Report: Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis to miss U20 championship due to possible surgery

Arizona Wildcats forward Azuolas Tubelis might require wrist surgery, which would prevent him from playing with the Lithuanian under-20 team this summer in the FIBA U20 European Championship, the national team announced, according to Lithuanian reporter Marius Milasius.

Tubelis averaged 13.9 points and 6.2 rebounds on 54% shooting per game for Arizona this past season as a sophomore.

He was a prominent rotation player for the Wildcats last year despite suffering an ankle injury on Jan. 20 before getting back into the swing of things. Tubelis played 19 minutes per game in the Wildcats’ three NCAA Tournament games.

It is unclear when the wrist injury took place, but Tubelis struggled mightily in the postseason, turning the ball over 10 times and shooting 8-of-22 in the three NCAA Tournament outings.

Tubelis and point guard Kerr Kriisa will likely be taking on a larger roles for Arizona with Bennedict Mathurin, Dalen Terry and Christian Koloko all sticking in the 2022 NBA Draft this month.

Krepsinis.et reported that Azuolas was in his home country, where he has been a phenom in previous national tournaments.

The decision for Tubelis to get surgery came from Lithuanian doctors as well as his mom, who will be making sure he is ready for his upcoming junior season, according to a translation of the website.

Tubelis was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team in 2020-21 and received All-Pac-12 honorable mention before earning First Team All Pac-12 honors as a sophomore.