The Indiana Pacers have secured the signing of one of Europe's leading talents.

Lithuanian guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, the former Maccabi Tel Aviv and Barcelona star, has agreed to join the Pacers whose president and chief executive officer Donnie Walsh has confirmed the deal, the first since the NBA lifted the moratorium on transfers on Tuesday.

"We've made an agreement with him. We have a deal," Walsh told pacers.com.

		Sarunas Jasikevicius

"It's big in Europe, there's no doubt about that. And I think within the NBA, there are a lot of teams that have high regard for Sarunas.

"From our standpoint, he's a perfect fit for our team. He complements the players we have on the team now and I think can really be a great addition in a lot of areas - shooting, passing, competitiveness, professionalism.

This is the best player in Europe."

Jasikevicius was quoted from an interview with the website Tzehevet.co.il, and said he had chosen the Pacers as he felt he could win in Indiana.

"Ultimately, I felt like Indiana would be a winning situation right away," he said. "I wanted to try to go in there in a winning situation with a very experienced coach, a lot of experienced players and a really experienced organisation."

The 29-year-old 190cm guard played college basketball at the University of Maryland before returning to Europe, where he has played for Lietuvos rytas Vilnius and BC Olimpija Ljubljana before moving to Barcelona.

He is expected in Indianapolis in the next 10 days to sign a three-year contract.