Restricted free agency is rarely settled after the start of the season and that’s because most players and agents comprehend their shortage of leverage within the construct that leaves them with limited options that favors teams from the outset and becomes even more punitive as time progresses.

The new collective bargaining agreement will contain a few fixes to help the players, but Donatas Motiejunas is testing the limits of the current system as its final restricted free agent. Motiejunas agreed upon an NFL-style contract in restricted free agency more than a month into the season, signing an offer sheet with the Brooklyn Nets worth $37 million deal over four years.

For Motiejunas, the deal presented a number of significant issues when it was matched by the Houston Rockets:

1. Regardless of whether the Rockets matched, the deal was exceedingly short on guaranteed money. With non-guarantees for Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4, Motiejunas gave up guaranteed money while not getting player options in return. Motiejunas can’t get back onto the market until 2020 if he stays healthy and outperforms the value of the contract. The structure of the deal is rare for players on their second NBA contract and more closely resembles the type of contracts NFL players sign that limit the injury risk for teams.

Players will typically exchange freedom for guaranteed money or guaranteed money for freedom; Motiejunas gave up both.

2. With Motiejunas presumably wanting to leave the Rockets after a long stalemate, he signed an offer sheet with the Nets that didn’t do nearly enough to disincentivize them from matching. Motiejunas was likely more concerned in making himself less tradeable in the short-term, something of long acknowledged importance to Daryl Morey, than the actual monetary value of the deal. 

Motiejunas’ signed a four-year deal with $31 million as the base salary plus $4 million in likely bonuses and $2 million in unlikely bonuses. The Rockets were not required to match any of Motiejunas’ bonuses as they weren’t a principal term and that gave Morey a veto power to basically wipe away more than 15 percent of the potential value of the contract B.J. Armstrong and Motiejunas signed with the Nets.

It can be presumed that Motiejunas and Armstrong didn’t realize they would only be receiving $31 million compared to $37 million if the Rockets matched, as Motiejunas previously stated he would happy if he returned to Houston on this deal prior to his current position being established.

3. By signing a uniform player contract with the Nets, Motiejunas has given nearly entire control of the situation to the Rockets. Motiejunas can’t go to Europe now that he’s signed an NBA contract because FIBA likely won’t grant a clearance. Motiejunas could be subject to fines on top of the missed salary. The Rockets matching the deal was something that had to be accounted for and not reporting isn’t a viable option.

4. Motiejunas perhaps erred most significantly in not signing the $4.4 million offer sheet by Oct. 2nd that would have allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent in 2017. Motiejunas would have been forced to play for less than his true worth for this season but he would have entered the 2017 offseason as an unrestricted free agent and one of the best centers on the market.

Once he let that deadline pass, Motiejunas was forced to decide between a multi-year deal with the Rockets he didn’t like, sign an offer sheet with a rival team the Rockets could match or sit out the year and reenter restricted free agency again in 2017.

----

The Rockets can allow Motiejunas to go back onto the open market to find a new deal even though one is unlikely to materialize since only the 76ers and Jazz have meaningful cap space. Houston would be creating an unwanted precedent in letting Motiejunas out of the offer sheet he signed, especially since the deal is team friendly. Players will often begrudgingly remain with their incumbent teams when offer sheets are matched and if the Rockets allow Motiejunas to rip up the offer sheet, it could embolden players in the future to threaten to not report. Rival teams are surely putting pressure on the Rockets to not let Motiejunas out of the deal.

The NBA has a more rigid structure in place than the NFL, which prevents holdouts and renegotiated contracts from even happening and that ultimately benefits both the perception of the league as well as the working relationships between players and teams.

The only risk for the Rockets is that he injures himself after the March 1st guarantee date when they won’t be able to get out from under his contract to use his money in cap space. 

Friday, Dec. 9th Update: The Rockets lifted the matched offer sheet and signed Motiejunas to a four-year, $35 million deal. While an unconventional path was taken and he has no guaranteed money beyond the first season, Motiejunas has recouped much of the financial spirit of the offer sheet he signed with the Nets in exchange for taking later guarantee dates.