What if the Sixers Draft … Donatas Motiejunas?

There’s not much I can add to what Draftexpress or nbadraft.net has about Donatas Motiejunas.

If you want to see this kid or read about him go to those sites, especially Draftexpress, who has covered him extensively and have some impressive 2011 Eurocamp workout video of him – how many big guys in the NBA can move like that?

He’s a super-skilled 7-footer who would play the power forward position.  Their comp is Pau Gasol, a comment from a youtube clip called him “baby Dirk”, but I would go with Carmelo Anthony as a pure 4, or the older Lamar Odom.

If Motiejunas is still available for the Sixers at #16, it would be one of those rare opportunities a franchise gets to acquire a future franchise player.

The Sixers’ recent draft history shows that they almost always choose the risky high-reward pick over the safe pick when their pick is out of the top 10 so there is a really good chance that Motiejunas will be a Sixer.  So why isn’t he a no-brainer pick if he’s still available?  It’s the same reason he would be available at #16 – the chances are not good that he’ll become a star in the NBA.  So what I ended up pondering is what the Sixers organization has to do in order to draw out this kid’s amazing potential.

You’ll have to wait for this kid, maybe 3~4 years.

Recently they haven’t been doing this (Thad, Jason Smith, Jrue) but they were more patient with Iguodala and Lou Williams.  By the time this kid is ready the Sixers will have moved on from Elton Brand and Motiejunas will slide right into the starting PF slot where he should be one of the top forwards in the NBA.

I see the waiting as an obstacle because the Sixers organization might get pressure from the media and fans to throw this guy into the fire his first year, or think that he’ll be ready after one year.  The Sixers need to just come out and say that Motiejunas is a project and that he will need some time to develop, but that it will be worth the wait.

Whatever long-term plan they come up with for Motiejunas, the Sixers absolutely cannot deviate from it, and more importantly, neither can Motiejunas.  Donatas might see himself differently so communicating with him about what will be expected from him will be important; I would advise against calling him a nickname like “Donnie Mo”…

How do you keep this kid from getting sad, lonely and depressed over here in the U.S. and help him develop the inner strength to make it in the NBA?  A good sign is that Lithuanian players have generally been successful in the NBA.  But reading about Motiejunas’ intangibles and watching his body language in the video that’s available out there gives me the impression of a young kid still trying to find himself.  The following excerpt from his Draftexpress coverage worries me a lot, even though he was only 16 or 17 years old at the time:

The concerns arise when talking about his character and attitude on court, as he sometimes looks like a bit of a cocky guy. He showed a tendency to get in foul trouble, which comes to reflect his struggles controlling his own emotions and reactions. He’s a very expressive guy, quite hot-blooded, who easily falls into provocations, and who might like to provoke [other people] himself. He got into a verbal fight with the Spanish audience during the game against Spain that he could have perfectly avoided.

I think that for American players, the blueprint for how to behave, what attitude you should have, and what is expected out of your mouth is clearly laid out.  A young American player, like Jrue Holiday, probably has the same youth-related personal issues that Donatas is dealing with, but because of past sports role models Jrue would just know how to act in the media and when he’s out on the basketball court.  I think Motiejunas has had trouble finding similar role models to emulate.  If Motiejunas tries any of his shit in the NBA he’ll be destroyed like a weak-willed prison newbie.

What I’m about to suggest is babying and coddling, but for Motiejunas it will be necessary: give him a strong support group of family and friends as part of the Sixers’ long-term plan for him.

If he’s drafted, the Sixers organization should be actively involved in talking to his family, bringing them over to Philadelphia, and then helping them with getting acclimated to life in the U.S.  The Houston Rockets were similarly accommodating for Yao Ming so there’s a precedent.  Use one of the roster spots for a friend or two – I’m grasping at straws here: Motiejunas played with Tomislaz Zubcic, a player the Sixers brought in this year for a workout, in the 2009 Nike Hoop Summit, and in a video at nbadraft.net he talks about talking with Rudy Fernandez – maybe Portland will do Lou Williams for Rudy?

My last concern about Motiejunas is whether or not the Sixers organization believes that a European player can be part of a championship-winning team.

I’ve been following the team since the late Barkley years and the organization has tended to shy away from Europeans for whatever reason.  I think this comes from a strong voice deep within the organization and this worries me because of how closed-minded this is, if true (I think the organization has a similar distaste for advanced statistical analysis).  If they draft Motiejunas, then I hope everyone in the organization can get behind him and support him as the team’s future power forward in the “Fuck it, I’m all in” way that they are touting Jrue Holiday as a superstar in the making.