NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz Surrounding Chris Bosh, Donatas Motiejunas and More
The NBA world is active nearly every month of the year with rumors of transactions that could shake up the league's landscape. Whether the rumored transactions are related to injuries, potential trades or free-agent prospects, there's almost always some important buzz out there.
Even in early December, three separate situations regarding high-quality NBA players have risen to the forefront. Let's check in with Chris Bosh, Donatas Motiejunas and Otto Porter.
Chris Bosh
Miami Heat president Pat Riley announced heading into training camp this season that the team was not planning for Bosh to ever return to the court in a Heat uniform due to his persistent blood-clotting issues. The 11-time All-Star forward has yet to be linked to any other teams as he remains on Miami's payroll.
However, the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson reported that Bosh is more likely to make a return next season than this one. He also added some significant context relating to the importance of the veteran's decision for the Heat:
"The Heat eventually needs clarity on that, because if Miami goes through the process of removing his salary from its cap in February (it cannot happen before Feb. 9) instead of, say, April, it would leave Miami at risk if Bosh makes a comeback elsewhere this season because his salary would go back on the Heat’s cap if he plays 25 games with another team (regular season and/or playoffs).
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Bosh's situation definitely bears monitoring, because the 7-14 Heat could be major buyers at the trade deadline if they can clear his salary from their payroll.
Donatas Motiejunas
The Houston Rockets' situation with Donatas Motiejunas just keeps getting weirder. Things seemed to be settling down after Houston matched the Brooklyn Nets' offer sheet for the restricted free-agent big man Monday, but the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen delivered some important information Tuesday:
The rules for players in Motiejunas' situation are rather complex, and ESPN.com's Larry Coon explained them well here in a blog post. The Rockets obviously can't play the Lithuanian power forward until he passes his physical, but they essentially have two main options.
First, Houston can wait out Motiejunas' holdout. The 26-year-old can't play anywhere in the NBA until he completes the physical for the team possessing his rights, so he's mainly harming himself by playing hardball here, especially since the Rockets have gotten off to an excellent 14-7 start without him.
Second, the Rockets can withdraw their first refusal exercise notice, which makes Motiejunas a regular restricted free agent again, except he wouldn't be able to sign an offer sheet with the Nets. It seems like this is what Motiejunas and his agent, B.J. Armstrong, might want the Rockets to do so that a different team could give Motiejunas a contract.
It's hard to see this choice by Motiejunas and Armstrong helping the young big man's reputation around the league. Plus, his lack of game reps is probably only making him rusty and more out of shape.
Otto Porter
We live in a society of instant gratification, so it's not hard to understand why Otto Porter has flown under the radar throughout the first three-plus years of his career. The No. 3 overall draft pick in 2013 wasn't effective as a rookie but has gradually improved his game since then.
Now, in year No. 4, the Washington Wizards small forward is posting career-best numbers in points (14.4), rebounds (7.9) and steals per game (1.9) while posting a shooting slash of 53.9/41.7/79.3, also all career highs. So it's not surprising that some lofty buzz has accompanied the 23-year-old after his hot start, according to ESPN's Zach Lowe.
"Two front office execs in last 24 hours predicted to me he's getting a max. He's been really good. https://t.co/fhUpOLY5UQ
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) December 6, 2016"
Even though such praise has meant less and less in recent years because of the salary-cap spike, it's a testament to Porter's hard work. He'll definitely have to keep improving significantly to justify max money, but it's not out of the question that he one day gets a max contract and justifies it with his play.
In the short term, Porter should do his best to improve a disappointing Wizards team that probably should have a record better than 7-13 considering the squad's talent. With John Wall and Bradley Beal carrying the heaviest loads offensively, the young forward should continue focusing on turning himself into a lockdown defender and three-point specialist.
