Young and restless, Donatas Motiejunas’s soap opera with the Rockets continues

he actually should have maximized the primary offer while minimizing the incentives

 

And get buried on the bench then have to go into free agency without having been able to play consistently to prove his value? Then having to sign another low ball deal this summer? Or God forbid, he gets injured again? Absolutely not. No. Not when he knows there's more money on the table.

 

1. Larry Coon is not incorrect about the CBA.
2. If earnings is what he's concerned with, don't settle for a deal with 2 non-guaranteed years. If he doesn't want to be on the Rockets, don't bring them a team-friendly deal that they would obviously match. If he wants a guaranteed role, go to Europe.
3. If he's already concerned with his future contracts before he even starts his current contract, that's when you know things aren't looking great for DMo.

Well I congratulate DMo and BJ, as they are accomplishing precisely zero of these goals.

 

If he got buried on the bench, he would then at least get to bring that up in negotiations and perform well when he did play.
Getting injured again was a risk he'd have to take to become UNRESTRICTED and choose WHICHEVER team he wanted.

If there's more money on the table, why didn't he get it?

 

Explain how?

 

one side has $31 million in leverage
The other side has the threat of playing in Europe for a year and trying to get a better contract next time for leverage

For a team playing well and fairly stacked at the 4/5, there is no pressure to get this done.

 

He did. The QO was $4.4 million?

 

0a. show up
0b. take physical
1a. get paid
1b. play
1c. control his destiny

 

But if he's not showing up, he's not getting the money. Can't have your cake and eat it too.

Want the money? Show up.
Want whichever team you choose. Take the QO and become unrestricted.

THAT'S the point. He's not getting paid or getting to play right now. TOTAL fail by BJ. He should be fired.

 

bingo

 

I know you're hopping between threads and may have explained it somewhere else, BUT... what leverage do they have? What is the path that gets them from "Contractually obligated to play for the Rockets" to "Signing a new contract with the Utah Jazz"? As of right now, if he doesn't show up for the physical, the Rockets won't pay him a cent - right?

 

if he get's buried on the bench that's bc HE isn't playing well enough to earn more minutes. why are you absolving Dmo in all this? if HE wants more money he needs to stay healthy and play well. he tested the market and this was the best offer HE and HIS AGENT thought they could get.

sorry dude but dmo doesn't get to determine what the market is for him. why is that such a hard concept for you to grasp?

 

1. Didn't say Coon wasnt correct about CBA. I said he's not close enough to the situation here with DMo to understand the whys.

2. He can't prove anything in Europe. He'd just be delaying this whole RFA need another year. DMo has not indicated he doesn't want to be on the Rockets. He has indicated he doesn't want to be on the Rockets and buried on the bench. And he's indicated he doesn't want to be screwed over anymore by taking teams arbitrary non-uniform physicals.

3. Obviously. That's why BJ is fighting for playing time with the structure of this contract.

 

Yes I understand.

There are a ton of "if's" with that you just said.

And not only that, if he played in Brooklyn or Houston, and played well (anything close to his pre-back injury) no team would release him just to clear up cap space. 8.5 million, especially with today's cap, would be an absolute steal.

 

Full disclosure, I don't understand the nuts and bolts of how a player's pay is determined. That being said, based on DMO's attitude and sense of entitlement, I honestly wouldn't pay the guy 10 dollars an hour to work at Burger King.

 

He can't force the Rockets to play him X amount of minutes. It's up to him to play well enough to garner those minutes. And he can not prove that he is worthy of minutes if he chooses to not play basketball. These are the rules. He signed the deal. He got matched. Up to him to earn his role on the team now. This shouldn't be anything BJ/DMo didn't expect to happen.

 

How much is that after Taxes in Texas a week?

 

This guy thinks he is the second coming of Dirk or something. Take the money and start playing. Prove your worth and you'll get your payday. Additionally, if you wanted to have the freedom of choice in FA, you should've signed the QO. I doubt DMo would be buried in the bench because he is talented and Harden likes playing with him. He would have had plenty of opportunities to improve his market value and get a good payday next offseason. This makes me question his actual desire to (a) play basketball in general or (b) play with the Rockets. As far as I'm concerned, I don't want to have to question either.

 

True. But we're stripping incentives from him that they think he would make playing for the Nets. What is he losing by not showing up for a few days? Nothing. But he could gain.

Consider the options.

1. Rockets could waive the physical. That would be good for DMo.

2. Rockets could hold him in limbo for a period of time. He has nothing to lose until Jan. 10th. Salary does not start pro-rating until that point. He could come in and take the physical on Jan 9 and get his whole salary guaranteed the next day.

3. Rockets could return him to RFA. He would lose the possibility of playing for the Nets. But if the Jazz rumor is true he could wind up with more guaranteed money and an obvious role since he's got a higher than average guaranteed salary.

4. Rockets could execute a 1 for 2, 2 for 3, 3 for 4 trade, that would require Donats roster spot. So they would have to return him to RFA and then renounce him to unrestricted status. That could turn out to be a bonanza for him.

DMo has nothing to lose and the possibility of a lot to gain here until at least Jan 10.

 

Exactly Rockets are not wrong here