DECEMBER 15TH, 1:41pm: The Rockets have had discussions with several teams about trading Jones, but they’d like to keep him, sources tell Watkins, who confirms earlier reports of the team’s interest in Morris.
DECEMBER 7TH, 11:09am: Houston is holding on to Jones for now, even as several teams around the league want to trade for him, tweets Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported late Sunday that the Rockets would likely relinquish Jones if they were to deal for Markieff Morris.
DECEMBER 4TH, 2:39pm: The Rockets are looking into trading either Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas or both, a source tells Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). It’s unclear whether Houston has reached out to other teams about the power forwards or if the discussion is merely internal. SheridanHoops editor Chris Sheridan, who relayed Scotto’s reporting, said the team was “kicking tires” on the idea.
Rockets officials have been “sniffing around” for deals, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders wrote this week, though they aren’t exploring trades involving Ty Lawson, Kyler later heard. Houston is a disappointing 8-11 but has won three of its last four.
Motiejunas has yet to play this season as he recovers from a back injury that prematurely ended his 2014/15 campaign, though interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff made comments today that suggested he’s open to the idea of Motiejunas making his season debut tonight, reports Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Jones has been healthy this year after missing much of last season with a nerve injury that prompted him to worry he’d never play again.
Both Jones and Motiejunas abandoned extension talks after their reps were reportedly unable to make any headway as they negotiated with GM Daryl Morey and company. That means the pair of former first-round picks are set for restricted free agency in July. In the meantime, they’re playing on the final seasons of their respective rookie scale contracts, with Jones making slightly less than $2.49MM and Motiejunas pulling down about $2.288MM.
The Rockets are hamstrung as they make moves this season, since they imposed an $88.74MM hard cap on themselves when they signed second-round pick Montrezl Harrell, who plays the same position as Jones and Motiejunas. Houston is less than $2MM shy of that cap. The team has a trade exception worth less than $1MM that’s set to expire on December 19th, and while it holds relatively little value, it could come in handy if the team constructs a complicated trade.
Should the Rockets trade Jones, Motiejunas, both, or neither? Leave a comment to give your input.
Yes, they definitely need to trade both. Capela has filled in nicely at the 4 spot. Might as well dump both for someone that will clear space for more money after the season.
Who do you think they should target?
the raptors would LOVE one of those two – esp. jones. rockets should target patrick patterson – whose salary comes off the books year after next, making him a good asset for a team that will want to compete next year (if not this year). and they should also expect a 1st round pick, which the raptors would do (they have 4 in two years). a plus plus trade, IMO.
Morey drafted Patterson with the last pick of the lottery in 2010, so you might be on to something.
You’re drunk. 2Pat should never be a Rocket again, they are trying to get better, not regress.
Terrible take. Hi, I’m Basketball, we’ve clearly never met. Capela is great, but D. Mo IS much better on offense.
The Blazers should look for montiejunas?
….to stay in Houston and light up their front court.
Terrence Jones seems most likely to be traded. Lost his starting spot and hasn’t played well this season, so maybe a change of scenery is in order. One team that should take a look at him is the Pelicans. Jones would pair with Anthony Davis (both were teammates at Kentucky) with Davis moving to Center. Jones would fit as the young athletic forward who fits the up-tempo style Alvin Gentry wants. Only thing is, while I’m not sure who New Orleans would give up, it may cost them Ryan Anderson. As for Montiejunas, he hasn’t played yet this year, but he has the better chance to stick around. I thought he played very well on offense, scoring in the post and hitting the 3 point shot.
I have been saying that all along. Especially a team that takes a lot of three pointers and makes a few.
If the rockets can swing a trade to get ryan anderson from NOP, and the Nets Jarret Jack from a combination of Jones, D-Mo, Terry, and/or Lawson. I’d take that deal in a heartbeat.
Trade Motiejunas to The Detroit Pistons.
Yes. Pistons should look into acquiring both. They need bench frontcourt help badly and they both fit the SVG system. They can shoot from the outside.
Trade both of them for Ryan Anderson