Donatas Motiejunas

ElRey

ElRey

Starter
Now that Aldrich measured out at only 6'9 without shoes, he seems to be out of the picture at #5. Assuming Cousins is not available, then that just leaves Wesley Johnson to pick. Could Motiejunas be the darkhorse at #5? He's a Lithuanian 7 footer with small forward skills. Ceiling is sky high. He however needs to gain weight, and we don't know how tough he is. Though comments like "shows the toughness to play inside with contact" "Shows a competitive fire" suggest that he's not Spencer Hawes II.

"NBA Comparison: Andrea Bargnani

Strengths: Versatile lefty bigman with a high ceiling ... Has a lot of potential due to his size, agility and offensive development ... A finesse 4-man with excellent versatility, but shows the toughness to play inside with contact ... Shows a strong ability to run the floor and change directions, start and stop ... Has great legs (strong) and feet (quick) ... Has inside/outside ability with the ability to defend inside and play with his back to the basket, as well as knock down shots on the perimeter ... His outside shot has both range and consistency, and he has begun to develop some excellent moves including a jump hook, a turnaround fadeaway as well as fakes to draw opponents off their feet and excellent footwork ... Shows a competitive fire. He has a strong desire to win and improve, he just needs to show that at all times ... Gets off the floor quickly and has solid explosiveness ... A solid shot blocker ... Comfortable handling the ball when necessary to break the press and has solid vision and passing ability ... Has a very good body and appears that he will be able to add upperbody strength and become a solid rebounder and interior post player at the NBA level ...

Weaknesses: Is extremely talented and he knows it. At times he doesn't keep the pedal to the metal, exhibiting some lapses in focus and intensity (laziness) in practices ... Sometimes appears content to be better than others without dominating them the way he's capable ... That's the type of thing that he'll need to mature out of, learning to work hard at all times in order to reach the stature of a Gasol or Nowitzki ... Still needs to add polish on his moves on the perimeter but has excellent potential to do so ... Has thin arms and upperbody, although he has solid strength. He'll need to get stronger to contend with NBA bigs ... Solid length (6-11 wingspan) but nothing extraordinary ... Not as experienced or established as other European talents (such as Gasol or Nowitzki) were when they entered the NBA."


http://www.nbadraft.net/players/donatas-motiejunas


I'm not advocating for him since I've never seen him play except for youtube. Just wanted to bring him up to see what u guys think, esp our European Kingsfans who might have seen him play. I remember seeing this guy ranked in the top 3 in some mock drafts earlier in the year.
 
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I like Moteijunas a lot. I have been following him, and watched a few of his games. IMO, he will be one the most versatile pf's to come out of Europe. Closest thing to a young dirk I have seen. He's not a horrible rebounder, and his defense has improved as the season went on. He needs to get stronger, and it will take a little while for him to adapt to the nba, especially on defense and rebounding, much like it took Gasol and Dirk a while. He's a project without a doubt. But damn, this guy has a lot of talent.

I've already explained why I think he's more like a young Dirk than Bargnani in previous posts. The comparisons to Bargnani come from the fact he's a natural shooter, from everywhere on the court. Better than Dirk was a the same age. But IMO, the comparisons to Bargnani stop there. Moteijunas attacks the rim. He doesn't settle. He's become more physical, and when I watch, he doesn't shy away from contact, unlike Bargnani. He's getting better in the post also.

Would I take him at #5? No way. He'll still be around at #15. I still think he's 3 years away from having an impact in the nba. I don't think he's coming over this year. But this kid will be good. Damn good.
 
Megalodon said:
But if we he will be as good as you have confidence he will, then why not take him at 5 ?
Click to expand...


Because if he stays in europe for a couple of more years the fans would heading toward ARCO with torches. The Kings can ill affort to draft someone that might now even play this year.
 
bajaden said:
Because if he stays in europe for a couple of more years the fans would heading toward ARCO with torches. The Kings can ill affort to draft someone that might now even play this year.
Click to expand...

According to Draftexpress, he'll stay in the draft if he gets assured he gets picked in the lottery. So far he hasn't pulled out yet. we'll see if the Kings work him out.
 
ElRey said:
Now that Aldrich measured out at only 6'9 without shoes, he seems to be out of the picture at #5. Assuming Cousins is not available, then that just leaves Wesley Johnson to pick. Could Motiejunas be the darkhorse at #5? He's a Lithuanian 7 footer with small forward skills. Ceiling is sky high. He however needs to gain weight, and we don't know how tough he is. Though comments like "shows the toughness to play inside with contact" "Shows a competitive fire" suggest that he's not Spencer Hawes II.

"NBA Comparison: Andrea Bargnani

Strengths: Versatile lefty bigman with a high ceiling ... Has a lot of potential due to his size, agility and offensive development ... A finesse 4-man with excellent versatility, but shows the toughness to play inside with contact ... Shows a strong ability to run the floor and change directions, start and stop ... Has great legs (strong) and feet (quick) ... Has inside/outside ability with the ability to defend inside and play with his back to the basket, as well as knock down shots on the perimeter ... His outside shot has both range and consistency, and he has begun to develop some excellent moves including a jump hook, a turnaround fadeaway as well as fakes to draw opponents off their feet and excellent footwork ... Shows a competitive fire. He has a strong desire to win and improve, he just needs to show that at all times ... Gets off the floor quickly and has solid explosiveness ... A solid shot blocker ... Comfortable handling the ball when necessary to break the press and has solid vision and passing ability ... Has a very good body and appears that he will be able to add upperbody strength and become a solid rebounder and interior post player at the NBA level ...

Weaknesses: Is extremely talented and he knows it. At times he doesn't keep the pedal to the metal, exhibiting some lapses in focus and intensity (laziness) in practices ... Sometimes appears content to be better than others without dominating them the way he's capable ... That's the type of thing that he'll need to mature out of, learning to work hard at all times in order to reach the stature of a Gasol or Nowitzki ... Still needs to add polish on his moves on the perimeter but has excellent potential to do so ... Has thin arms and upperbody, although he has solid strength. He'll need to get stronger to contend with NBA bigs ... Solid length (6-11 wingspan) but nothing extraordinary ... Not as experienced or established as other European talents (such as Gasol or Nowitzki) were when they entered the NBA."


http://www.nbadraft.net/players/donatas-motiejunas


I'm not advocating for him since I've never seen him play except for youtube. Just wanted to bring him up to see what u guys think, esp our European Kingsfans who might have seen him play. I remember seeing this guy ranked in the top 3 in some mock drafts earlier in the year.
Click to expand...
If we are to ignore the glaring need for a BIG and gamble on another small player ( Wesley Johnson )that will make worse the logjam at small forward, then I'd rather gamble drafting Donatas Montiejunas.
 
Prince_XY said:
If we are to ignore the glaring need for a BIG and gamble on another small player ( Wesley Johnson )that will make worse the logjam at small forward, then I'd rather gamble drafting Donatas Montiejunas.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's what I'm saying. If Cousins is gone, is there a center worth picking at #5?
 
I'm not that high on him at all--I don't think he'll be a star, and if he's not cultivated properly he might also become a bust. He'll be a pretty good scorer in the league and a good offensive rebounder, but his overall rebounding is rather average. The intrigue with him is that he's a 7-footer with offense--he's a preferred slasher than shooter too, getting to the line well while not taking too many threes. He's a bit turnover prone though. But defense is a huge question mark--while he's reasonable at getting into passing lanes, his block/foul ratio is extremely poor, as he rarely swats shots but hacks like crazy at the same time--I don't think that really bodes too well for him. Also, what position will he play defensively, at 215 lbs? His style of game is definitely more PF-esque because he'll be swallowed whole by opposing NBA centers, but can he even guard opposing PFs?

Ultimately I'm not seeing a whole lot of tricks here, and the ones he shows slight potential with might not translate fully...at this point I think it's best if he invests more on his three point shot so he can develop an inside-outside game and become more like Bargnani (I know, Bargnani to me is a bust, but I also think the best this guy can do is become a solid role player as well). He's far from a sure thing, between his underdeveloped body and skill set.
 
Hi guys, my english is really poor, sorry. I'm from Lithuania and I know Donatas very well.
It's really a big gamble. If be honest, I think he is next Darko Milicic, he's not ready for the NBA and his shot is overrated. I don't know anything about NCAA but I know level of the top 10-15 NBA draft pics. He is not that level. At the moment he is Euroleague bench level player, far far away from Lithuania national team and even more far from the NBA. Well, maybe I'm wrong, I hope...
BUT, In the other hand he is playing pro in Italy. Many people say that Europe centers are soft and so on... Yes, they are soft compare with americans NBA centers, but still, they are higher level than USA students. Don't forget that Donatas is 19 years old and he is playing in foreign country. Brandon Jennings looked worse in the same league.
More, it's not a secret, that he is really skinny and weak. enjoy 17 year old au Gasol's highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZEvEdGDa0g

I can find the same stuff about Sabonis or Dirk. Donatas Motiejunas is north European. North europeans mature very slow. In some countries 19 year olders looks like a real men and are much stronger than 40 year old "grandpas". Not in the Lithuania. Lithuania men are very strong, but they mature over 20, and get their peak almost 40s. If you don't believe me, you can browse about Lithuania's strongmen team. LTU has best international team in strongmen competition and has worlds strongest man - Zydrunas savickas
g_zydrunas_savickas_1.jpg
He is 35 and he is on his peak.
Good thing that Donatas not afraid contact in the post and his muscles and strength will come.

Big gamble. 60% new Nikoloz Tskitishvili, 25% solid starter, 15% fusion of Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki.

And I'm really interested, how you americans pronounce his name :)
 
Hi guys, my english is really poor, sorry. I'm from Lithuania and I know Donatas very well.
It's really a big gamble. If be honest, I think he is next Darko Milicic, he's not ready for the NBA and his shot is overrated. I don't know anything about NCAA but I know level of the top 10-15 NBA draft pics. He is not that level. At the moment he is Euroleague bench level player, far far away from Lithuania national team and even more far from the NBA. Well, maybe I'm wrong, I hope...
BUT, In the other hand he is playing pro in Italy. Many people say that Europe centers are soft and so on... Yes, they are soft compare with americans NBA centers, but still, they are higher level than USA students. Don't forget that Donatas is 19 years old and he is playing in foreign country. Brandon Jennings looked worse in the same league.
More, it's not a secret, that he is really skinny and weak. enjoy 17 year old au Gasol's highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZEvEdGDa0g

I can find the same stuff about Sabonis or Dirk. Donatas Motiejunas is north European. North europeans mature very slow. In some countries 19 year olders looks like a real men and are much stronger than 40 year old "grandpas". Not in the Lithuania. Lithuania men are very strong, but they mature over 20, and get their peak almost 40s. If you don't believe me, you can browse about Lithuania's strongmen team. LTU has best international team in strongmen competition and has worlds strongest man - Zydrunas savickas
g_zydrunas_savickas_1.jpg
He is 35 and he is on his peak.
Good thing that Donatas not afraid contact in the post and his muscles and strength will come.

Big gamble. 60% new Nikoloz Tskitishvili, 25% solid starter, 15% fusion of Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki.

And I'm really interested, how you americans pronounce his name :)
 
Martynas said:
Hi guys, my english is really poor, sorry. I'm from Lithuania and I know Donatas very well.
It's really a big gamble. If be honest, I think he is next Darko Milicic, he's not ready for the NBA and his shot is overrated. I don't know anything about NCAA but I know level of the top 10-15 NBA draft pics. He is not that level. At the moment he is Euroleague bench level player, far far away from Lithuania national team and even more far from the NBA. Well, maybe I'm wrong, I hope...
BUT, In the other hand he is playing pro in Italy. Many people say that Europe centers are soft and so on... Yes, they are soft compare with americans NBA centers, but still, they are higher level than USA students. Don't forget that Donatas is 19 years old and he is playing in foreign country. Brandon Jennings looked worse in the same league.
More, it's not a secret, that he is really skinny and weak. enjoy 17 year old au Gasol's highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZEvEdGDa0g

I can find the same stuff about Sabonis or Dirk. Donatas Motiejunas is north European. North europeans mature very slow. In some countries 19 year olders looks like a real men and are much stronger than 40 year old "grandpas". Not in the Lithuania. Lithuania men are very strong, but they mature over 20, and get their peak almost 40s. If you don't believe me, you can browse about Lithuania's strongmen team. LTU has best international team in strongmen competition and has worlds strongest man - Zydrunas savickas
g_zydrunas_savickas_1.jpg
He is 35 and he is on his peak.
Good thing that Donatas not afraid contact in the post and his muscles and strength will come.

Big gamble. 60% new Nikoloz Tskitishvili, 25% solid starter, 15% fusion of Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki.

And I'm really interested, how you americans pronounce his name :)
Click to expand...

Great post Martynas! Welcome to the board! :)
 
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