National League champion Salmiņš gets chance at Estonian club Keila Basket
Latvian basketball player Pēteris Salmiņš, who won the National League title with RSU last season, will play for Estonia's Keila Basket next season. A new rule in the Latvian-Estonian league means Latvian players at Estonian clubs are no longer counted as legionnaires.
Estonian basketball club Keila Basket has strengthened its roster by signing 25-year-old Latvian player Pēteris Salmiņš. Last season he helped Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) claim the Latvian National League championship title.
During the past season, Salmiņš appeared in 31 National League games, averaging 10.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. The RSU team, coached by Māris Gulbis, won the title convincingly and also achieved a notable feat in the Latvian Basketball Cup, where the lower-division club eliminated top-league side Latvijas Universitāte.
Salmiņš previously played at the Latvian-Estonian league level for Liepāja during the 2021/2022 season, and before that represented VEF Rīga.
New rule for Latvian players
Starting this coming season, the Latvian-Estonian league will apply a new rule under which one Latvian basketball player at an Estonian club will no longer count as a legionnaire. Besides Salmiņš, Klāvs Dubults and Rinalds Mālmanis have also signed with Estonian clubs — Dubults will play for Pärnu, while Mālmanis joins Estonia's traditional flagship club, which will compete next season under the name Bigbank/Kalev.
Meanwhile, an Estonian player is returning to a Latvian club after a longer absence, as Kristens Kasemets will play for Ventspils next season.
