in the finals 3–0. 2021–22 Since a lot of players from last year left (Thomas Walkup, Nigel Hayes, Patricio Garino, Martinas Geben, Augustine Rubit, Rokas Jokubaitis, Marius Grigonis and Steve Vasturia), Žalgiris had to make a lot of moves in the off season. They loaned Tomas Dimša to De' Longhi Treviso and Paulius Murauskas to Kėdainių Nevėžis. They signed Tyler Cavanaugh, Niels Giffey, Mantas Kalnietis, Josh Nebo, Edgaras Ulanovas, Jānis Strēlnieks and Emmanuel Mudiay. They also extended the contract with Lukas Lekavičius (1+1). On paper, the team looked good. However, the performance on the court disappointed even the biggest of fans. Žalgiris lost all five pre-season games, playing seemingly worse each game. In the LKL, Žalgiris had one of the most difficult starts ever - while winning all three games, Žalgiris struggled even against the weakest of teams. After a 0–2 start in the Euroleague, Žalgiris fired coach Martin Schiller, replacing him with Jure Zdovc. Under Zdovc, things didn't really improve. Injuries to players like Lauvergne, Strelnieks, struggles even in the LKL, disappointing play from projected leaders like Mudiay resulted in the worst start ever for Žalgiris - an 0–9 start in the Euroleague. In the LKL, a loss to BC Rytas resulted in Žalgiris actually falling out of first place in the LKL. By November, Žalgiris released Mudiay, replacing him with point guard Tai Webster and also signed shooting guard Zoran Dragič. The moves backfired for Žalgiris - Webster struggled even in the LKL, and had a disappointing season in the Euroleague, while Dragič rarely saw playing time and was released by the end of the year. New signees like Regimantas Miniotas also saw limited playing time. Losses in the Euroleague resulted even in fans turning on the team and Žalgiris attendance fell to record lows. By February, Žalgiris, having suffered another 9 game losing streak, was in last 18th place with a disastrous 4–20 record. By March, Žalgiris largely started recovering, in particular thanks to the return of Joffrey Lauvergne from injury - including wins over Real Madrid and FC Barcelona at home in the Euroleague. Žalgiris also won the 2022 King Mindaugas Cup, beating BC Lietkabelis 91-66 in the finals, and was also the first team to refuse to play against Russian teams in the Euroleague (CSKA Moscow, Kazan Unics and Zenit St.Petersburg) due to the Russian invasion to Ukraine, even getting criticism in the Russian press