The mock draft circle of life continues today with David Aldridge's latest on NBA.com. Aldridge has Lithuanian big Donatas Motiejunas sliding to the Rockets at No. 14 overall. Motiejunas has looked terrible at workouts lately, and thus his stock appears to be falling to where he could be around in the middle of the first round. Here's what Aldridge had to say about mocking him to Houston:
New coach Kevin McHale's strength is working with bigs, and Motiejunas was top-10 ranked much of the last few months. With Yao Ming likely done, Hasheem Thabeet still a major question mark and Chuck Hayes a free agent, the Rockets need to start thinking about their frontcourt future.
At No. 23, Aldrige sees the Rockets winding up with UCLA swingman Tyler Honeycutt:
Rockets need a long-term replacement for the recently departed Shane Battier, and Honeycutt's defensive skill set and length could be intriguing to a basketball sabrematrician like Daryl Morey.
Those are both logical picks. The Rockets have worked out Honeycutt multiple times already, and that could be a sign that they prefer him to guys like Tobias Harris or Chris Singleton.
Or it could just be a giant smokescreen. (Ominous music.)