There was a time when resigning Donatas Motiejunas was seen as a no-brainer for the Houston Rockets. After a failed attempt to trade him in February to the Detroit Pistons, it seemed that it would be no problem to negotiate him into a bargain contract this past summer. Things clearly didn’t go as planned.
Houston’s front office offered D-Mo a myriad of contracts over the course of the offseason. Negotiation took place off and on throughout the summer, and by the beginning of the season, the Rockets had a multi-year contract on the table with the first year worth $7 million.