The Houston Rockets got back to winning in their last game against the Portland Trail Blazers, and things have started to settle down a little bit around them. The Rockets are still 5-7, though, and a lot of that has had to do with injuries, including the one to Donatas Motiejunas. Motiejunas has not played this season and has not even been cleared to practice yet, but still the Rockets do not have a timetable for when their power forward might get clearance, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
Motiejunas underwent a procedure on his back in April, and at that time he was given a 2-3 month timetable for a return and was easily expected to be ready for this season. Clearly that timetable was way off, as Motiejunas has now been out seven months and counting and the Rockets still have no clue when he might be able to return.
The Rockets do expect that Motiejunas will meet with doctors on Dec. 1 in the hopes that he might be cleared for team workouts. As of right now, all Motiejunas has been doing is individual workouts after the team's practices are over. A little more than a week ago Motiejunas was spotted doing some non-contact work and taking some shots which seemed like a good sign, but, like has been the case with this recovery far too often, nothing has come of it yet.
Motiejunas was a huge key for the Rockets last season as he took over as the starting power forward and played extremely well after Terrence Jones went down. In 71 games a season ago Motiejunas averaged 12 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, and when he comes back he will likely slot in as Jones' backup, as Jones has played very well so far this season.
If and when Motiejunas does finally get cleared, the Rockets will likely ease him back into the swing of things, but his return will be a welcome one for the Rockets. Houston has certainly underperformed so far this season, but a lot of that has to do with injuries, and getting Motiejunas back would be big for them moving forward.
