I cut the last post short due to not having much time to post lately and not wanting to take too long of a break. Here's a couple more guys that should have an impact as soon as next year.
Donatas Motiejunas (Power Forward, Houston Rockets)
Donatas Montiejunas (D Mo) is another foreign player trying to make his mark on the league. He was highly regarded as an international prospect and was the 20th pick of the first round in 2011. He went three spots ahead of Nikola Mirotic, although I believe Mirotic will be the better of the two. D Mo should have a decent to good career despite this.
He has decent size at 7' 222lbs but could probably stand to gain 10 more pounds to help with the physical interior play that he'll encounter. D Mo was also able to learn from some pretty good guys who were ahead of him on the depth chart. Sharing a front court with Terrence Jones, Omer Asik, and Dwight Howard hurt his playing time last season but the knowledge gained could be very useful going forward. He put up 5.5pt 3.6rb 0.5ast in 15.4 minutes a game. They may not look like much on the surface but if you look at what they'd project to at starters minutes they look much better. Those numbers would jump to 11pt 7.2rb 1ast a game which are not eye popping, but still solid numbers. Time has opened as Omer Asik and Chandler Parsons both left this year which could open up a lot more minutes and opportunities for him.
CJ McCollum (Combo Guard, Portland Trailblazers)
CJ McCollum is another good young talent from a mid major university. The Lehigh standout was the 10th overall pick in last years draft. He has good size at 6'4 200lbs, which allows him to play both point and shooting guard.
Last year McCollum was similar to Montiejunas in that he didn't play a lot but still put up decent per 48 numbers. In 12.5 minutes he put up 5.3pt 1.3rb 0.7 ast and 0.4 stl while shooting .416% from the field and .375% from deep. Even if you just go by 37.5 minutes a game he's at 15.9pt 4.2rb 2.1ast and 1.2stl. Those are not all star numbers but still very serviceable. The shooting leaves something to be desired but I wouldnt get too caught up in that low number. He was a very good scorer in college and put Lehigh on his back multiple times. Low minutes can also make it tough to get in a scoring groove.
The biggest road block for McCollum is another young talent named Damian Lillard. Lillard was near the top of the league in minutes played last season. This provided very little time for McCollum to see the floor. However I feel the Blazers will reduce Lillard's work load down to 30-35 minutes a game. This should help give McCollum the opportunity to play 15-20 minutes a night. His field goal percentage and counting stats should rise with the extended time. He shouldn't see significant playing time, barring injury, until next season where he should be up to 20-25 minutes. Once that happens he'll be a very solid contributor from both guard spots.
Isaiah Canaan (Point Guard, Houston Rockets)
It wouldn't be right to talk about mid major talent without mentioning Isaiah Canaan. The second year guard (second round, 34th overall pick) out of Murray State torched his competition in college. His 21.8 points a game was good enough to be top 10 in the nation. Canaan also received accolades from Chris Paul before the 2013 draft saying "he wasted a year in college." Paul claimed he was good enough to come out after his junior year and should have made the jump a year sooner.
Last season wasn't exactly the greatest situation for Canaan in Houston. Minutes were sparse as he was buried behind Jeremy Lin and Patrick Beverly on the depth chart. He had too much potential to waste away on the bench so the Rockets sent him to Rio Grande to further develop in the D League. He proved he was worth the pick and could warrant playing time in Houston soon. All he did was make the D League All Star team.
Canaan's hard work may pay off this season. Lin has left for the Lakers, making Beverly the starter and Canaan the primary back up. This means an increase in playing time. Naturally his 4.6pt 1.1rb 1ast and 0.4stl in 11.5 minutes a game should all increase. He should see about 20-25 minutes a night as a compliment to Beverly. Beverly is a defensive minded guard while Canaan is a scoring point guard. I don't see him shooting for high percentages but he should see double figure scoring as early as this year. I can see him putting up similar numbers to McCollum next year, if not better at about 14pt 2rb 4ast 1stl a game. As I've said before these are not eye popping but definitely servicable numbers. Remember the name as it could pay off later.
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