WEDNESDAY, 10:02am: The Rockets have assigned Motiejunas and Machado to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, according to RealGM.com's transactions log. Given White's uncertain status, it appears he hasn't been officially signed to Houston's D-League affiliate at this point. As Hoops Rumors' Chuck Myron pointed out last night, NBA teams were previously limited to assigning two players at a time to D-League affiliates, so it's not clear whether that affects White's situation or if the rule has changed.
MONDAY, 10:47pm: The Rockets are sending Royce White, Donatas Motiejunas, and Scott Machado to their NBA D-League affiliate, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (via Twitter). Of the three players, Motiejunas is the only one to have logged NBA minutes with five minutes of play last night against the Pistons.
White, the 16th overall pick in the 2012 draft, picked up national attention for his unexpected absence from Rockets training camp over the summer. It turns out that the forward was struggling with anxiety issues, including a fear of flying. Later in the week, the two sides worked out an agreement in which White could travel to a portion of road games via bus rather than fly with the team.
this can’t be good.
This is ridiculous…D-Mo Euroleague starting center that is better than many nba old dudes. Screw you Rockets…wasting talent…
Really!!!, Royce White,SMH
I don’t understand Kevin McHale’s decisions sometimes. His current back-up Center, Small Forward and Point Guard (Aldrich, Morris, and Douglas) have had several erratic games so far. Why not give their chance to D-Mo, White and Machado before sending them to D-League? Regrdless of their rating those guys are proven talents, White and Machado could take some of the heavy playmaking responsibilities off of Lin and Harden, while D-Mo is possibly their best inside scorer. And it’s not like they’re gonna get that second (or 3rd if you see it that way) legitimate star player now, so I don’t understand not just giving everyone their chance at this point to try to find a winning rotation
i can understand white and the other guy, but donatas did well in preseason in my opinion he deserves a real shot at the nba
Man I don’t understand the Rockets organization. They pull off a great move in getting Harden and than make a questionable move here. They need these young guys to develop this year. Especially Donatas who I think can be a very good player in the league
They can develop in the D-League, what’s the point of getting DNP every game?
Yeah, but its better to develop in the NBA. Even if one gets only 5 minutes a game he will practice with the very best day in and day out.