NBA Rumors: Houston Rockets match Donatas Motiejunas’ offer sheet
By Dave Holcomb
It turns out center Donatas Motiejunas isn’t going anywhere. The Houston Rockets matched Brooklyn’s offer sheet and retained Motiejunas before Monday’s deadline, according to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Nets signed center Donatas Motiejunas to an offer sheet for four years and $37 million, including bonuses. The Rockets were given time to match the offer, and that’s exactly what they did.
It’s definitely a raise from what Houston was paying Motiejunas, but even his new deal could be viewed at as a bargain once the salary cap escalates again next summer. If he plays all four years, the 26-year-old will receive an average annual salary of $9.25 million, which is even less than several reserve players earned in free agency this past offseason.
Houston has matched Brooklyn's offer sheet and retained Donatas Motiejunas, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 5, 2016
And even if Motiejunas doesn’t end up playing all of his contract in Houston, the Rockets need him for the short term. Houston had high expectations heading into the season, and the team has begun 2016-17 with a record of 13-7. They are currently fourth in the Western Conference and could make some noise come playoff time.
Keeping Motiejunas provides coach Mike D’Antoni another inside-out big man, and Houston now has some of the best depth at forward in the entire NBA. Last season, Motiejunas played in just 37 games due to back issues. In limited action, he averaged 6.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 43.9 percent.
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In his four NBA seasons, he’s only played more than 70 games in a season once (2014-15). During that season, he averaged 12.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 1.8 apg while shooting 50.4 percent. Not only did he play in more games two years ago, in the games he did play, Motiejunas averaged almost twice as many minutes.