But what about CF's other favorite forward Josh Smith? Spoiler Or their other other favorite forward Michael Beasley? (OK, OK, he's currently employed) Spoiler Can't forget x-factor D-Mo! Spoiler
Let me refresh your memory. The news reports that came out indicated that there was nothing wrong with D-Mo's back and the Rockets used his previous back surgery as leverage in the contract negotiations. Read the the article from NBA.com. Here is a timeline of the events. 12-02-2016 (Friday) D-Mo signs contract with Nets that includes easily attainable incentives for 37 million D-Mo passed the Nets Team physical for his contract to be valid (Article dated Tuesday 12-13-2016) 12-05-2016 (Monday) Rockets match contract but do not match the portion of the contract that includes incentives (Approximately 6 million). 12-06-2016 (Tuesday) D-Mo refuses to report to the Rockets because the Rockets did not match the incentives. 12-09-2016 (Friday) D-Mo and Rockets split the difference on the incentives (approximately 3 million) for a $35 million contract 12-09-2016 (Friday) D-Mo Takes his physical with the Rockets 12-11-2016 (Sunday) D-Mo still not cleared to play, told to go home after showing up for a game on Saturday 12-12-2016 (Monday) NBA League Office gets involved in the Rockets and D-Mo contract negotiations 12-12-2016 [Houston Chronicle] Rockets in talks with league about Donatas Motiejunas resolution 12-13-2016 (Tuesday) The Rockets are still in discussions with the League 12-15-2016 (Thursday) - Rockets renounce rights to Donatas Motiejunas, end contract saga Here are a few more articles from the time the Rockets renounced their rights to D-Mo. 12-15-2016 ESPN - Rockets officially cut ties with forward Donatas Motiejunas 12-15-2016 NBA.com - Houston Rockets renounce rights to Donatas Motiejunas 12-15-2016 The Dream Shake - The Rockets are done with Donatas Motiejunas for good The Bottom line is that the Rockets wanted to sign him for cheap (below market value) and use his back surgery to do that while still being able to use him as trade bait. One of the key concessions the Rockets got from D-Mo's team was moving the date back on when his contract was fully guaranteed from March of 2017 to June or July of 2017. This gave the Rockets more time to evaluate him or include him in a trade before his contract became fully guaranteed. At the time, the team wanted to maintain financial flexibility and have as many tradable assets as possible. Five months later, we get reports that D-Mo is suing the Rockets. 05-12-2017 [Sporting News] - Pelicans' Donatas Motiejunas suing Rockets, NBA over contract saga, SN sources say 05-13-2017 [fanside] - Report: Donatas Motiejunas close to finalizing lawsuit against Houston Rockets, NBA Then one day later we get reports that D-Mo didn't sue the rockets 05-14-2017 [NBC Sports] Donatas Motiejunas denies suing Rockets D-Mo was guaranteed $31 million over 4 years since he passed the physical with the Nets. My best guess is that the Rockets and D-Mo settled out of court and kept the terms of the agreement confidential. How much they settled for is anyone's guess. It probably would have looked really bad for the Rockets with free agents if it went to court. It would be nice to have D-Mo back and I believe he could help the team. D-Mo is clearly better than Tarik Black and could help out at the 5 when Capella or Nene are out. Considering that D-Mo got **** blocked by the Rockets, I seriously doubt D-Mo would ever play for the Rockets again. At the end of the day, the Rockets played hardball and D-Mo had a crappy agent, which resulted in everyone losing out.
Besides, we already have a younger, healthier DMo named Isaiah Hartenstein: Source: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Isaiah-Hartenstein-81574/
The main snag in matching the Nets offer for Houston was that when a team matches a qualifying offer, the team that matched the offer can't trade the player for a year. This mean that that the Rockets would not have been able to trade D-Mo until December of 2017. This date (Deceember 2017) is also after that date (March 2017 and then later June 2017) when the Rockets would be required to fully guarantee D-Mo's contract. NBA.com confirms that there were no issues with his back.
So DMo can help the best team in the league (us!) Yet no other team felt like he could help them, therefore the exile to China? Something smells funny and I'm not talking about baconator fries! Good luck DMo .. hope you have a good seat for the playoffs. Orrr dun dun dunnnnnn .. he signs with GS!!
The weird thing is that D-Mo didn't even try to sign with an NBA team this year. After the 2016-17 season was over, D-Mo played for the Lithuanian national team, then went straight to China. May 15-2017 [Pelicans Fan Page] Donatas Motiejunas not planning on a return to the New Orleans Pelicans I best guess is that the Rockets are probably still paying him per his arbitration agreement and by playing in China, he is double dipping. Go back and read the some of the comments D-Mo made.
I'm really not that intetested in proving DMo is innocent in what happened. He could have been a part of this, but cried his way out over 6Ms. Soo bye DMo. This team doesnt need him to be successful.
Since it was private, how do you know? What special powers do you have that Dmo got some NBA windfalll? Just one link...
