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Rockets Trying To Trade Donatas Motiejunas

January 7th, 2014 at 9:09pm CST by Jonathan Nehring

Donatas Motiejunas has been asking the Rockets for more playing time for a while now, but with the Rockets unable to ship off Omer Asik, those frontcourt minutes haven’t been around for Houston to give. It appears the Rockets are now looking to give Motiejunas those minutes another way — on a different team. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), the Rockets have been calling teams in order to help find Motiejunas a new team.

Motiejunas shares an agent with Asik and before Houston reached their self-imposed December 19th Asik deadline, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweeted that Motiejunas was desperate for playing time. Prior to that tweet, Motiejunas had played in 12 games, averaging 7.5 MPG; he has since appeared in five games, averaging nearly 10 MPG.

Motiejunas has averaged 2.7 PPG and 1.5 RPG in the games he has played this season. He is currently in the second year of his rookie deal with the Rockets, who picked up his option for next season.

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Latest On Celtics-Rockets Omer Asik Talks

December 18th, 2013 at 10:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

10:01pm: Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe hears the Celtics and Rockets are “close” to a deal and echoes much of what we heard tonight before Bulpett reported that the talks are no longer active. It appears the teams are sending out conflicting information on the talks, perhaps in an exercise of negotiating tactics, though that’s just my speculation.

9:16pm: The Celtics proposed a deal of Bass, Lee and a protected first-rounder for Asik a week ago, but talks have been closed since then, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. While other reports have indicated the teams are currently negotiating, that’s not the case, Bulpett writes, suggesting that Celtics GM Danny Ainge isn’t budging from his offer and that the Rockets would have to sweeten their end of the deal to revive discussions. Bulpett also hears that when the Rockets brought Asik aboard in 2012, they promised him they wouldn’t sign another center to compete with him for the starting job.

8:11pm: The Celtics prefer to trade the Clippers’ 2015 first-round pick they acquired via the Doc Rivers deal, while the Rockets are seeking a 2014 first-rounder, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

7:09pm: TNT’s David Aldridge suggests the Rockets won’t close on an Asik deal tonight, meaning they’ll have to pull one off Thursday to meet their self-imposed deadline (Twitter link).

6:50pm: The Trail Blazers, believing Asik isn’t worth the risk of disrupting team chemistry, aren’t involved in talks with the Rockets, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The Blazers have “grown to love” Robin Lopez and aren’t interested in any major acquisitions for now, Haynes adds.

6:24pm: Though the Hawks don’t appear too interested in Asik, his nearly $15MM balloon payment next season wouldn’t deter the team from taking him on, Vivlamore writes in a subscription-only piece.

5:58pm: The belief that the Celtics will land Omer Asik is growing stronger as other suitors drop out of the talks, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com. It looks like the deal would involve Brandon Bass, Courtney Lee and a draft pick headed to Houston in a trade that includes only the Celtics and Rockets. The two teams are debating over which pick Houston would get, Mannix adds (Twitter links). The Celtics had reportedly been reluctant to surrender their 2014 first-rounder, but it appears they’ve at least relented on the notion of draft compensation.

Lee spoke this afternoon about the possibility of getting traded, saying that he’d prefer to stay put but that he isn’t too concerned with the talk, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com notes (Twitter links). Lee is no stranger to Houston, having played there before the sign-and-trade that took him to Boston last year.

It’s not clear whether the Rockets would send anyone other than Asik to Boston, but Donatas Motiejunas is “desperate” for playing time, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, who points out that Motiejunas and Asik share an agent. Still, Motiejunas would prefer that he got added playing time in Houston rather than with another team, Feigen adds.

The Hawks, also reportedly an Asik suitor, were only in talks with the Rockets out of due diligence, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).

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Rockets Pick Up Options On Jones, Motiejunas

October 30th, 2013 at 4:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:36pm: The Rockets have officially announced that the team exercised its 2014/15 options on Jones and Motiejunas, tweets Feigen.

OCTOBER 30TH, 10:54am: Houston will officially exercise its options on Jones and Motiejunas today, tweets Feigen.

OCTOBER 20TH, 10:16am: The Rockets plan to exercise their team options on the rookie scale contracts of Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Both are coming off their rookie seasons, so the deadline to officially lock in the third years of their respective deals is October 31st. Jones’ 2014/15 option is worth $1,618,680, while Motiejunas is in line for $1,483,920.

The team is hesitant to turn the power forward position over to either just yet, even though the front office is ready to commit to both through 2015, Feigen writes. Motiejunas started 14 regular season games last season and appeared in 30 others, averaging 5.7 points and 2.1 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per contest. Still, he wasn’t a factor in Houston’s playoff series against the Thunder, notching just five total minutes. Jones saw slightly more time in the playoffs, scoring eight points in 35 total minutes, but he appeared in more D-League games than he did NBA contests last year. Jones put up 19.0 PPG and 9.0 RPG in 24 games for the D-League champion Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

The options, once officially exercised, will add about $3MM to the Rockets payroll for 2014/15, which already includes more than $53.8MM in guaranteed money. Houston will likely operate as an over-the-cap team next summer, unlike this past offseason, when the team used ample cap space to sign Dwight Howard. Keep up with each team’s rookie contract option decisions between now and the end of the month with our updated tracker.

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D-League Moves: Thunder, Mavs, Rockets, Suns

January 28th, 2013 at 3:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are today's D-League assignments and recalls, with the latest moves at the top of the page:

  • Jeremy Lamb and Daniel Orton, who have been shuttled back and forth between the Thunder and the Tulsa 66ers all season, were recalled from the D-League, the club announced today in a press release.
  • The Mavericks have re-assigned Jared Cunningham to the D-League, according to a team release. The move will give Cunningham a chance to play more minutes, as he'd only appeared briefly in one game for the Mavs since being recalled from the Texas Legends on December 31st.
  • The Rockets have recalled rookie big man Donatas Motiejunas from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced in a press release. Motiejunas had been on his third assignment to the D-League, where he has averaged 20.3 PPG and 9.7 RPG for the Vipers in seven games this season.
  • Diante Garrett has been recalled from the D-League by the Suns, the team announced today (Twitter link). In seven games for the Bakersfield Jam since being assigned to the team earlier this month, Garrett averaged 15.1 PPG and 7.4 APG, shooting a blistering 62.5% on three-pointers.
  • The Nets have recalled Tornike Shengelia and Tyshawn Taylor from the Springfield Armor, the team announced today in a press release. Both players have played extremely well in their two D-League stints this season, with Shengelia averaging 28.3 PPG, 13.7 RPG, and 7.0 APG in three games, while Taylor has recorded 26.5 PPG and 7.5 APG in four contests. However, Shengelia is currently out indefinitely with concussion symptoms.
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D-League Notes: Motiejunas, Copeland, White

December 18th, 2012 at 4:50pm CST by Zachary Links

We'll keep track of today's D-League news right here..

  • Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Iman Shumpert could also head to the D-League when he's healthy again, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
  • The Rockets have recalled Donatas Motiejunas from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced. The 7'0" rookie was assigned on Friday to the Vipers for the second time this season, and he averaged 23.0 points and 12.0 rebounds in two weekend contests.
  • The Knicks have also assigned Chris Copeland and James White to the BayHawks so that they can practice with them in Westchester, New York, tweets Al Iannazzone of Newsday.  Copeland, White, and Stoudemire will be called back up tomorrow.
  • Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace told Sports 56 WHBQ that Josh Selby will return from the D-League after two games, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal (via Twitter).  When Selby returns, Tony Wroten will be sent back to Reno.
  • Avery Bradley said the Celtics have talked with him about a D-League stint, but he plans on traveling west with the C's on their post-Christmas trip, tweets Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
  • The Knicks announced that they have assigned Amare Stoudemire to the Erie BayHawks of the Developmental League so that he can get practice reps before returning to the Knicks this weekend.  Coach Mike Woodson disclosed yesterday that Stoudemire would practice with the BayHawks, but it wasn't clear if he would be formally assigned to them.
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D-League Moves: Thunder, Rockets, Trail Blazers

December 14th, 2012 at 11:16am CST by Luke Adams

Here are Friday's D-League assignments and recalls:

  • The Thunder have assigned Jeremy Lamb and Daniel Orton to their D-League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. Oklahoma City has been making frequent use of the Tulsa 66ers this year in order to get its young players some minutes. It's the third assignment for Lamb and Orton.
  • The Rockets are sending Donatas Motiejunas and Terrence Jones back to their D-League affiliate, tweets Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston. It's the second time each player has been sent to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers this season.
  • Victor Claver and Joel Freeland have been assigned to the Idaho Stampede, the Trail Blazers announced today (Twitter link). Claver was sent down to the D-League for two games earlier this month, while Freeland has yet to join the Stampede this season.
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Western Notes: Lakers Assistants, Maynor, Watson

November 25th, 2012 at 10:36pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Comcast's Ric Bucher tweets that the Lakers are expected to keep their coaching staff intact, as many of the players have personal favorites among the current assistants. A few days ago, head coach Mike D'Antoni spoke favorably of the coaches that had carried over after Mike Brown's firing, telling ESPN LA: "They're good coaches. I know almost all of them anyway. They work extremely hard. We are in a lot. I just felt like, 'They're here, they're good, why change it?" The list includes former interim-head coach Bernie Bickerstaff, Steve Clifford, Chuck Person, and most notably Eddie Jordan, who had been originally hired by Brown to install the Princeton offense. Here's the rest of what we're hearing out of the Western Conference tonight: 

 

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Rockets Recall Donatas Motiejunas From D-League

November 25th, 2012 at 12:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets recalled seven-footer Donatas Motiejunas from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers this morning, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The Lithuanian rookie was sent down earlier this month along with Scott Machado, who remains with the Vipers. It appeared at the time of their assignments that Royce White would be joining them as well, but that turned out not to be the case, as Rockets GM Daryl Morey later said the team never intended to demote the troubled White.

Motiejunas started games on back-to-back nights for the Vipers, who tipped off their season Friday. He averaged 24.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in 37.0 minutes per contest. He has also appeared in one game for the Rockets this season, logging five minutes. Motiejunas was the 20th overall pick in the 2011 draft by the Timberwolves, who immediately traded him to the Rockets. He spent last season playing for Asseco Prokom Gdynia in Poland.

The recall opens up a spot for the Rockets to send down White or another player, if they choose, since NBA teams can only send down two players at a time. Morey recently spoke about the development of Motiejunas and Machado, and how he wants to use the D-League to facilitate that. For a complete list of D-League comings and goings this season, check out our updated list.

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Daryl Morey Talks D-League, Rookies

November 24th, 2012 at 9:25am CST by Sean Highkin

Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey attended a Rio Grande Vipers game this week to scout the talent on his team's D-League squad, and talked to Yannis Kotroupis of HoopsWorld.com. Among the topics he discussed was the importance of the D-League to the Rockets' player-development system:

“We consider it one of our key assets,” Morey said to HOOPSWORLD. “We have a great partnership. I think overtime people are going to see minor league basketball like Triple A baseball. It’s not much different than Major League Baseball where most players are one step away from the pros. The first three or four guys on every D-League bench are really not different from guys 11-15 on NBA benches. The quality of basketball is super high, way higher than college basketball. Pretty much every D-League team would have a chance to challenge for a NCAA title. These are really great teams playing every night and I think over time people are going to see how high the quality is.”

Among the players on the Vipers who impressed Morey the most was Lithuanian big man Donatas Motiejunas:

“[Motiejuans] a very skilled offensive player so we’re hoping shows that and I think he really did show that in the first half here,” Morey said. “We’re focused on him a getting a lot of minutes so he can get his game shape up cause we want to see him impact in transition at our level and this level. We want to see him as he gets tired continue to impact the game defensively, rebounding wise and be solid on defense without fouling. And, it’s overtime. It’s not overnight. We want him to get stronger, deal with stronger guys in the NBA. There’s quite a few bigs down here like a Jeff Adrien on his own team, but on other teams where he can get a real good sense going against these bigger, stronger guys than he’s faced in the past.”

Morey was also happy with what he saw from undrafted rookie point guard Scott Machado, and touched on the team's plans for him:

“Scott is a guy we really believe in,” Morey said. “The highest assist guy I think in 20 years in college basketball. Really skilled passer. Obviously he has has, we look for a guy with an elite skill in one area and then see if they can round it out in other areas. I think his time with the Vipers were really going to see can he take that passing an elite skill and add to it defense, rebounding and getting his own offense, things like that. Overtime we’ll see that but we really think he’s a great prospect for us going forward.”

Morey also denied reports that the team had intended to send embattled rookie forward Royce White to the D-League, saying he's optimistic the two parties can sort out their issues.

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Rockets Never Meant To Send White To D-League

November 23rd, 2012 at 9:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rockets GM Daryl Morey told Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld that the team never intended to send Royce White to the D-League, despite earlier indications to the contrary, and said he's optimistic about White's situation (Twitter link). The rookie has been away from the team for two weeks, and there's still no timetable for his return, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. 

When the report that the team would send White down surfaced, it came along with the news that the Rockets were also farming out Scott Machado and Donatas Motiejunas. That seemed to run counter to the CBA rule that an NBA team can only assign two players to the D-League at once. White went on his current leave of absence before the team could officially demote him, and now it appears such a move wasn't in the works, after all.

Feigen notes the team is expected to recall Motiejunas this weekend. That would allow the the Rockets to send White down, but it's unclear whether that would happen. White reportedly has misgivings about how playing in the D-League would jibe with his illness, and the fact that White addressed the specter of a D-League assignment suggests the team at least broached the subject with him.

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