Let’s briefly recap what’s happened between the Houston Rockets and Donatas Motiejunas over the past year.
The team tried trading him to the Detroit Pistons last season. But the deal was rescinded because Motiejunas failed a physical on a account of his back. He finished out the season with them, logging some serious time in their first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.
Then the summer comes. Motiejunas is a restricted free agent. He and the Rockets fail to hammer out a deal. But Motiejunas doesn’t sign an offer sheet with another team. He is caught in this weird limbo between rejecting the Rockets’ offer but not signing another one.
But then he actually signs one with the Brooklyn Nets. It’s worth a reported $37 million. The Rockets match. Not all of the $30 million is guaranteed, though. And the Rockets, apparently, figured out a way to match over the guaranteed money.
Only, Motiejunas didn’t show up for his physical with the Rockets. Per Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com, he has yet to report to the team at all:
Donatas Motiejunas had until tonight to show up for his physical with the Rockets and didn’t. A source said a decision hasn’t been made regarding if the Rockets will pull the offer sheet.
You can’t make this stuff up. The Rockets are playing well enough without Motiejunas, so they can move on without feeling too bad. Head coach Mike D’Antoni likes him and will use him as a stretch 5 if given the opportunity. But the Rockets can survive. And Motiejunas will find another offer sheet somewhere, probably.
Ironically, the team that gets screwed here is the Nets, who can’t sign Motiejunas to another offer sheet. It’s almost better for them if he ends up sticking in Houston, this way they’re not reminded of a bizarre failure that was beyond their control.
