Los Angeles Lakers need a big man to fortify their front court. For that purpose, they brought in free agent center Donatas Motiejunas for an audition.
A source from the team told ESPN that Lakers invited Motiejunas before Christmas to their facility. They tried him in a workout session in front of the Lakers front office and coaching staff. However, they have not concluded the decision to hire him.
The former Houston Rockers player is needed to bulk up Lakers front court with the absence of power forward Larry Nance, Jr. for indefinite time due to his knee injury. In the absence of Nance, Lakers need a strong big man to help Julius Randle.
In the current roster, the available options for center and power forward are Timofey Mozgov, Thomas Robinson, Tarik Black or Ivica Zubac. But none of them have the power to play post-up like Nance.
Therefore according to Lakers Nation, Lakers need to look into the free agent market to find big man who possess a strong presence in the paint. The best available one is Motiejunas.
Recently, the 26-year old center has ended his a long dispute with Houston Rockets regarding the extension of his contract. As his contract ended after the 2015-16 season, he became the restricted free agent which allowed him to negotiate a better contract. But the Rockets did not agree to the amount which he requested.
Early December, Brooklyn Nets offered him a a four-year and $37 million contract. A few days later, Rockets offered him the same amount with less retaining fee. Motiejunas agreed to negotiate with the Rockets to extend his contract.
He requested the Rockets to match the principle terms of the Nets offered contract. But Houston Rockets were not willing to give $6 million more to Motiejunas. The negotiation failed, and in mid-December, the Rockets waived him to allow him becoming the unrestricted free agent.
Watch the discussion from ESPN’s The Jump about the long negotiation between Rockets and Motiejunas below: