ESPN’s Chad Ford is reporting that international prospect Donatas Motiejunas has decided to withdraw from the 2010 NBA Draft. Montiejunas is a seven-foot forward/center with an amazing package of skills for his size, but there are concerns about whether the 19-year old has developed enough physically to bang with NBA bigs at this point.
Montiejunas was the sixth man for Italy’s Benetton Treviso this season, and averaged 9.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game in 20 minutes a game. Draft Express ranks Montiejunas the second-best prospect in his international class, trailing only Jan Vesely. Vesely himself withdrew from the 2010 draft about a month ago.
Draft Express currently has Montiejunas going 6th overall in their 2011 mock draft, while Vesely is projected to be the 3rd overall pick. If those projections turn out to be true, it’s hard to find fault with Vesley and Montiejunas’ decisions to stay overseas for another year.
