After seeing their offer sheets to restricted free agents Tyler Johnson and Allen Crabbe matched this summer, the Nets find out by midnight Monday whether they’ll suffer the same fate with Donatas Motiejunas.
The Nets signed Motiejunas, 26, to a four-year, $37 million offer sheet Friday, and Houston has three days to match, as Miami did this summer with Johnson and Portland did with Crabbe. And despite the Rockets having tried to trade Motiejunas last season because of his back woes and then low-ball the 7-foot Lithuanian during training camp, many feel the deal is team-friendly enough for Houston to match.
“Whichever team I go to, I’m going to give my heart to. I’m going to put in the work and defend that team. I’m going to do my job” Motiejunas told the Houston Chronicle. “I’m thankful the Brooklyn Nets acknowledged my talent. They checked out my health and found no problems. That lifts a problem off my shoulder.”
It was actually his back that made him a restricted free agent five months ago, when he rejected Houston’s two-year offer with just the first season guaranteed at $7 million.
“We’re still waiting for Motiejunas to do a little bit more. But he was making really good strides,’’ veteran NBA scout Scott McGuire told the Post. “The Knicks did it differently, but the Nets, they’ve got to find guys. Bigs are hard to find.
“Bigs are used differently … spread out little more. I have no problem with the Nets, how they’re constituted, going for him. What’s to lose? It’s a good move. I don’t see a negative. They have to shake the bushes.”
After averaging career highs of 12 points and 5.9 rebounds two seasons ago on 50.4 percent shooting with the Rockets, Motiejunas had back surgery in April 2015. He played just 37 games last season, and a trade deadline deal to Detroit fell through when the Pistons’ doctors failed him on his physical.
But Motiejunas — who’d been staying in shape working out in Vancouver — passed a physical with the Nets’ doctors. A deft passer and 36.8 percent shooter from deep two seasons ago, he would fit well alongside Brook Lopez.
“The Nets could use him. They can’t go too far with the group they had. They’re thin, but [Coach] Kenny [Atkinson] has got them working hard. They don’t have talent to compete at the playoff level, everybody knows that,’’ one scout told The Post. “Motiejunas was [improving]. He’s a big boy, he’s got some skills. I don’t think he’s lived up to his draft status yet … but he could.
“But is he healthy?”