A deal that sent Houston Rockets players Donatas Motiejunas and Marcus Thornton to the Detroit Pistons has been voided. Jeff Bower, Pistons general manager made a statement on Monday saying, “Medical clearance was not given on all players and the trade is being rescinded. In view of privacy considerations relating to medical information, we will have no further comment.” The NBA and the Rockets had agreed to a 24hr extension for the Pistons to review the medical findings of a series of examinations performed on Motiejunas’ back. Pistons president/coach Stan Van Gundy explained, “It’s disappointing because we saw the possibilities. I would do it over again. We did our due diligence and thought there was too much risk.”
The parameters of the deal were that The Rockets traded Dontats Motiejunas and veteran guard Marcus Thornton to the Detroit Pistons and acquired a first round pick and Joel Anthony. The Rockets then traded Joel Anthony to the 76ers who in turn waived JaKarr Sampson to make room for Anthony. After being waived by the 76ers, Sampson signed with the Denver Nuggets. Now that the deal has fallen through, the financial ramifications will fall on the Rockets who will pay the luxury tax for the 2nd time in franchise history since the 76ers will not be taking on Anthony’s contract.
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey made a statement saying, “We are obviously disappointed in this result for the Rockets and Donatas, but as I publicly said when we announced the trade, we were not looking to move Donatas. We only pursued this trade because of how the draft pick involved fit into our future planning for the team.” The Rockets who have struggled this season can’t seem to catch a break. They had hoped to gain a high draft pick and unload some of the salary but ended up with no first round picks after the trade was voided. The Rockets traded their first round pick to the Denver Nuggets during the acquisition of Ty Lawson. This deal falling through can’t be good for the morale of guys in the locker room especially coming off the heels of talk of Dwight Howard being shopped around.
It looks like the Rockets need to head back to the lab to sort out whatever chemistry issues they have going on since they are back at square one. Here’s hoping the team will find some consistency.