What’s next for Donatas Motiejunas?
At the moment, it’s hard to know exactly what’s next for Donatas Montiejunas. Having spent all summer (and most of the fall) in restricted free agent purgatory, Motiejunas is now an unrestricted free agent after severing ties with the Rockets.
On one hand, this is a good thing for Motiejunas. Although his deal with the Rockets would have paid him more than $30 million over four years, it was never exactly clear how he’d fit in. Houston has won 10 straight and are humming along right now in just about every way. Their frontcourt isn’t exactly star studded, but it’s more than serviceable for what Mike D’Antoni wants and James Harden needs. Every player has a role — Clint Capela blocks shots and dunks, Ryan Anderson shoots threes, Nene provides the bulk, etc.
Still, on paper, it’s not hard to find a role for Montiejunas. As a big who can play the four and the five while having shown signs of being both a stretchy 3-point shooter and a polished post-scorer, he’d seem to be an ideal fit for what Houston does. But it’s also hard to see them being willing to work him into the rotation when everything is humming along.
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On the other hand, Montiejunas’ free agency is bad for him because it (likely) ends his chance of getting a pay day for this season. Most teams are capped out from spending real money until the summer and the teams the could sign him to something more than a minimum deal — the Nuggets and 76ers come to mind — don’t need any frontcourt help. Sam Hinkie might have signed him anyway where he still running the 76ers, but alas.
The Nets — the one that maybe could have signed him on basketball grounds because they can/should sign anyone with any skill (and already tried to Motiejunas) now can’t for a year. In short, instead of having the next four years secured, Montiejunas’ best chance of playing in the NBA this year means signing a minimum or slightly bigger one-year deal in the hopes of parlaying it into a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal in July.
Three possible, purely speculative options for Motiejunas:
- The Cavs: Cleveland only has three bigs after Chris Andersen tore his ACL and realistically only had three before Andersen’s injury. They’d need to clear a roster spot, but it’s not hard to see him getting minutes in some way with the Cavs. Plus, his skill set would fit in with what Cleveland does.
- The D-League: It’s not a great financial option for Motiejunas. But he’d a) get to play a lot, b) be the best player on whatever team he ends up on and c) get a consistent chance to showcase where he’s at on a nightly basis. If anything, the D-League could be used to prove to NBA teams that his back is fine.
- The Pelicans: Anthony Davis really, really needs help. And New Orleans needs actual NBA players. If he’s solely looking to play, the Pellies make a ton of sense.
This all, of course, depends on the health of his back. The willingness of Houston to let him walk despite having all the leverage makes it seem like there may be something seriously wrong there; any team who is interested in him will have to vet him extensively to make sure he’s actually healthy. If his back will be a major issue long term, Montiejunas’ career outlook gets bleak in a hurry.
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If he’s healthy, though. Montiejunas has options. He’s 26 with the skill set of a modern big and could play well enough with whoever picks him up to secure the deal he wanted this summer in 2017. Or he won’t — it’s entirely up to him.