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

Well you were right. The next move was Morey's. He made it by placing DMo on the Inactive List.

Didn't see that coming did you. Proof he's under contract enough for Morey to make 2 moves in a row and move him to the suspended list next. No penalties you say.

DMo's move now

He better make it quick, because in 30 Days it's checkmate.

 

Link? (Though that's still a vague statement. Just says calm down while we do business and no guarantees of anything that anyone wants)

Or IF true, could be "Watch D-Mo squirm when he's missing those game checks and comes crawling back in a few days"

 

http://www.weibo.com/dmorey?profile_ftype=1&is_all=1#_0

 

Morey can speak Chinese?



Also Faybo >>> Weibo

 

The Tv-calculator line was a good one.

But BJ is not being himself in a corner. He knows what he's doing here.

 

No

I'm not talking like Houston is in desperate need right now. Stay on the subject. We're talking about the DMo situation.

 

What do you mean no penalties?

You and BJ are the only ones looking at this and thinking DMo is going to win this situation. All of the cap experts have weighed in and said the opposite of your position.

 

More evidence. 'holic = BJA. The plot is too thick.

 

Fay?

To answer your question, Morey is an android programmed to serve the Moneymaker Les, and yes, he might have googled in his head.

 

That's a little softer stance than what you previously said. I'm inclined to agree with the give and take idea but I also don't think Morey has to bend to anything. This isn't just about the Rockets and I imagine other teams, if not every other team, is on the side of the Rockets' not giving in. But I imagine if the only issue is 6mil than something can be worked out. His agent is a moron though.

 

Don't know what you mean by win this situation. DMo has gotten jerked around all summer and lost dollars from what he could have made if the teams were operating in the "true spirit of the cba" instead of horsing around and manipulating him.

But I will say this very clearly, just like I said it when many others thought he was "losing" by not accepting the qualifying offer nor the one-year $7 million guarantee offer, he's not losing a nickel of that money. And he hasn't.

The qualifying offer was a loser. Because they could bury him on the bench or he could have gotten hurt, and he would be right back in the "prove it to me" mode this next summer.

The $7 million guarantee offer was a loser because it would have allowed Morey to turn him into a trade pawn, not play him, to preserve his health until the deadline.

And the other thing I know is there was at least one team willing to pay him much more than either of those offers.

Right now I'm telling you DMo is either going to get all this money on the table in this contract......or more. I'm saying that, not because I'm in DMo's camp, I'm not. I'm saying that because I'm looking at the reality of the situation and based on knowledge I have of some of the things that happened this summer. I do know a little bit of what went on this summer. That doesnt mean I'm a huge DMo fan. I'm not. I like him as a player. But I don't view him as an untouchable part of a championship team. More like a great fourth or fifth piece.

This situation has evolved to this point primarily because of monkey business during the summer. Restricted free agency is a dirty business for most non-max players like DMo that aren't offered a viable extension. All that has happened here is BJ has gotten down and dirty back. Morey knows it. And other GM's know it. Yes, they are surprised. They are surprised he went there. But they are no more surprised than other GM's were when Morey worked them in trade talks then went another direction after gathering a ton of intel and feigning interest in a deal he was never going to do. No more surprised than other agents at the cold "it's just business" attitude after working a player up that they were wanted before their restricted free agency then dumping on them all summer.

This is all just business. I don't have a side here other than seeing the Rockets win. And part of that win is maximizing asset values for future transactions. I want us to get the most and best out of DMo, either by him playing and contributing significantly or by being able to trade him for great value because he has played well enough for another team to want him.

This situation has evolved (or devolved) to this point. If they don't renegotiate then DMo will most likely walk in some time in the first week in January and take his physical. They'll either pass or fail him. If they pass him they have to write a check for $5 million immediately and then they have just a day or two to evaluate him before they're on the hook for another $3.5 million and they basically have about 7 weeks to evaluate whether or not they want to pay him another $8 million next season. Or they can cut him and he can go sign with the Nets or some other team. Either way DMo gets his money. And its way more than $4.4 million or $7 million. Because if they cut him....He's going to get another contract from the Nets or somebody else. Because if they cut him before March 1 and he hasn't suffered another injury, they are cutting him simply because they don't want him clogging the cap all summer. You want to talk about stupid? How about paying a guy $8.5 million to do nothing and then not even be able trade him for anything. Just cut him loose. That is totally stooooooooooopid. And that's why this deal is a loser for us and BJ might just be saving us from this debacle if he'll renegotiate a better deal which pays DMo more money yo front but avoids this disastrous scenario.

This is why Morey is the one in the corner, not DMo. Because BJ is shortening up Morey's decision making time.

The smart thing to do here is for Morey to renegotiate a multi-year deal that moves the guarantee date for 2017 and beyond back to the summer of 2017. This would allow the Rockets the trade/free agent flexibility they desire and would allow DMo to get paid along the lines of what teams were talking to him about this summer before the dirty business kicked in. But to accomplish this Morey is going to have to up the salary substantially to a number starting around $16 million first year, maybe more, maybe slightly less if he can get DMo/BJ to accept less, but nevertheless a totally guaranteed year 1 salary substantially higher than $8 million.

In my opinion this would be money well spent and puts the Rockets in great shape come the summer. I feel very strongly about it. We need that guarantee date moved back to around July 15th and a fat non-guaranteed contract is a great asset that mitigates any risk of the player crapping out.

The one thing that could prevent this deal from happening would be the trust factor. There may be too many bridges burnt on both ends here for this to happen. But it should happen. Because DMo is going to get his money, one way or the other. And this current deal is going to be an on-going issue for the team even after DMo is on court playing. This deal is a problem for the Rockets. They need to change it and negotiate something better here.

 

Is an expert opinion REALLY an expert opinion if it disagrees with basketballholic's expert opinion?

 

This.

The issue here isn't about doing right by Dmo. RFA is a function of the CBA and impacts how every team in the league operates. Allowing a player to circumvent it sets a precedence and undermines the CBA. It's not about feelings or an idiot on clutchfans who has convinced himself he's an insider. It's about business.

Look for the Rockets to keep their mouth shut and play by the letter of the law. DMO can get pissy all he wants, but it's clearly a lack of understanding the detail of the CBA that has burned him and that falls solely on his representation and ultimately, himself.

 

DMo should show up , take his physical , play basketball & get paid .... and fire his moron of an agent and sue him for the difference. It's his mistake that has him in this hot mess ..... hold him liable for that mistake , not the Rockets.

 

Your whole analysis only works if dmo can walk in early January and get a $5m check and force the rockets to then decide if they want to pay him another 3mm for the rest of the year and by march 1 decide to pick up his option for 2017. I know you've been hinting or flatly stating this for a while now. The problem is that all of the cap experts disagree with you. I agree we'll need lawyers who have read all the contracts and terms to be certain, but everyone else other than you (including coon, mannix, marks and others) so far have indicated that he is under contract (including his listing on the inactive list) as of now, and that he can be disciplined for not complying with the cba. Even though Morey conditioned his match with a physical, the cba deems the Match to be a contract and dmo is obligated to show up to the physical in two days. His breach puts him in breach of the cba and his contract. I think we'll know pretty shortly whether dmo gets fined pretty shortly and docked pay. Have you noticed that even the players' association is saying nothing? Have you noticed that not a single writer has made he argument you made? I understand the argument but no nba or cba expert has even posited the notion, which suggests to me that your view is correct. Otherwise you'd see amick woj etc pointing out the nuances.

If dmo gets $12-16m a year I'Ll hail your genius but I'm not holding my breath. Dmo couldn't even get more than $8/yr, and only because he agreed to a 4 year contract ! with 2 team options. No way he's getting what you're saying. By all accounts he's fighting because he lost $4-6m total over incentives. Also rockets can outnaneuver him by just waiving his physical at any time. He'll be stuck with the $31m contract and 4 years servitude. Why give someone $12-16m when you can pay him $8m?

In any case the Rockets will fine him or dock his pay until he shows up. If he reports the first week of Jan yes he gets $8m but its reduced by his fines/withholding of salary. He's also a trade chip a year later. If he doesn't report by then he loses a years eligibility and in march no one can make him an offer again and he'Ll be an rfa again.

You think bj is playing chess while Morey is being outclasses. The fact is I'd put my money on Morey and the rest of the cba experts over bj. As I've said before I think bj blew it for dmo. A good agent would have done any of the following before getting here:
1. Gotten a deal worked out at the start of free agency
2. Gotten offers from other teams during the start of free agency, LIKE EVERY OTHER RESTRICTED FREE AGENT GOT SUCH AS CRABBE ETC.
3. Gotten offers by the end of free agency.
4. Accepted the QO, gotten $4.4m and be unrestricted. And given his client a year in the dantoni inflated system which helps players like dmo get their numbers and be one of the few bigs in free agency next year
5. Accepted the $7-8/yr contract from the rockets with a team option of 1 other year (not great but two years servitude is less than 4).
6. Gotten Utah to make their offer before signing the NJ offer
7. If Utah made its offer before signing the NJ offer, told dmo or sign the Utah offer
8. Not structured such a stupid agreement with NJ that was an easy match - only $5m guaranteed with multiple looks, no player options and 2 ! Team options
9. Not accept in incentives that don't need to be matched by houston, or fail to convince Utah to do them in a different way
10. Probably fail to tell dmo about the ability of the rockets to not match incentives
11. Not be the laughingstock of the NBA community - if you don't think this episode his hitting his reputation right now you are wrong. Everyone else is going why is dmo the only rfa getting screwed.
12. Not harm dmo's rep and set up a toxic environment for dmo.

 

Faybo:

 

I think it's pointless to talk about any "would have been" offer or plausible numbers since DMO signed the NETS offer already.

 

So, what if the Rockets pull their offer the day he walks into the office to take the physical due to his failing to report in a reasonable amount of time? He goes back into the RFA pool and the process starts anew. He still has yet to earn one penny this season and there is no guarantee any team will offer a better contract. If he immediately signs a new contract with a different team, it could be seen that he already had a prearranged deal which would lead to tampering charges.

 

Its not what you know but what you can prove. What movie?

 

You're right. In 30 days, the decision will be made for Morey.

Inactive List
potential for Suspended List

Your move BJ

That's because Morey wants and needs DMo so bad, he can't lose him. He wants him so bad, he can't let him return to RFA, so he will pay $15-16m per year in order to prevent Utah from swooping in with a $10m deal to match.

Why don't you research what is happening here.