ESPN: Donatas Motiejunas won't report to Rockets cause of $6M difference

I honestly couldn't care less about what happens with DMo. Good riddance to him, as far as I'm concerned.

 

Nice theory. But Larry Coon completely dismisses it. He was asked this question today, directly

ChrisDecember 8, 2016 at 10:56 am

Larry, what would happen if DMo were to report for his physical on January 9, a day before the Rockets deadline to decide whether to pay him for the rest of the year? Assuming he passed the physical, would he get his $5M signing bonus and the $3.5M remainder of this year’s salary, while only giving the team a two-month window to make a decision regarding their option for the 2017-2018 season?

lcoonPost authorDecember 8, 2016 at 4:50 pm

I think the Rockets will plan their response in a way that precludes something like that from happening.
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Plus, let's not forget DMo is on the Inactive List, and Coon agrees it looks like Rockets can start suspending him and drop the 30-day nuke on his Hold out ass

 

You know what would be the worst case senario? Dmo signs before March 1st, passed physical, get paid, then fake injury for the next 2 seasons.
I really hope he doesn't end up with rockets.

 

That wouldn't happen. The problem is that he wants more guaranteed cash, not that he wants to leave Houston.

 

Unless he didn't get what he wanted.

 

Yeah that could happen. But it won't. The closer we get to the end of the season and the playoffs, which is February, the more demand there will be for him. Once you get past the trade deadline more teams will be likely to take a chance on him since they know the Rockets are even more unlikely to match because we won't be able trade DMo until the summer of 2018 if we match their offer sheet.

Of course I can't prove this unless it actually gets to that point (which it won't). But you're free to keep hoping and believing that to be the case.

We face the greater risk of losing DMo for nothing in that scenario.

 

Unlike you, I have yet to be wrong in the DMo situation.

 

He did say that dmo might not be under contract after all (which supports one of your arguments) and later says it's uncertain, especially since the rockets officially listed him as inactive. I actually read his reasoning for why he thought dmo might not be under contract. I disagreed with him, based on the sections he cited (there might be other reasons but I'm going on why he changed his mind). I note that I read contracts for a living, but I did not acquaint myself with the entire cba but limited myself to his reasoning.

He actually later said his reading of the plain language of section 5(h) led him to that conclusion but admitted that the league's reading appeared different.

I disagreed because he initially viewed dmo under contract under rule (e) which indicated that dmo was under contract when the FREN was tendered "subject to section 5(h)". He then read 5(h) and thought it implied dmo was not necessarily under contract. However, my reading, which was consistent with another poster's, is that 5(h) does not undo dmo's contract status under rule (e). In fact, 5(h) benefits the rockets and allows them to undo the contract (if dmo doesn't show up for the physical) or, if march 1 arrives, the original offer is rescinded and dmo is no longer under contract. So 5(h) would modify dmo's contract only under those applicable situations (and a couple of others that are not applicable since they presume he shows up and fails or the like). So I think Coon got it wrong on his change of position. I do think there may be room to think otherwise, but I think his interpretation is the weaker one. We'll find out soon if dmo get some fined, but I bet there will be a resolution. I just don't believe it will be a $16m a year contract.

Also even if coon is right, the rockets can waive he physical at any time and put dmo under contracts. Yeah he doesn't have to go through a physical, but what good is that? He already passes the nets physical so he should be fine. Dmo would be stuck on a 4 year contract with the rockets and can be cut by march 1 if they don't think he'll hold up.

Dmo and BJ have a little leverage, but the rockets clearly have more, and this wasn't some plan by BJ. It was a miscalculation and now he's doing what he can to rectify the situation. But there is no mistake - he's clearly screwed up and put dmo in a bad position.

 

You think? I'd say he's pretty bad at it. He's persistent though, just like a DD, I'll give him that.

 

Hey 'holic,

Just checked TJ's stats for funsies. He's giving NOP 10.1 points, 5.7 boards, and a block a game. When was the last time D-Mo had those numbers? I think it was in his best year for us, when he was 12 and 6. Last we saw him he was 6 and 3. He's 0-0 across the stat sheet this year. That didn't go the way you planned it, huh? But then I guess none of this did.

 

double post

 

Bummer he did not play up to standard in his last season as a Rocket.

 

I was really just ribbing basketballholic because he's so up on D-Mo and down on TJ. And because his "Yule C" and everything else he tried to push here for the last 6 months or so just got done blowing up in his face. I was just having some fun with him.

 

lol, a hardcore lof is having a meltdown in this thread.

 

Have the details of the incentives been posted yet?

 

Ha.

I'm not "up" on DMo. I've simply given this board info that I was told. I'm interested in DMo's situation because he's still under Rocket control and I want to get value out of him either by playing on court, or by being traded for an asset (like Detroit pick), or both. I don't want us to lose him for nothing. As far as his game, I think he'd make a nice fourth or fifth piece on a championship contender. I don't think Terrence can ever be that good. Terrence is a buttom (yeah buttom) 50 player in this league just like I told you he was. He's marginal. But keep fawning after him dude. He's not even a Rocket anymore. I don't know why you would even care. DMo is STILL potentially a Rocket and could be a prime contributor. He's much more interesting to discuss than Terrence, whom you were dead wrong about. Ha. Your buddy Morey didn't even want to pay the "third best player on the team" a minimum salary. Ha. But you and dobro. Pump pump pump......just pumped Terrence every day on here.......Pump pump pump while deriding my commentary every time I posted the truth about Terrence. Ha ha ha. Shaking my head and laughing at the ignorance. Now you're pumping mundane meaningless 10/5 numbers Terrence is putting up on the sixth worst team in the league. He's helping them stay at the top of the lottery. Hahahaha. You and dobro man. Hundreds of posts about the greatness of Terence. And still checking on him! Won't let it go! Hahahahaha.

(Is that what you wanted me to do? LOL)

 

A reasonable post except for one part. You clearly state that this is in no-man's land and we'll have to wait and see how "under contract" will be interpreted. So you do have doubt and you do think there is a chance that it could be interpreted the way I'm saying it has to be interpreted.

But then you go to hacking on BJ. Saying he miscalculated, screwed up, put DMo in a bad position. You have no proof or logic trail to say that. BJ isn't responsible for DMo being a skilled, talented seven foot basketball player that was drafted and played through 4 seasons of his rookie contract. BJ isn't responsible for DMo's back injury. He's not responsible for McHale playing Terrence over DMo. He's not responsible for the Rockets mothballing DMo last season when DMo was ready to play. He's also not responsible for Detroit either faking DMo's physical or Morey trying to peddle damaged goods because one of the two happened. Either Detroit faked the physical because they had buyers remorse or Morey was peddling damaged goods, knowing a failed physical would hurt DMo's free agent value.

So now we're up to July. Is BJ responsible for the lack of offers here? Is he responsible for MDA's recruiting visit telling DMo how badly he wants him while simultaneously Morey is wanting to get him signed to a deal he can trade or even sign-and-trade him outright while simultaneously telling teams he's going to match any offer?

Bj is responsible for DMo not signing a cheap qualifying offer that would allow the Rockets to marginalize him in the rotation and put him in another bad situation next summer where he'd have to sign another below market deal (possibly even minimum salary) to "prove that he can play".

Just exactly how has BJ "screwed up and put DMo in a bad position here"?

Let's assume you're right and DMo is under contract and the 30 days starts Dec. 5. Worst case scenario for DMo. He can still walk in the door January 3 and take his physical, can't he? If he passes, he gets $5 million and Rockets have one week to decide whether to give him another $3.5 million. That's the worst case scenario for DMo. Dude, he can walk in and get a $5 million check without playing one minute or practicing one second with the squad. That's the worst case here. That's more money then going through training camp and playing the entire year on the qualifying offer.

Just because you don't like what BJ has done here doesn't mean he's doing DMo a bad job. He is getting DMo his money. That's what he's supposed to do. Yeah.....You can call it dirty if you want to. He's stretching the cba to its outer limits. But be fair here.....we love Morey for doing the same thing.

If you can't answer my question and show what DMo is losing here then you should stop the silly BJ bashing. He's simply doing his job.

 

Great find. First time I saw the details of the incentives:

 

The 4m offseason incentives seem reasonable to match. Nothing team performance related.

 

How would we know that unless we compare it to other players' offseason incentives?

Players get PAID a quarter of a million dollars for the organization to then spend on resources to get them in shape? Wow. The world is f***ed up.