The Detroit Pistons voided the agreed-upon trade that would have netted them Donatas Motiejunas due to concerns about the player’s back.
The Pistons had been granted a 72-hour extension in order to evaluate Motiejunas’s back issues, and according to The Vertical’s Shams Charania, the team doctors were not willing to give the player medical clearance, thus voiding the trade. The team confirmed Monday that the deal was off.
It means Motiejunas and Marcus Thornton remain with the Rockets, Joel Anthony remains with Detroit instead of going to Philadelphia, and the Pistons retain their first round pick in the 2016 draft. This actually has wide-ranging implications, as Dan Feldman of ProBasketballTalk notes.
Philadelphia actually waived a player – JaKarr Sampson, who started a total of 50 games over the last two seasons for Philadelphia and ended up with Denver – in order to clear a roster spot for Anthony, who they will no longer be getting. This puts them beneath the salary floor, so they may look to pick up a salary to fill out their roster.
The news is likely the worst for Houston, however. With Motiejunas and Thornton’s contracts back on the books, the Rockets are over the luxury tax threshold, which means they’ll miss out on payments for being under it. Not only that, but Houston now has three players in Motiejunas, Thornton, and Dwight Howard that they were openly trying to trade and failed to. The rest of the league now knows that Motiejunas is damaged goods, as well. In a locker room that has been plagued by rumors of dysfunction and unhappiness, this likely isn’t good news.
