Popovic will move to Turkey already tomorrow and will meet his former Euroleague opponents then.
"I've read, that Bojan will already be in Istanbul tomorrow. We'll continue working without him," said head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis.
It was revealed that Lietuvos Rytas are in negotiations with the club's former player Hollis Price, but the coach wasn't sure whether his arrival is a done deal.
"How will the game change? It's hard to predict, we'll have to start everything from the beginning," Kurtinaitis said.
The coach of Lietuvos Rytas has already had some time to know two new players that arrived to the club just recently. Jonas Valanciunas and Kenan Bajramovic are training with the team from Monday and Kurtinaitis was left with a good impression.
"Both of them are very good players, I'm happy that they've joined the club. Valanciunas needs to be worked with, he's a very good prospect. Bajramovic is a top-class player, but we have doubts about his physical condition. He was working alone and it's not the same as working with the team," Kurtinaitis explained.
The club's management decided to keep Australian center Aron Baynes in the club. Despite talks about interest shown by a Spanish club, the club from Vilnius made a decision to leave Baynes on the roster.
After being asked whether Valanciunas would get enough playing time with Baynes, Bajramovic and Milko Bjelica in the team's squad, Kurtinaitis was strict but fair.
"I won't promise him anything. Only by getting into Lietuvos Rytas, he was given a big chance. Just as I did in Zalgiris when I was young, Jonas will have to prove that he's capable of playing well with hard work. If he plays well, he might get all 40 minutes. If not - he won't play at all," said the coach.
According to Kurtinaitis, the player will have to train individually with assistant coaches Robertas Kuncaitis and Arvydas Gronskis.
