Union Mulls Filing Grievance Over Motiejunas Deal
The National Basketball Players Association is thinking about filing a grievance with the league over the voided Donatas Motiejunas trade, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. The Pistons elected to cancel the trade on February 22nd after several medical tests failed to convince them that Motiejunas’ back was sufficiently healed from surgery last spring.
Voiding the deal sent the Lithuanian power forward back to Houston, where he received medical clearance from Rockets team doctors. He has appeared in five games since returning. Spears cites sources close to Motiejunas who fear that the Pistons’ decision could lessen his value when he becomes a restricted free agent this summer. Motiejunas underwent back surgery last April and before the trade hadn’t played for the Rockets since December 31st.
“The team doctor simply says whether you pass or don’t, although they may not do any checks,” Motiejunas said in an interview posted on the Lithuanian website Basketnews.Lt. “Those 48 hours actually just let the team decide whether they want you or not. The Pistons announced I did not pass the medical, although I surely did pass it and played even before it. I just got screwed. The injury was a pretense to call off the trade. They changed their minds.”
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy denied that accusation and said the team had legitimate concerns about Motiejunas’ long-term health. “We went through a very thorough process and we made the decision we made for the reasons that we thought it was too much risk,” Van Gundy said.
Representatives for Motiejunas didn’t think Van Gundy should have made negative public statements statements about their client’s condition, Spears writes. NBPA president Michele Roberts and a union spokesperson refused to comment to Spears about the issue.
The three-team deal, which was completed at the trade deadline, sent Motiejunas from Houston to Detroit along with Marcus Thornton. The Rockets received the Pistons’ top eight-protected first round pick and a draft-and-stash player, while Joel Anthony and a Nuggets’ second-rounder went to the Sixers. To make room for Anthony, Philadelphia released JaKarr Sampson, whom the Nuggets signed after he cleared waivers.
Pistons Notes: Roster, Motiejunas, Harris
It appears that the Pistons will not make another major roster move, such as adding a player on the buyout market, and they may elect to keep the 15 current players under contract as they look to make a playoff push, David Mayo of Mlive.com writes. Mayo adds that no decision has been made yet on Justin Harper, who is playing on a 10-day contract, his second with the team this season. If the Pistons want to retain Harper, they will need to sign him through the remainder of the season.
Here’s more from Detroit:
- If Donatas Motiejunas were in the middle of his rookie deal rather than the end of it, the Pistons would have likely gone through with their trade with Houston, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press speculates. Ellis believes that the team is still in need of a versatile big man and the acquisition of Motiejunas would have pushed the team toward the top of the Eastern Conference.
- Detroit was worried about the Tobias Harris–Marcus Morris pairing on the court due to the similarities in their style of play, but the duo has fit well together since the team acquired Harris, Mayo writes in a separate piece. “I think they’ve really helped each other,” executive/coach Stan Van Gundy said. “They sort of look for each other. They’re both unselfish guys. I think it’s been good.”
- Van Gundy believes Harris’ unselfishness allowed him to fit in with the team right away, Mayo adds in that same piece. “[Harris] doesn’t pound the ball, he doesn’t take a lot of dribbles. He makes his move, he shoots it, or he moves the ball and we can play. So I think it’s been pretty easy for our guys to adapt to playing with him,” Van Gundy said.
Central Notes: Pistons, Lawson, Budinger, Butler
Terrence Jones and Meyers Leonard would be attractive free agent options for the Pistons in their search for a backup power forward, according to David Mayo of MLive. Both will enter restricted free agency this summer, which means the Rockets and Blazers can match any offers they get. Mayo notes the teams may want compensation for letting Jones or Leonard go, which could tempt the Pistons to give up a first-round draft pick, something they were willing to do to get Donatas Motiejunas from Houston last month before that deal was voided. Mayo suggests keeping Anthony Tolliver might be the best strategy now that Tobias Harris is on board as the starting power forward. Tolliver is making $3MM in the final season of his contract and is averaging 5.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in nearly 20 minutes per night.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- The Pacers expect to finalize a deal with free agent point guard Ty Lawson on Sunday or Monday, tweets Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star. Lawson is still working out in Houston after the Rockets waived him Tuesday in a buyout agreement.
- Chase Budinger‘s brief stay in Indiana was a “dud,” Buckner tweeted after the Pacers waived the seventh-year small forward today. She also laments last summer’s trade that sent Damjan Rudez to the Wolves in exchange for Budinger, saying the Pacers gave up a badly needed 3-point shooter (Twitter link). She credits Budinger for being “a pro” during his time in Indiana, though he never fully understood what the organization expected from him (Twitter link).
- Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg says shooting guard Jimmy Butler, who has been out of action since February 5th with a sprained knee, is “ready to go” for tonight’s game, tweets Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. Combo forward Nikola Mirotic, who had acute appendicitis and underwent surgery January 27th, is “close,” Hoiberg adds (Twitter link). Injured center Joakim Noah won’t play anytime soon, but he’ll rejoin the team for “leadership,” tweets K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune.
- The Pistons have shooting guard Jodie Meeks, who hasn’t played since suffering a right foot injury October 29th, listed as questionable for tonight’s game, tweets Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
Pistons Sign Justin Harper To Second 10-Day
SATURDAY, 11:58am: The signing is official, the Pistons announced today.
FRIDAY, 11:38am: The Pistons will sign Justin Harper to another 10-day contract, coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said today, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com (Twitter link). That’s no surprise, since Van Gundy remarked two days ago that he was leaning toward another 10-day deal with the power forward, as Rod Beard of The Detroit News wrote. Harper’s first 10-day deal expires tonight. The latest pact will represent a tiny investment of $49,709 with a larger decision looming afterward, since Detroit will have to either re-sign him for the season or let him walk.
Harper, 26, has averaged 3.3 points in 7.7 minutes per game across three appearances so far with the Pistons, who’ve given him his first regular season NBA action in four years. He played at a handful of stops overseas and in the D-League in between, and he was with the Nets for the preseason this past fall.
The collapse of Detroit’s trade for power forward Donatas Motiejunas and injuries to power forward Anthony Tolliver and small forward Stanley Johnson prompted the Pistons to turn to Harper. Tolliver is liable to miss two more weeks while Johnson is out through at least the weekend, Langlois tweets.
Central Notes: Middleton, Lue, Carter-Williams
The Bucks turned down a proposed trade deadline swap with the Timberwolves that would have sent Khris Middleton to Minnesota and brought point guard Ricky Rubio to Milwaukee, a deal the team was wise to nix, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com opines. The scribe cites Middleton’s versatility, solid production and reasonable contract as reason why the Bucks were smart to hold onto the swingman. The Wolves even offered to sweeten the deal with the inclusion of a protected 2016 first-round pick, but the Bucks, who never seriously entertained trading Middleton, declined that offer as well, Lowe notes. The Bucks did submit a counterproposal to the Wolves, offering Michael Carter-Williams in exchange for Rubio, a swap that Minnesota quickly shot down, Lowe adds.
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- The Cavaliers have gone 12-6 thus far under Tyronn Lue and despite a few bumps along the way, LeBron James is pleased with the job the new coach has done since replacing the fired David Blatt, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes. “I think he’s done a great job,” James said of Lue. “He’s even-keel as well. He just wants us to get better every single day and not waste an opportunity. Continue to focus on what needs to be done, the job at hand, and if we do that we’re going to give ourselves a great chance to win. He gets on us when we’re not doing our job and when we’re not doing it to the capabilities that we’re capable of doing it at, so that’s when he’s on us. And he stays on us.”
- Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy openly expressed his appreciation of the Spurs and how that franchise is able to maintain a championship-caliber roster while not running afoul of the salary cap, David Mayo of MLive.com relays. “There’s no question when you don’t have to pay guys market value it’s pretty easy to build depth,” Van Gundy said. “The salary cap is hard on most of us trying to build depth. But with them, when they’ve got Tim Duncan playing below market value, Tony Parker playing below market value, Manu Ginobili playing below market value, David West playing below market value, when those guys all give up money, well, then it’s easy to add other people and allow you to go out and do what you need to do to build depth. They’ve done a great job of that.“
2015/16 Salary Cap Update: Detroit Pistons
The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 is set at $70MM, which is good for an 11% increase from last season, and the luxury tax line is fixed at $84.74MM. With the February 18th cutoff date for trades and the de facto deadline of March 1st for buyouts now past, we at Hoops Rumors are in the process of updating the salary cap commitments for each NBA franchise for the 2015/16 campaign. Here’s the cap breakdown for the Detroit Pistons, whose regular season roster can be viewed here:
- 2015/16 Salary Cap= $70,000,000
- 2015/16 Luxury Tax Line= $84,740,000
- Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $76,460,006*
- Remaining Cap Room= –$6,460,006
- Amount Below Luxury Tax Line= $8,279,994
*Note: This amount includes the $5,400,000 owed to Josh Smith, and the $452,049 owed to Aaron Gray, both of whom were waived using the stretch provision. This amount also includes the $2,170,465 due Danny Granger, the $1,270,964 owed to Cartier Martin and the $60,000 due Adonis Thomas, all of whom were waived.
Cap Exceptions Available:
- Room Exception: $2,814,000
Cash Available to Send Out In Trades= $3,400,000
Cash Available to Receive Via Trade= $3,400,000
Note: Despite the trade deadline having passed, the NBA season technically doesn’t end until June 30th. Teams are able to again make trades upon the completion of the regular season or when/if they are eliminated from the playoffs, whichever comes later. So these cash limits still apply.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Financial Impact Of Deadline, Buyouts: Central
The effects of the trade deadline and buyout season are still being felt around the NBA as teams negotiate with new free agents and fill open roster spots. Hoops Rumors will be taking a team-by-team look at the financial ramifications of all the movement. We began earlier with a look at the Southwest and Pacific divisions, and we’ll continue with the Central Division:
Bucks
The trade deadline is usually the last opportunity for disappointing teams like the Bucks to lower their payrolls, but Milwaukee still managed to cut costs even without making a swap, thanks to some help from the Magic. The Bucks were in position to end up adding to their salary obligations when they waived Chris Copeland to sign Steve Novak to a prorated minimum-salary deal, but when the Magic claimed Copeland off waivers, the full $1.15MM salary on Copeland’s one-year contract went from Milwaukee’s books to Orlando’s. That left the Bucks with only their $295,327 obligation to Novak, and it takes some of the sting away from having lost Novak for the rest of the season when he suffered a sprained MCL just days into his Milwaukee tenure.
Bulls
The Bulls made a trade for the first time since July 2014, and in so doing they created a credit that will help them make another swap come the summer. Chicago wound up with a trade exception worth $2,854,940, the equivalent of Kirk Hinrich‘s pretrade salary. That’s even though the Bulls brought in Justin Holiday via the swap. Holiday is on a two-year contract for the minimum salary, so Chicago absorbed him into the minimum salary exception. That allows the Bulls to treat the offloading of Hinrich as its own, “non-simultaneous” deal, in the parlance of NBA trade regulations. The Bulls also realized a savings of $1,907,664 in payroll and $2,861,496 in projected tax penalties, though the $141,068 trade kicker they had to pay Hinrich takes away from that. Chicago took a nibble from its cap flexibility for next season, since Holiday’s $1,015,696 salary is guaranteed.
Cavaliers
It remains to be seen whether the separate trades that sent out Anderson Varejao and Jared Cunningham and brought in Channing Frye gave Cleveland better production on the court, but it’s certain that they saved the team heaps of money, at least in the short term. Frye’s $8,193,029 pay is $2,392,801 less than the combined total of Varejao’s $9,638,554 salary and Cleveland’s $947,276 obligation to Cunningham. The Cavs saved a whopping 3.75 times that amount in projected luxury tax payments, a figure that comes to $8,973,004. That’s a total savings of $11,365,805 in combined salary and payroll, less the $1,176,824 trade kicker Cleveland had to pay Varejao. Still, the ability to save about $10MM all told explains why the Cavs swallowed hard and traded away Varejao despite his close relationship with LeBron James and long tenure with the team. Frye will still have $15,227,883 over two years left on his contract after this season, while Varejao was only guaranteed $9,361,446 beyond this season and Cunningham was on a one-year deal. So, it’s an investment of long-term money for the Cavs, but it’s understandable, since it’s unlikely they’ll be so deep into the tax in years to come, when the salary cap and tax threshold will be much higher. The Cavs spent a tiny fraction of their savings on a 10-day contract for Jordan McRae, who’ll see $30,888 at a total cost to the team of $146,718 in combined salary and projected tax.
Pistons
The math for Detroit became considerably simpler when the Donatas Motiejunas trade came apart. That left only one swap, and the Tobias Harris deal was about as even an exchange of salaries as can be as far as this season is concerned. The Pistons dropped $244,497 from their payroll when they sent Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova to the Magic for Harris and his precisely $16MM salary, but the long-term effects paint an entirely different story. Harris is due $48MM over three years after this season, while the only guaranteed obligation to the players Detroit relinquished was a $400K partial guarantee for Ilyasova. The Pistons seemed likely to pick up Ilyasova’s full guarantee of $8.4MM had they kept him, but the deal is nonetheless a significant expenditure for the long term. Detroit has been quiet in the buyout market, investing in only a $49,709 10-day contract for Justin Harper.
Pacers
Indiana stood pat through the deadline and buyout season, though the team has reportedly agreed to sign Ty Lawson and is poised to complete a buyout, for an unknown amount, with Chase Budinger.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Central Notes: Motiejunas, Dunleavy, Hoiberg, Love
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy denies the team simply changed its mind about trading for Donatas Motiejunas, as the power forward asserted, MLive’s Brendan Savage notes. The trade was voided when the Pistons said Motiejunas didn’t pass his physical, but Motiejunas, who returned to action this weekend for the Rockets after back trouble kept him out for nearly two months, insists he’s fine.
“We went through a very thorough process and we made the decision we made for the reasons that we thought it was too much risk,” Van Gundy said. “Look, I feel bad for him, too, because I understand his points in terms of his value and everything else. But we felt we had to make the decision we made.”
Motiejunas is set to enter restricted free agency this summer, so the next six weeks figure to be key for his market value. See more from the Central Division:
- The return of Mike Dunleavy is giving the Bulls a boost even though it isn’t reflected in the standings, writes Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com. The team was reportedly seeking an upgrade on the wing, as Goodwill notes, but Chicago didn’t make a significant move for one and has instead benefited from Dunleavy’s presence since his return from back surgery that knocked him out the first half of the season. The Bulls re-signed him to a three-year, $14.4MM deal this past summer.
- New coach Fred Hoiberg‘s message simply isn’t connecting with the Bulls, observes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. The Bulls are beset with injuries even in the wake of Dunleavy’s return, but Tuesday’s loss to the Heat dropped Chicago, which aimed for at least the conference finals, to ninth place.
- Kevin Love‘s revival following Cleveland’s coaching change was short-lived, and the max-salary signee has returned to the underwhelming performances that have marked much of his tenure with the Cavs, notes Michael Rand of the Star Tribune.
Pistons Notes: Harris, Motiejunas, Morris
The Pistons had reportedly been targeting power forwards for free agency this summer, but with the acquisition of Tobias Harris, coach/executive Stan Van Gundy would feel comfortable if Harris and Marcus Morris were the team’s starters at the two forward positions beyond this season, notes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “I think they’re both starting-caliber guys. It all depends on where your roster goes and everything else,” Van Gundy said. “You’d love to get to the point where you have starting-caliber guys coming off your bench. But certainly if we have to go into next season and beyond with those two guys as our starting forwards, we’re pretty happy with that.”
In other news regarding the Pistons:
- Donatas Motiejunas believes a change of heart, instead of a medical issue, was the reason his trade from the Rockets was voided, according to an item in BasketNews.lt that Dan Feldman of NBCSports.com relays. According to the translation of Motiejunas’ quotes, he felt he passed the team’s physical examinations, Feldman continues. The power forward and shooting guard Marcus Thornton, since waived by Houston, were traded to Detroit in a three-team deal in which the Rockets would have received Detroit’s first-round pick, with some protections. “Those 48 hours actually just let the team decide whether they want you or not,” Motiejunas reportedly said. “The Pistons announced I did not pass the medical, although I surely did pass it and played even before it. … The injury was a pretense to call off the trade. They changed their minds.”
- Morris is making a case for one of the NBA’s All-Defensive teams, according to Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. Morris is a hard-nosed one-on-one defender, though he doesn’t record many steals or blocks, Ellis continues. Raptors coach Dwane Casey told Ellis and other media members on Sunday that Morris has a defensive presence. “Most of all, it’s his defensive toughness,” Casey said. “With the defensive disposition he brings, it’s not like you’re just going to catch the ball down there and go to work on him in the low post.”
- Power forward Justin Harper helped his case for another 10-day contract by hitting three 3-pointers against the Raptors, Ellis writes in a separate notebook. Harper, who officially signed on February 24th, has one more game remaining against the Spurs on Wednesday before his 10-day expires. It would not be a surprise if Harper gets another 10-day, David Mayo of MLive.com writes, but the team will also scour the waiver wire for a veteran point guard or power forward.
Western Notes: Wolves, Motiejunas, Gallinari
Timberwolves interim coach Sam Mitchell would like for his team to make a signing, lamenting how “awfully thin” the Wolves are inside, but he doesn’t anticipate a move until well after Tuesday, the last day players can hit waivers and still be eligible to play in the postseason for another team, notes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Mitchell, who isn’t assured of his job beyond this season, said the Wolves will be patient while free agents head to playoff-bound teams, according to Zgoda.
“After the dust settles, there are going to be some guys out there we’ll want to look at,” Mitchell said. “You don’t want to do it too fast because you don’t want to fill a spot and then someone becomes available. There are only so many playoff teams and only so many roster spots.”
Minnesota has an opening in the wake of its buyout with Andre Miller, and the team has reportedly engaged in advanced discussions with Kevin Martin about a buyout, too. See more from the Western Conference.
- Donatas Motiejunas said he doesn’t resent the Rockets for trying to trade him to Detroit, observes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The deadline-day trade that would have sent the soon-to-be restricted free agent to the Pistons fell apart when he didn’t pass Detroit’s physical. Motiejunas played nine minutes Sunday in his first action for Houston since December 31st. “I feel good,” Motiejunas said. “This team traded me because of the first-round pick, the lottery pick. It’s a big thing. I don’t see any problems with it. They were really waiting for me to get back. I love these guys, love the team, love the fans.”
- Danilo Gallinari expects that he’ll miss the next three to four weeks with injury, as he told Davide Chinellato of La Gazzetta dello Sport (Twitter link). The leading scorer for the Nuggets had an MRI on Saturday after suffering a severely sprained right ankle in Friday’s game, notes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. The team has an open roster spot.
- Steve Kerr and Draymond Green largely dismissed any idea of tension stemming from a tirade that Green delivered to Warriors coaches at halftime of Saturday’s game, notes Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle. The versatile frontcourt player, who’s missed his last 12 3-pointers, was upset because he felt the coaches don’t want him to shoot, according to ESPN’s Lisa Salters.