Donatas Motiejunas (PF, Houston Rockets), Lithuania
Height: 2.13 m, 7-foot-0 | Weight: 100.7 kg, 222 pounds | Born: 20 September 1990
Is this the year?
Donatas Motiejunas came to the Houston Rockets in 2011 as a 22-year-old with a hard-to-say name and a game that didn't quite fit. But he worked. He worked in the weight room and late in the gym and in the NBA D-League. And he worked some more. And after he went into the offseason as a Young Big To Watch in 2013-14, the Rockets signed Dwight Howard. And on a Houston team packed with talent in the low post, Motiejunas made his contributions from the bench.
But D-Mo, who's now representing Lithuania in the FIBA World Cup, has shown glimpses of brilliance – not to mention an elite motor – in spurts over his two NBA seasons. And coming into 2014-15, few players in the league have the potential to explode onto the scene with quite so much force.
He's already dropped some hints. A first-team All-Summer League honoree, Motiejunas averaged 16.9 points and 8.4 rebounds while firing at 62 percent from the field. Through three games in Spain, he's putting up 9.7 a night on 55 percent shooting from the field. And every time he's gone to the NBA D-League, he looks every bit a rising star, putting up 20.3 points and 9.7 boards across seven games.
And on a Rockets team that'll need heft to make up for the loss of Omer Asik – not to mention some outside shooting to make up for Chandler Parsons' departure – a big year from Motiejunas could mean waves in the West.
Key Stats
GP: 62 | MIN: 15.4 | PTS: 5.5 | REB: 3.6
Season Highlight
He went for 13 points and 15 boards against the Lakers on April 8
Five Things to Know
1. He made his club debut with the Arvydas Sabonis school, feeder program to the elite Zalgiris Kaunas program, at the age of 15
2. He was drafted 20th overall by Minnesota in the 2011 NBA Draft, but came to Houston thanks to a draft-night trade that also involved Nikola Mirotic – who will make his Bulls debut in 2014-15.
3. His nickname, D-Mo, came from Kevin McHale…'s inability to pronounce his last name.
4. After his first-ever Summer League game, in which he went for 25 points and 9 boards, he unleashed a quote that announced his arrival to the NBA: Jeigu bijai vilko – neik į mišką, which means, in English, 'if you're afraid of wolves, don't go into the woods.'
5. He helped Lithuania earn a silver medal in the 2013 Eurobasket tournament, falling to France in the final.
Check out D-Mo's photos and video in the LEAGUE section of NBA Game Time.
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