player in his prime, and with his 35th birthday coming up this season, he'll be fighting an uphill battle against Father Time if he hopes to make an NBA roster. While Washington's depth in the frontcourt makes it an unlikely home for the veteran power forward, there are a few teams, most notably the Celtics, Lakers, and Clippers, that could use another big man who can shoot and knows where to be on defense. The current NBA collective bargaining agreement provides teams with incentives to sign tenured players, too, so it's not inconceivable that we all get a chance to watch him score for the wrong team one last time.