The deadline deals sending Donatas Motiejunas to Detroit and Joel Anthony to Philadelphia were voided on Monday after Motiejunas failed a physical, according to ESPN.com's Calvin Watkins. Kevin Pelton graded those trades on Thursday, and now he's grading the fallout.
The Deal
Pistons don't get: Center Donatas Motiejunas, guard Marcus Thornton
Rockets don't get: 2016 Detroit first-round pick (top-8 protected in 2016, top-10 protected in 2017 and 2018), rights to 2011 draft pick Chukwudiebere Maduabum
Sixers don't get: Center Joel Anthony, 2017 Denver second-round pick
Detroit Pistons: B
Welcome to the inaugural edition of "no-trade grades," breaking down the deal that wasn't between the Pistons and Rockets, which also affected a subsequent trade involving the 76ers. While it certainly isn't the fault of any of the three teams that the deals they completed unexpectedly didn't go down because of the concerns raised by Motiejunas' back injury, it does create problems of varying severity for all three going forward.
Detroit, the team that ultimately decided not to go through with the trade, figures to come out the best in the long-term. I didn't like the value for the Pistons giving up a lightly-protected first-round pick in exchange for Motiejunas, who will be a restricted free agent this summer.
In general, as I've outlined in explaining trade value, teams trade for the ability to underpay a player. Motiejunas only has the rest of this season remaining on his cheap rookie contract. Restricted free agency can result in team-favorable deals, but for the most part any savings for Detroit were going to come from guessing right on the condition of Motiejunas' back, which figured to scare off suitors this summer. By contrast, a pick in the middle of the first round will give the Pistons a cost-controlled player for the next four years. This year's first-round picks figure to be some of the league's best values because their salaries were set based on old presumptions about the growth of the salary cap. As recently as 2013-14, the 15th pick in the draft could make up to about 3.0 percent of the team cap figure as a rookie. Next season, based on cap projections, the same pick will make at most about 2.2 percent of the team cap.
It's also worth noting that the 15th pick might be a tad optimistic for Detroit at this point. The Pistons have lost their first two games since the All-Star break, extending their losing streak to five games and putting them 2.5 games out of eighth in the Eastern Conference. Based on top-8 protection, it's unlikely Detroit could have fallen far enough to keep the pick this year without winning the lottery. The Pistons might have been handing Houston a pick as high as 11th or 12th.
Because of that math, I think Motiejunas' back saved Detroit from overpaying for him in trade terms. I'm also not sure the Pistons will miss him much the rest of the season. With the addition of Tobias Harris, Detroit already has a reasonably full frontcourt rotation. Motiejunas would have primarily been an upgrade replacing Aron Baynes as a backup to All-Star center Andre Drummond, who averages nearly 34 minutes a game.
The greater short-term loss to the Pistons might be Thornton, who would have filled a need on the wing with shooting guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jodie Meeks both sidelined. Meeks has resumed practicing after the All-Star break and could return soon from a Jones fracture that has sidelined him since the season's first week.
Detroit does have an open roster spot and could look at adding a free agent like John Jenkins, who was released by the Dallas Mavericks Monday to make room for David Lee.
Houston Rockets: D
To reiterate, this isn't a grade of Rockets general manager Daryl Morey or the decision to trade Motiejunas. There's no doubt, however, that the deal getting voided leaves Houston in a bad spot.
While the Rockets didn't make any major moves before the deadline, they believed they had come out of Thursday landing a first-round pick for a player they were unlikely to re-sign as a restricted free agent and having avoided the luxury tax by subsequently shedding Anthony's contract.
Now, Houston will pay the tax for the second time in franchise history, according to Mark Deeks' tracking. It's one thing to pay tax for a contending team that loaded up at the deadline. It's another entirely to due so for a floundering team uncertain of making the playoffs.
It's possible Motiejunas could help in that effort. He played four games for the Rockets' D-League affiliate before the All-Star break as part of a rehab assignment, suggesting that Detroit's concerns about his back were more long term (and the possibility of recurrence after his surgery last spring) than his ability to help the remainder of the season.
If healthy, Motiejunas might be an upgrade on Houston's other options alongside Dwight Howard in the frontcourt. According to NBA.com/Stats, the Rockets outscored opponents by 8.4 points per 100 possessions when Motiejunas and Howard played together last season.
Houston will also have matching rights on Motiejunas this summer and might be able to work out a sign-and-trade deal if a return to the Rockets doesn't make sense. But it's hard to imagine them getting anywhere near the kind of value this deal was to offer.
Philadelphia 76ers: F
The Sixers are essentially the innocent bystanders in this series of trades, since they weren't involved in the actual Motiejunas swap but could only acquire Anthony if he went from Detroit to Houston via that trade. Adding Anthony made a lot of sense for Philadelphia, which not only got a second-round pick for its trouble but also moved its team salary above the league-mandated minimum. The Sixers still may find their way to the floor by claiming a player (or players) off waivers; for now, they stand to pay about $1.5 million more than they would have owed Anthony the remainder of the season.
Philadelphia also had to waive wing JaKarr Sampson, a favorite of head coach Brett Brown, to make room for Anthony on the roster. The 76ers hoped to re-sign Sampson only to see him instead agree to a two-year contract with the Denver Nuggets, according to the Vertical.
So there's really no silver lining at all for Philadelphia in this non-trade.