[2016-2017] Donatas Motiejunas as a New Orleans Pelican

Maybe salary cap flexibility for this season. Can't trade a guy who can't pass physicals. Plus DMo is not Draymond Green. He wouldn't alter the Rockets chances of winning a championship.

 

We don't need cap flexibility, we need an extra big - and Dmo was off the books after this year - they will not be able to get another big as good as him off the scrap heap - without disrupting the chemistry they currently have.

Dmo was a ZERO risk move.

DD

 

The TJ and Moti Show

 

It makes sense that the Rockets didn't want to risk long term because of the prognosis of DMo's back. What is weird is that the Rockets could have renounced him much earlier. Why did they wait till the second negotiated contract after the matching AND then decided they didn't want to take the risk? Why were they so uninformed about DMo's health before that physical?

Remember DMo was still their player for more than a year after his injury. He was even cleared to play. They should have a pretty good grasp of the condition of his back. And they still (1) gave him a QO, (2) put a slightly better deal on the table, (3) matched the Nets deal, and (4) renegotiated a second deal on the incentives and stuff. Why did they suddenly change their mind after THAT physical? (A) Did they see something they hadn't seen? Or (B) Did something happened to DMo's back during those few days? I think (B) is extremely unlikely. If (A) happened, then somebody in the medical team the Rockets hired had screwed up way before this drama started. Or somebody had screwed the Rockets, intentionally hiding information about DMo's health.

 

And this is why we can't even assume DMo lost out on $4.4m QO. Had he signed it, Rockets probably still fail him.

Consider this:

• Morey voided one of the sweetest, team-friendly contracts ever created -- essentially three consecutive team options
• If he voids that, why wouldn't he also void a $4.4m QO for the same results of a physical
• The QO had a no-trade veto power for the player (per the CBA rules)
• Even if he does decide to waive the results of the physical, sign the QO with DMo, showcase DMo for a trade, and get DMo's consent to the trade, what really are you going to get back for a 1/2 yr rental turning UFA.
• DET gave a mid-low 1st rounder and they had RFA rights, and they still voided.
• The only thing better about the QO for the Rockets on same bad physical is it saves some money.

• So, due to complexities of trading and low value of the 1/2 yr rental trade ... I can't see Morey giving the QO much additional value ... he still voids it, imo.

I think any offer (including the QO) would have been voided by the Rockets once they finally got their physical.

Lastly, the more DMo repeats his mantra that it got "personal", the more I think DMo had an attitude with the doctors who interviewed him during the physical. That would be a red flag to most physicians, making them think he's hiding something regarding answering questions about "Do you ever have any morning soreness and stiffness?"

 

HP, this is what I've been thinking too. What I don't get is why the Rockets even needed a physical when he had been their player for more than a year after his injury. Didn't they have good knowledge of his physical condition? Normally, a physical was needed for a team getting someone from another team to make sure he's not damaged good.

 

The only problem with the failure analogy, is if DMo knew that, he would have never skipped that physical when Houston matched the Brooklyn deal as it would have guaranteed him 5m now, and 9+ mill on March 1st.....if he is truly injured, he would not have cared about that extra 6m, as he would have not expected to get that......

Anyway, he is gone....hope he does well for the Pels.

DD

 

This is why DMo (and BJ), not the Rockets, truly screwed DMo out of millions. If he only showed up for the physical after the matching, he would have gotten what the Nets signed him for, at least for this season, with or without the incentive money.

 

Love @Clutch coming in here and dropping the knowledge!

 

Agreed, but then why would DMo say they never reached a new deal?

Maybe he is talking about it never completed? Meh, dunno....

DD

 

Well they unquestionably did want a physical. So that is not really even a question, just a curiosity for you, I guess.

If you are asking for speculation as if maybe it's not the truth, why? If you forced me to guess why they wanted a physical, the answer is surely because they didn't have one.

There is nothing in the CBA that requires team doctors to break doctor/patient privilege during a contract. Only when transferring a contract in trade or signing a new contract must the player provide records and not withhold anything asked that is relevant to ascertaining the physical ability of the player to execute of the contract

Clearly they wanted a physical done

 

Well clearly they did because it happened. I am not questioning the truth of it. I am trying to understand/speculate what was going on. This is the one thing in the whole mystery that I have not got satisfactory answer. What did they find out in that physical that they hadn't already known about DMo's back, and most importantly, why had they not known?

I don't care if the CBA does not have a written requirement for team doctors to disclose a player's physical condition. It's just commonsense that a team needs to know the medical status of their players. How do they decide whether to play Capela or not if they don't know? How did they decide whether playing DMo would risk further damage to his back and therefore further damage his value? When they asked the team doctor, you think he'd say, "Just make the best guess you can. I'm not supposed to tell you anything"?

For now, my theory is that they did not find out anything new. Perhaps they were hoping to see that DMo's back would be better than what it had been half a year ago. But there was no improvement. And because the team was doing so well, they didn't think it was worth the risk. If my theory is correct, then the Rockets went through all the trouble of DMo's RFA (at least the last part, which was the nastiest part) hanging on a slim hope that his health could be better than they had thought.

 

Was there some information about the new deal incentive being 4 bodyscans per year?

And regardless of whether anything new was turned up, a fail is a fail.

Maybe the speculation could continue along the lines of what the Rockets could have possibly got for him. Hold the rfa rights, void the physical and set up a trade to the 'wanting' team via S&T? The league seems to have scuttled that option, at which point the Rockets gave up. Instead of sending him back to rot in RFA land, let him become a uFA (because rocks didnt want him at all?), and wash hands of the 2hole thing.

That is as speculative as anything else out there, but who really knows!

The most concerning thing re DMo is his desire to play 'as well as last year'. He was atrocious last year... if that is all he can aspire to.... oh dear.

 

The skillset he brings to the table would be enough for me to give him a shot. More than likely he would have played 10-20 minutes a night and provide the team an alternative when the three ball is a no go. Heck, playing with the tier 3 personnel he would be the focal point easily. Worst case, I think that insurance would cover the payout if it did not work out.

 

Yeah, they wanted an updated physical, to gauge lack of improvement or possible re injury in post season who cares. That's what I said. Don't see how that's so mysterious...like "they should have known all this before" what a bizarre statement you're making.

And what I meant about the CBA rules is the level of detail. Morey and the trainers and owner have no right to the details other than status to play and recovery time for coach and GM decisions. Player controls level of detail released.

So the team just finally wanted release of all doctors assessment and advice regarding signing a contract with the player. There could have even been an independent, postseason one that DMo did on his own, as I recall him saying he might do that and sue the Pistons. That one he likely answers questions more truthfully versus being a paranoid patient with an attitude towards rockets docs,, for instance. Any private physical DMo does also have to be released upon request by a signing team.

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Anyhow, don't be one of those people who take the stance "I don't understand something so I will thus take the position that sometthing bizarre or complicated must have happened. So until someone answers my layman questions of ignorance, I will suggest the most complicated scenarios and be suspicious of simple answers."

That phenomenon of ignorance to a subject leading to complicated scenarios is so weird to me.

They just wanted a physical for full assessment and advice from their doctors that they weren't able to ask for before, which also provided an update in the event he hurt something in summer training, or like you said, simply exhibits no improvement.

I don't get what you are asking, or why you can't accept a simple answer that I gave.

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None of this thread is about "Donatus Motiejunas as a New Orleans Pelican."

 

That's cause it would destroy the narrative of "The Rox totally screwed themselves by letting Dmo go" that's being perpetrated around here.

After his first somewhat decent game wherein DMo scored 11 pts, he followed it up by scoring 3 pts and now just 1 pt 3 rebs in 18 mins of play (going 0-7 from the field). And take note this is a game against the scrubby Nets, Terrence Jones had 24 pts and 12 rebs in comparison.

I dunno @DaDakota, looking at DMo's performances maybe Rox judged that after sitting out most of the season due to his contract issue, DMo would still need lots of games to play himself into shape and that's if his back doesn't give out. This means he would have been excess baggage for this team Wiltjer can't even get any PT so we really don't have time to babysit DMo. I'd rather spend that 4-9M on a big who will contribute immediately if all we want is somebody who will help the team this year.

 

Ros, DMo is a legitimate 7 footer - which is this teams biggest weakness we are short.

Should have kept him, we won't get a big as flexible and skilled that fits like him this year, which means we waste another year of Hardens career.

We are one big away from being a true contender, IMHO.

DD

 

Hasheem Thabeet is a 7 footer as well...

 

Honestly he would be useful on this team.......

DD