The Houston Rockets have offered a contract to restricted free agent Donatas Motiejunas, reports ESPN’s Marc Stein:
ESPN sources say Houston's latest offer to Donatas Motiejunas is a multiyear deal that starts at a fully guaranteed $7 million in Year 1.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) November 4, 2016
Motiejunas is still a restricted FA after letting his $4.4M qualifying offer expire. Incentives can take latest Houston offer into $8M range
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) November 4, 2016
Nov. 23 is an unofficial deadline for Houston to strike a deal with Donatas Motiejunas, since he's ineligible to be traded after that date.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) November 4, 2016
If Stein’s report is accurate, it’s likely that we’ll see Motiejunas suit up for Houston soon.
Injury concern has been an issue for Motiejunas, but there can be no denying that he’s a very talented big man whose skillset is ideal for the modern era. A legitimate seven-footer, Motiejunas is slow but is a high-IQ big man with nice passing skills. He also has a capable jump shot, and even shot 36.8% from three-point range in 2014-15.
With Nene and Ryan Anderson now on the roster, it’s hard to say how many minutes Motiejunas would play. At the very least, though, he could serve as insurance for those two players — both of whom have been injury-prone in the past.
