Report: Donatas Motiejunas on Utah Jazz radar
According to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, the Utah Jazz are very high on Donatas Motiejunas.
The official draft order won't be determined until the evening of May 17th, but if the ping pong balls remain true, the Jazz would pick sixth. There's plenty of reason to believe that the Motiejunas will be available in that slot, and it may be another indicator that they're ready to move on from Andrei Kirilenko.
His passing skills are already elite and you know the Jazz are going to like that coming from a big man. His post game is more refined than Bargs and he should score inside on smaller players easily. Will he rebound any better than Bargs? Probably not initially. He is just 20 though, so could improve that with added weight.
1. Not everyone can add good weight.His passing skills are already elite and you know the Jazz are going to like that coming from a big man. His post game is more refined than Bargs and he should score inside on smaller players easily. Will he rebound any better than Bargs? Probably not initially. He is just 20 though, so could improve that with added weight.
I'm not a fan of foreign players because the hype often exceeds the talent, but with Motiejunas, one thing stands out for me and that is how fluid he is. He moves like a smaller player and that's meant in a good way. The videos I have seen of him both scare me and intrigue me. Scare because I don't see him pounding down low and I really don't want 7 footers who settle for the perimeter. Intrigue because he looks very skilled already. I am not sure about taking him with the first pick, but if he's there when the Jazz make their second pick, I wouldn't criticize the pick.
What is his contract situation? Could he wear a Jazz uni next season? Does anyone know?
Name the last KOC draft pick that everyone knew beforehand he was going take. If I remember right, I think most people knew he was high on DWill, but even then I'm not sure he showed his hand before he had to. One thing's for sure, if KOC really is high on Donatas, it wasn't him who spilled the beans, and whoever did is most likely sittining in a ditch wearing a Colombian necktie.
Mo Almond.