New Orleans Pelicans

Pelicans in negotiations to finalize a deal with Donatas Motiejunas

Published Jan. 2, 2017 8:30 p.m. ET

Brett Pollakoff

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Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry confirmed that New Orleans is in negotiations to finalize a deal with free-agent big man Donatas Motiejunas, who was a restricted free agent with the Rockets but became available under an unusual set of circumstances.

''We're talking and we're in negotiations,'' Gentry said before Monday's game against the Cavaliers. ''You'll have to run that by (GM Dell Demps).''

The saga between Motiejunas and the Rockets dates back to last season, when Houston dealt him to the Pistons at the trade deadline, only to have Detroit void the deal and send him back to the Rockets because of a failed physical.

That made for an awkward reunion in Houston, but Motiejunas appeared in 22 of his team's final 23 games, and started in four of the Rockets' five playoff contests against the Warriors.

Teams had shied away from making offers to Motiejunas because he's undergone two back surgeries, but the 26-year-old Lithuanian secured an offer sheet from the Nets in early December worth $37 million over four years. The Rockets matched, but didn't match the incentives in the deal (as was their right under the rules of the league's collective bargaining agreement), and Motiejunas didn't report for his physical as a result. Eventually, Houston renounced his rights, making him an unrestricted free agent.

The original report linking Motiejunas and the Pelicans had him signing a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum salary. It's clear that he's angling for a bit more than that as the negotiations drag on, and if healthy, he could really be an asset to a New Orleans team desperate to climb out of its early-season funk and contend for a postseason spot.