Houston Rockets: The Donatas Motiejunas Factor

The Houston Rockets decided to do the what’s in the best interest of the team by completing its last not finalized deal.

What is that you may ask?

The Houston Rockets have officially deciding match an offer sheet for Donatas Motiejunas to which could be multi-year deal.

So what does that exactly entail?

Let’s review if I may please.

We’ll rewind all the way back to October when this mess all started with the Rockets offering D-Mo the minimum qualifying offer of $4.4 million.

This is how business works and the Rockets were waiting to see if they could low-ball D-Mo to come back to work for cheap.

That didn’t happen.

One month later, the Rockets upped the ante by offering him a multi-year deal with the first year being guaranteed for $7 million.

D-Mo didn’t sign.

And just one week ago, the Brooklyn Nets, who had been rumored to land him since early in the off season, signed him to an offer sheet.

This time, the deal was worth up to $8.5 million — $5 million upfront — for the first season guaranteed with the remaining years just the opposite.

The total package?

A deal worth four years, $37 million.

Sounds like done deal on both ends right?

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Not so fast.

And funny thing happened on the way to 1510 Polk St. yesterday.

D-Mo didn’t show up for the required physical to make the deal official.

Wait, what?

Yes, it’s true and we’re now seeing that D-Mo didn’t want to be a Houston Rocket all along.

For the entire off season, the Rockets, D-Mo and B.J. Amstrong — his representation — have played a wild game of chess, trying to catch one another making the wrong move.

But it seems as for now, the Rockets hold the upper hand because of D-Mo’s restricted free agent status.

The Brooklyn Nets made him a fair offer and it was a no-brainer for the Rockets to match it.

With him not showing up for a physical, this leaves our Stretch 4 in a tough spot.

He is not under contract so he’d be free to seek other options outside the league, particularly back overseas where he got his start.

But that option will not be the most viable for him because I severely doubt that he’ll make the same money as opposed to still being a part of the Association.

In addition, to what I refer to as the “scorched earth,” nuclear option, the Rockets can return D-Mo to RFA status, allowing him to seek another deal.

But it has to be with another team because since the Rockets matched the Nets offer, he can’t sign with them for another year.

So he could very well sit this year out if he wanted to if his heart is dead-set on the Nets.

But that would be foolhardy — but yet I still continue to be in shock with each and every development that occurs with this conundrum of contract negotiations.

Another wrinkle is that he can’t be traded to another team because D-Mo let the Nov. 23rd deadline lapse when he decided not to sign on the 2nd deal that was offered to him that I mentioned above.

Next: Eric Gordon's Campaign For 6th Man

I’d love to see him back and you don’t have to take my word for it, Mike D’Antoni recently gave the Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen five reasons why he’ll fit in his system.

Here’s what he had to say:

"“He’s one, a good guy,” D’Antoni said. “Two, he’s a good teammate. Three, he’s a real good player. Four, I think we run a system I think he will enjoy. Five, I think it’s in his best interest to enjoy it. There’s a lot of reasons for him to embrace it once he’s here. That’s what his agent, himself and management have to go through to find a happy place. Once he’s here, he’ll be good – I hope.”"

I totally agree with coach.

He’ll be just fine in this system but I’m not sure if this is what he really wants or if he’s just following B.J’s advice.

Either way, this is causing D-Mo to miss valuable time out on the court but I’m not going go as far as to say that his career is over.

He’s a big, talented and still quite young — somebody will sign him if he doesn’t so with the Rockets.

I’m hoping for the best but we may have seen the last of this rendition of that red No. 20 trotting up and down the hardwood.

Go Rockets.

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