The Houston Rockets has finally hammered a deal with Lithuanian big man Donatas Motiejunas after a lengthy contract dispute, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical.
Motiejunas, who averaged 7.8 points and 4.4 rebounds in his career, will be getting $35MM over four years, not including the bonuses that could push his paycheck to as much as $37 million.
Wojnarowski reported (H/T Hoops Rumors)
Motiejunas has agreed to a new contract with Houston, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. The deal will pay him $35MM over four years, but bonuses could push the value to $37MM, which is identical to the Nets' offer sheet.
Motiejunas will make a fully guaranteed $8.3MM this season, and the Rockets will have a team option on the rest of the deal each July for the next three years."
The sweet-shooting Lithuanian big man waited the whole offseason and then six weeks into the regular-season before accepting a $37MM offer sheet with the Brooklyn Nets last week, which was immediately matched by the Rockets.
Technically, the Rockets managed to match the Nets' offer sheet without adding the additional $6MM in incentives Motiejunas could be earning if he reached certain milestones. However, Donatas is adamant in his stance to hold out from any activities with the Rockets unless the dispute over the incentives was addressed.
On Thursday, Marc Stein of ESPN reported the Rockets pulled an offer sheet that it matched from Brooklyn and were now trying to come up with a contract that would lock up Motiejunas for good.
With the contract impasse finally over, Motiejunas, pending physical, can now join the Rockets that has been surprising power in the Western Conference early this season. Motiejunas' ability to stretch the floor with his outside shooting at the four spot will further make the Rockets high-octane offense more potent.
The Skinny:
The Rockets traded Motiejunas to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for a first-round pick last February. Unfortunately, the Lithuanian failed to pass the physical because of an undisclosed back injury, resulting for the agreed trade to be cancelled.
While Motiejunas is back with the Rockets with a fresh deal, the possibility of him being trade remains high. Sam Dekker has been playing really well in his role, and there are speculations the Rockets are just trying to raise Motiejunas' trade value for the time being.
