Rockets: Have They Already Set Their Roster?

As the Houston Rockets edge closer to opening night, we also move further away from Donatas Motiejunas‘ qualifying offer deadline. The club has created an interesting predicament for themselves, whereby they already have 15 guaranteed contracts on their books notwithstanding a presumptive fan favorite.

As the Houston Rockets edge closer to opening night, we also move further away from Donatas Motiejunas‘ qualifying offer deadline. The club has created an interesting predicament for themselves, whereby they already have 15 guaranteed contracts on their books notwithstanding a presumptive fan favorite.

Could Motiejunas really be left out in the cold?

What about the players signed to training camp deals?

Was that just for the sake of resting their more important teammates and ensuring they make it through the preseason unscathed?

There has been an alarmingly over-correction in this roster for their lack of guard depth from last season.

The training camp roster has seen the signing of Pablo Prigioni, Tyler Ennis, Eric Gordon, P.J. Hairston, Bobby Brown, Isaiah Taylor and Gary Payton II to various types of deals over the summer which brings the guard count up to 10.

It is also interesting to note that if you include Motiejunas, five big men have left the Rockets with only two coming in as a replacement.

So where does Rockets’ general manager Daryl Morey go from here?

He has an overstocked back court that realistically won’t see much time behind James Harden, Patrick Beverley and Gordon.

Is he willing to swing some more trades early in the season?

First off, it’s important to note that Payton II is actually on a guaranteed contract, which is the 15th contract the Rockets have locked in for next season:

Report: Rockets give Gary Payton II fully guaranteed salary https://t.co/DMg3dQu5uu
— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) September 28, 2016

Is Morey (more importantly Rockets’ owner Leslie Alexander) willing to pay out his contract just to secure his rights with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers?

Or was he signed with the hope he would impress in preseason to genuinely earn his spot on the roster?

Let’s not forget that Payton II was projected as a late-first to early second-round pick and somehow managed to go undrafted.

This could really spell trouble for Motiejunas.

Although the team already has an abundance of guards, Payton has impressed in the preseason so far and is a genuine option for the Rockets to consider but could very well be the ultimate barrier to getting Motiejunas re-signed.

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The Rockets now hold all the power in this situation as Donatas let his qualifying offer lapse a week ago as he never had any bargaining power in this situation.

As far as we know, there have been no other offers for the restricted free agent.

His reputation as damaged goods because of his back injury is certainly not doing him any favors either.

Unfortunately for D-Mo, it looks as if his time at the Rockets may very well be up.

If it does come to pass that Motiejunas moves on, the Rockets are quite thin at the power forward position.

Montrezl Harrell is Ryan Anderson‘s primary backup and that’s about as deep as it gets on the depth chart.

Small ball has been a feature of both the Rockets and Mike D’Antoni‘s previous systems so it could be plausible that we see Trevor Ariza getting minutes at the “four-spot” but it still leaves the big men stocks incredibly low.

This time of year is not always easy to instigate the signing of players as teams are unwilling to give up players just before the season when they’re not confident in getting a replacement.

Could the Rockets be freezing out Motiejunas in order to swing the long-rumored trade for Rudy Gay?

Next: P.J. Hairston Signs With The Houston Rockets

Gay is a good scorer, but doesn’t provide the same versatility or defensive pedigree that the Rockets have in Motiejunas.

He was fantastic as a “Stretch 4” when Dwight Howard was injured back in 2014-15.

Another possibility that I haven’t even considered is that Motiejunas, quite rightly, is still frustrated with the decision to trade him before the deadline back in February.

I think he is merely negotiating with the Rockets in order to attract potential suitors.

I can see Motiejunas signing a contract with the Rockets before opening night but time is running out quickly.

If Morey wants to shore up the front court, surely Motiejunas is a must to bring back for next season.

Unfortunately, it’s a cut-throat business and that means it could cost this basketball team the promising Gary Payton II.

With 15 guaranteed contracts already signed by Houston, D-Mo is definitely the odd man out.

But, unfortunately, it seems that the 2016-17 Rockets’ roster is already in position for lift-off.

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