Southwest Notes: Motiejunas, Douglas, Harrison

The Rockets aren’t facing an easy decision about matching the Nets’ offer sheet for Donatas Motiejunas, writes James Herbert of CBS Sports. The four-year, $37MM deal only has $5MM in guaranteed money. Motiejunas would get another $3.5MM this season if he is still on the roster January 10th, and his salary for next season would be guaranteed if he is not waived before March 1st. There is a July 7th trigger date for each of the final two non-guaranteed seasons.

While the financial risk is small, there are other factors that may make the Rockets hesitate. Motiejunas was limited by back trouble last season, and a trade to Detroit in February was rescinded because he couldn’t pass a physical. Houston officials are worried about how much Motiejunas’ condition may deteriorate in two seasons, tweets Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. Also, because the offer sheet came after November 23rd, which is three months before the trade deadline, Motiejuans can’t be dealt for the rest of the season. He can’t be traded without his consent for a full year. In addition, there are also concerns about whether his post-up style would fit in with coach Mike D’Antoni’s philosophy. The Rockets must make a decision on whether to match by Monday.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

• The Grizzlies are now in position to be granted an injury exception, which they are expected to use to sign veteran guard Toney Douglas, according to Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. League rules say the exception can be granted once a team has at least four players miss three consecutive games and several will be out for an extended time. The Grizzlies reached that threshold after Saturday’s game, when they were missing six players. Douglas is in Memphis now waiting for the paperwork to be finalized, tweets Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com.
• The Grizzlies are impressed by the performance of rookie guard Andrew Harrison, who moved into the starting lineup after an injury to Mike Conley, writes Mike Bohn of USA Today.  “I know we short handed, but got a bunch of tough guys on this team that believe we [can] win,” Harrison said. “Losing Mike was big, he’s an MVP candidate in my eyes, but we know what we got to do: We got to bring it every night.”
• The job of carrying on the Spurs‘ tradition has fallen to Tony Parker now that Tim Duncan has retired, according to The Vertical’s Michael Lee. Parker is in his 16th season in San Antonio, making him the longest-tenured Spur. “I just want to make sure we keep winning and keep the tradition going,” he said. “Obviously, we’re always going to miss Timmy and you can’t replace Timmy. We just have to do it a different way.”