Lockout Forces Motiejunas to Rejoin Old Team

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Rockets‘ rook Donatas Motiejunas will take his talents back to Europe while the NBA straightens out its lockout situation: “Hours before the NBA locked out its players, Rockets rookie Donatas Motiejunas returned to Italy on Thursday expecting to rejoin his previous team. Motiejunas expects to accept an offer from Benetton Treviso to resume his career there for the duration of the NBA lockout and perhaps through next season. Just a week after he joined the Rockets in a draft-night deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Motiejunas, 20, left Houston to resume training in Treviso. ‘I still have a contract with Benetton,’ said Motiejunas, the 20th player taken in the NBA draft. ‘They told me if I want to leave in the middle of the season when the team that took me, Houston, wants me, they would let me go. That will be no problem. That’s why I’m happy, and a little bit sad. The situation is very tough right now. I don’t really want to go away from the team. I’m not happy about that. That was one of the greatest things that happened in my life, that this team picked me.'”