Source
r/nba•
Listas

DMO says Pistons lied about his physical. Consulting lawyers and his agent.

http://www.basketnews.lt/news-95179-donatas-motiejunas-trauma-buvo-tik-pretekstas-pistons-atsisakyti-mainu.html#.VtLmZeZ7ohQ

Here's a link to a lithuanian interview Dmo gave today.

Basically he said that they didn't even check him and it was just an excuse to cancel the trade. He's consulting his lawyers because this "information" about his health hurt his value in the upcoming free agency.

Edit : Said he spent the All Star break in Vancouver, working on his back with a specialist, will go there again, once the season is over.

He also said he wasn't angry at the Rockets for trading him, because it was a really good deal, and he heard that they tried to offer other players, but Pistons only wanted him.

Posted Feb 28, 2016, 12:30 PM UTC · edited

18170
ffsgivemeanaccountCeltics•

If they did lie, what happens then? Does the trade end up going through weeks after the deadline?

78
T4GxPelicans•

Basically nothing. As long as the Pistons doctors say they didnt like what they saw the league cant do anything about it.

64
ListasOP•

D Mo mentioned that too. He said that the team doctor says whether you passed or not, even if they don't do any tests on you. He didn't explicitly say, that they did no tests on him, but it sounded like it.

25
CaptainHawkmedKings•

Do they get access to all previous medical records during the evaluation process?

8
gvaini[HOU] James Harden•

Yes, they get that, so because of that it's weird on their part.

4
ListasOP•

The interviewer asked him, whether he expected Pistons to own up to that, and he said, that they won't do that, because they'd get a huge fine from the NBA.

23
Emptyadvice•

The players union could make this a collective bargaining issue in the near future. It is shady that teams can get away with this without repercussion.

4
rake2204[DET] Joe Dumars•

I'm struggling to tell how much is being lost in translation in that interview.

However, if it helps, the word during Motiejunas' tentative move to Detroit was that he was seeing a back specialist in New York (assumed to be affiliated with the Pistons or at least appointed) while the Pistons' medical staff and doctors researched and discussed his injury in Detroit.

I don't know how much of Motiejunas' medical history is available prior to a trade, but if the Pistons received more in-depth access to x-rays, details of his specific procedure, or virtually anything more than what they had access to prior to the trade, then I think a team's analysis of that data, even separate from a specific hands-on physical, can decide whether a player stays or goes.

To be forthright, the Pistons never really said much regarding any issue they actually found for the sake of privacy and not directly harming Motiejunas' future prospects. They just said he wasn't granted medical clearance, which can probably range from a team finding a current physical ailment or a team looking and deciding this could be a multi-million dollar investment not worth the risk.

“Standard with all trades, medical clearance on all players involved is required for completion. Medical clearance was not given on all players and the trade is being rescinded,” said Pistons general manager Jeff Bower. “In view of privacy considerations relating to medical information, we will have no further comment.” (http://detroitsportsnation.com/detroit-nba/rake2204/report-pistons-in-process-of-voiding-motiejunas-trade/62684/)

TL;DR - Motiejunas could be technically good to go right now, but the Pistons' medical research staff may have nixed the deal once they assessed the long-term risk based on any/all of the information gathered after the deal.

Also, Motiejunas is a pending free agent so, while nothing he said sounds egregious or unbelievable (unless lost in translation), it's probably in his best interest to even vaguely promote his own health following a situation like this.

61
wezdockingPistons•

SVG is the most blunt/honest person in the league, he wouldn't even think of doing anything close to this. Something either got lost in translation, or he's protecting himself for his upcoming free agency. But yea, good luck DMo.

45
ireddit270Wizards•

Iirc SVG said he wasn't even the one who was orchestrating most of the deals, he credited another team official (Bowers?)

7
rake2204[DET] Joe Dumars•

The process of deciding who to pursue is months-long and involves everyone from Jeff Bower (their general manager) to their entire scouting core (including Pat Garrity) to folks working for other organizations that still have ties to Van Gundy or Bower (ex: current Pistons trainer Anthony Harvey, who worked in Orlando when Tobias Harris was there).

So, to put it succinctly, Van Gundy is involved, but he's not a king sitting on the throne randomly playing with the ESPN trade machine. I believe he said something along the lines of "99 percent of the time the process makes the decision." (http://detroitsportsnation.com/detroit-nba/rake2204/while-svg-yields-the-credit-pistons-gm-jeff-bower-orchestrates-from-the-shadows/62470/)

Basically, everyone does their due diligence and a conclusion should come naturally regarding who to pursue and whether that pursuit makes sense.

Still, in the end, he has to agree and give the go-ahead on anything his staff presents but he also said he's turned virtually nothing down because, as he said, the process pretty much already decides things.

17
SuburbanLegend[CHI] Michael Jordan•

Excellent comment and that link is a great look at a well-run organization.

4
rake2204[DET] Joe Dumars•

Glad I could help.

3
voyagingCavaliers•

It's not SVG's decision, is it?

5
rake2204[DET] Joe Dumars•

Technically I think he needs to sign off on it because he's the Pistons' president of basketball operations in addition to their head coach. Though, during the season, general manager Jeff Bower and his scouting staff do the majority of the legwork.

Van Gundy even joked after the deadline about how those guys put in hours and hours of work, then Van Gundy will sit in on a 15 minute meeting and subsequently get all the credit or blame for whatever deals pan out. He presented it as a compliment to his staff while also pointing out the oddity of how the media/us regular folk tend to arbitrarily decide who's to blame or reward for everything.

8
TonyReasonTrail Blazers•

He has control as President of Basketball Operations, but Jeff Bower does the legwork, as GM.

3
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27
rake2204[DET] Joe Dumars•

They were certainly well aware of his back issue prior to the deal, but the trade may have provided them with more medical records/history while allowing their own medical team to make a determination firsthand. That's why the NBA has physical/medical clearance rules in place.

You can make a deal for a multi-million dollar asset, but you have the ability to check and decide whether that asset is worthy of the risk once provided with all the information necessary (whether in the form of an actual physical or complete in-depth review of medical history/paperwork provided upon transaction).

If I had to guess, the Pistons probably did the best they could to review Motiejunas' injury prior to the trade, but probably received access to a more thorough and complete background once they completed the initial transaction, which then allowed them to study and make a more concrete determination.

12
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13
Houston_sucksRockets•

Rockets tested him many many many many times, before trade, after trade... they find nothing. So Pistons did a dirty

-25
Copper_DomeCeltics•

If they found nothing he'd have played more than 197 minutes this year. His back is fucked, how fucked is going to depend on how individual doctors assess it. This isn't NBA2k where you are told 4-6 weeks and then all is good after that. Back injuries have lasting implications on flexibility and strength. Even if you can play in the short term, different observers are going to have different and valid opinions on whether it's worth a long-term investment.

17
definitelyjokingTrail Blazers•

For what reason? The lack of motive to just randomly fuck the Rockets and Dmo presents something of a problem to that train of logic.

5
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1
JaerbaPistons•

It doesn't make any sense why the trade was initiated in the first place, if this were true.

Maybe they hurt his off season value, but then they also piss him off and he won't sign here anyways.

22
SwordOfBufkus[DET] Andre Drummond•

even if its true, i'm not sure what DMo can accomplish from this other than getting the pistons to admit what happened (and there's probably no chance of that happening).

12
Status_Flux[DEN] Jusuf Nurkic•

I imagine it's for his upcoming free agency. He doesn't want other teams that may offer him a contract to think he's damaged goods.

14
blueberryySan Diego Rockets•

This definitely hurt his value. iirc the Pistons said they were concerned about his back long-term, not just for this season

8
Westbrook_Level[OKC] Russell Westbrook•

Why did they change their mind? Just got cold feet?

8
rake2204[DET] Joe Dumars•

I'd reckon their medical staff got an extended look at all of Motiejunas' medical paperwork/current standing (history, prognosis, outcome, threat of chronic ailment) and based off the information the medical staff conveyed to the front office, it was ultimately deemed to be a bigger risk than they initially believed, which is probably why teams have a 72-hour window to assure clearance.

12
Wrecking_HavocJazz•

Why did they not extensively look and research prior to offering the trade?

-5
rake2204[DET] Joe Dumars•

I'd assume they researched as far as they may have been able to without actually having him as a part of their own organization.

I don't know the precise ins and outs in that regard but there may have been some medical records they couldn't access with him belonging to another organization. I surmise that could be why all teams have that 72-hour period to perform all necessary medical tasks—not just for an actual physical, but a complete review of medical history and whatnot.

8
CubelarHornets•

They probably didn't like how much he wanted on his next contract

2
BizGilwalker[CHA] Michael Kidd-Gilchrist•

That, and they gave an extremely weakly protected pick. Not a good trade to begin with.

1†
clutch-city2k15[HOU] Corey Brewer•

Probably. They thought that a guy wish a questionable back wasn't worth their first rounder.

0†
J_KMOS[DET] Allen Iverson•

And that is fair, if they even had questions about if his back could hold up they are allowed to void the trade

1†
LRW35[PHI] Nik Stauskas•

What's fair about lying to get out of a trade you already agreed too? Homer alert

-7†
J_KMOS[DET] Allen Iverson•

It's not lying, if they don't think his back will hold up long term they don't have to make the trade, you do the physicals for a reason

2†
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[deleted]

5
JimboJones8Raptors•

His play suggests otherwise. Looks like a completely different player.

4†
yoyoyodawg3Rockets•

Going to take anyone awhile to get back into the groove of things after sitting out an entire year. Good to go or not.

He still isn't the worst PF on the Rockets roster after missing a year.

11
DoucheCRenoWest•

Shout out to T Jones.

5
ApatheeePistons•

Homer alert: I doubt the Pistons did anything malicious. They probably saw from medical reports that it would be a long term issue and chose to void the trade. It was a good trade for us, as we traded a mid first round pick (What usually amounts to a decent role player) for a perfect fit roleplayer.

3
wezdockingPistons•

Yeah people are overrating the pick we gave, we didn't give a shit about the pick, it wasn't voided because of the pick. It was voided because of his back. We're sorry that it might've hurt his reputation, but that's the truth.

5
ApatheeePistons•

I feel this statement from D-Mo is him trying to save his reputation at our expense. I don't blame him; we probably cost him millions of dollars.

3
Lorax151576ers•

Maybe Adam Schefter can release DMo's medical records to the public so we can come to our own conclusions.

2
purplecloudsPistons•

I really hope this isn't the case, this would be a pretty shitty thing to do.

1†
no_one_knows42Rockets•

Keep the pick and just sign him outright in the offseason? Not really because they wouldn't actually risk such a thing but it doesn't seem that crazy

1
purplecloudsPistons•

No way. If they didn't keep him now, they knew it meant never going after him in the future.

1
Maxthetank•

Why would pistons lie?

1
KentaviousJacksonPistons•

Strong words for a guy who has managed to play in a total of fifteen games this season.

1
MutherfuckgepettoPistons•

I think DMo was cleared to play, but his health is on the downturn so the Pistons realized the risk and cancelled the trade. It doesn't make any sense for us to blow up our weak bench and get nothing in return.

1
trilliam_clinton•

DMo needs to look at Tyson Chandler as proof that a failed trade physical doesn't prevent you from future pay days.

I think Chandler got 3 big free agency pay days after the Thunder trade didn't clear.

1
no_one_knows42Rockets•

Well there goes detroits supposed plan of keeping the pick and signing him in the offseason anyway. He sounds pretty pissed

1
goshspeedCeltics•

Can he actually sue for lost wages if this is true?

0
Zeiramsy[DET] Ben Wallace•

Basically no as the per nba rules they so not have to conduct a sit down test. The only thing they have to do is give a yes or no from their medical staff.

Even if the Pistons were maliciously voiding the trade even though Dmo is 100% healthy (unlikely but I am a Pistons fan) they would never be stupid enough to do that whilst opening themselves up for law suits.

If the Pistons never checked him 1to1 that clearly means it wasn't required.

3
RAL1091[NYK] Carmelo Anthony•

I translated the whole article and he doesn't say anything about consulting his agent or lawyers???? Unless you all know something I don't know.

0
ListasOP•

Yeah, I know lithuanian :)

1
chikChukChik•

The strangest thing about this interview is that a multi-millionaire professional athlete would go to Vancouver for specialized back treatment. Our healthcare system isn't bad by any means but why wouldn't you go to a private doctor in the US and pay top dollar for the best? Also how does a non-Canadian get access to Canadian doctors? I'd assume there's a very long waiting list and Canadians get priority.

0