Rockets deal Brad Miller, #23, 2013 MEM pick, $ for Jonny Flynn, Motiejunas, 2012 2nd

Thanks for the warm welcome, guys. Seems like a good forum for discussion so far.

Re Motie, my report on him was mostly positive since I like him and his skills. But obviously he's not a sure thing. His stamina is in question, as is his rebounding/defense. I think you may have to wait a few years before you start to see him really blossom. I think he has the mobility/athleticism to be a PF. He doesn't have the toughness/defense to be a Center [yet]. Which is actually a good thing if you can find a big, defensive center to put beside him. Those guys aren't easy to find, though. Pair Motie up with another offensive big man with questionable defense and I don't think it will work. Donatas really does have to work on his rebounding, although that should get better with the right coaching.

For anyone that hasn't seen it, here's the second workout video Motiejunas did in Treviso. It's much better than the first one that came out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Tblw5WggQ

 

Don't know to embed, but here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFqK-YXlsHs


I'm sure most have seen it, it's one of the most viewed.

 

I didn't see this posted.

Utah Jazz scout discussing film of Donata in game action.

http://www.nba.com/jazz/features/draft2011_donatasmotiejunas.html

 

Thanks for the link.

What I gather from Motie is that when is focused, he is very good. Indeed, from the scout: "He got lost inside the game I saw for an extended period of time. However, when he came back to life he was obviously the best player on the floor. Has NBA Skills."

Motie is filling up pretty fast, which tells me he is working hard and is willing to improve. Combined that with his skills as a big man, and I say he could indeed be the steal of this draft at 20th.

I am hopeful.

 

Thank God that sack of **** got traded.. by God I mean morey..

 

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IFqK-YXlsHs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/G5Tblw5WggQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Is he the black KG??

 

KG without the defense and a little bit of rebounding i think,,

 

I'm picturing an inside-outside, Morris posts up Donatas runs to the three point line, the opposing C can either try to protect the rim from a slashing Martin or try to stop D-Mo from hitting a 3. We'd give defenses nightmares.

 

Motiejunas seems to have a certain swagger to his game... I've got to admit, I like it!

 

And potentially much more diversified offensive game, which makes him as far from KG as possible.

I'll keep saying that Gasol is Montie's very-best-case scenario. Offensively Montie's skillset is remarkably similar to Gasol's. Defensively... well, he's 20. So while he'll never be KG on D, he can potentially reach Gasol's level of playing good defense just by being really big.

 

I more or less agree with you. I hope the coaching staff keeps him on the block and doesn't let him float out to the perimeter in his first few years. He needs to develop and perfect the back to the basket game.

 

And I agree with you. If he stays in the block for much of the upcoming season (at least) and the next, he'll refine his post game to a point in which he can begin to dominate in at least one area of his game. Once he's top in the game in that area, he can start working on developing other areas of his game.

But if he's allowed to stray out to the 3 point line for too much, he could be in danger of remaining the same sort of European player he was last year for the rest of his career. I think that would severely limit his career.

 

Sure hope he won't grow a beard becoming ostrich ugly.

 

According to the Jazz scouting report on him, it seems he was basically used as an inside player for the team. Perhaps this is why teams soured on him, as he was a slight 20yr old banging inside and looking awkward doing so. Ironically, the scouting report said he was asked to guard the perimeter a lot. So he was more a perimeter player on defense than on offense. I think the misconception about him being a perimeter player comes more for innate bias against Euroball and his shooting skills. In a "well if he can shoot the 3 then he must be a 7 footer trying to be a SG" kind of way.

Also, consider the coach. We're talking about Kevin McHale here. There's no way he has any 7 footer hanging out on the perimeter.

 

I hear you. It's his game. He' ll has to mix it up a little though, going inside and shooting outside.

 

i'm just stating the main differences between Motiejunas and KG (like monkeyboy23 said before),,

as for Gasol, yes, i think Motiejunas plays like him (on the offense),, but there is couple of things that Motiejunas have:

-left handed (but his right hand also have a good touch),, this will make him less predictable,,
-three point shot,, his percentage from the three point line is quite good,, this will make him useful for spreading the offense,,
-good passing skill and vision for a big man,, while he's no point forward for sure, he's showing a glimpse of Divac-like passing from the highlight,,

now i don't want to say that his offense is better than Gasol, but his offensive arsenal potential has more variation,, that's why i really like this pick for 20th, stealing Motiejunas in a weak draft is a nice move,,

 

Where's that thread that showed the picks that we have for the future?
Can that be updated to reflect recent trades? Thanks.

 

I just don't get why Brad Miller would bother voting 266 times on this poll.