21. Portland Trail Blazers: Kenneth Faried, PF, Morehead State, Senior: Assuming Greg Oden can never be pieced back together, the Blazers need to start looking for another big man. Faried is definitely undersized to play the power forward position, and there is no chance of him playing center, but the man certainly plays bigger than his 6-foot-7-inch frame. He won’t push LaMarcus Aldridge back to his natural position as a power forward, but instead of having to put Nicolas Batum or Gerald Wallace at the four for extended minutes, Faired is a player that can be successful at that position, and give the Blazers a strong presence down low.
22. Denver Nuggets: Chris Singleton, F, Florida State, Junior: There’s no player in this draft who could really fill an need for the Nuggets. Position wise, they are solid at each one (Lawson/Felton, Afflalo/Smith, Gallinari/Chandler, Martin/Harrington, Nene/Andersen), but what they lack is star power. So you can be sure that with the 22nd pick in arguably one of the worst drafts of all time, they won’t be filling that need here. However, Singleton brings a defensive presence to the offensively-driven Nuggets, and although it might be hard for him to find time with Gallinari, Chandler and Harrington playing a similar position, his potential as a lockdown defender will ultimately result in many minutes for the former Seminole.
23. Houston Rockets: Donatas Motiejunas, PF, Lithuania, 1990: In terms of his position on draft boards, Motiejunas has been pretty enigmatic. At the beginning of the year, he was projected as a top-five pick, but as draft day moved closer, the seven-footer out from Lithuania continued to slide down draft boards. He seems to be an Andrea Bargnani clone, which in this draft might not be so bad, but based on team needs, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Motiejunas slip into the early-20’s.
24. Oklahoma City Thunder: Tyler Honeycutt, SG/SF, UCLA, Sophomore: The Thunder are already set at the SF position with some guy named Kevin Durant already in place, but in terms of Durant’s backup, OKC is fairly thin. James Harden played a lot of SF and the undersized lineup did hurt the Thunder in the playoffs. Honeycutt’s ability to play the two and the three spots paired with his athleticism, will make him a prime candidate as a top reserve on OKC’s bench.
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25. Boston Celtics: Nikola Vucevic, C, USC, Junior: The Celtics made a mistake trading Kendrick Perkins for Jeff Green at the trade deadline. Unfortunately for them, that deal is not undoable, and they are stuck with a major hole down low. After blowing every GM and scout away with his measurements at the pre-draft combine, Vucevic proved to possess the necessary size to be a true center in the NBA. Originally projected as a second round pick, the USC product is shooting up draft boards, and if he is available at 25 when the Celtics pick, they will surely have found a diamond in the ruff.
Next: 26-30
