Motiejunas moved back to the bench with Kostas Papanikolaou starting and the proceeded to put up the best line of this young season, scoring 16 points (5-10 FG, 2-3 3Pt, 4-4 FT) with eight rebounds, one assists and two steals in 30 minutes.

While this sort of performance is very encouraging, it's hard to ignore the six preceding games of single digit scoring. Motiejunas will have additional value while Terrence Jones recovers from a leg nerve issue, but his performances have been unreliable to date.

Motiejunas started and scored two points (1-5 FG, 0-2 3Pt) while adding one rebound in 13 minutes against the Heat Tuesday.

Though Motiejunas started in place of the injured Terrance Jones (leg), he was outplayed by Kostas Papanikolaou, who saw 37 minutes off the bench. Papanikolaou has played more than Motiejunas in four of five games, and the former appears to have passed the latter on the depth chart.

Motiejunas will have to compete with Terrence Jones for the starting power forward job, the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen reports.

There was also an open competition last year for the power forward job, and Jones averaged almost double the minutes Motiejunas saw, so until there's a concrete sign that something has changed, the odds are stacked against the versatile Lithuanian.

Donatas Motiejunas stated in a recent interview that he agreed with Houston's decision to let Chandler Parsons walk.

"[Parsons is] a good player, but would it be logical for management to pay him more than Harden?" Motiejunas said. "I think that alone determined they couldn't keep him. Harden would be the third player on the team and he wouldn't tolerate it." When the Rockets agreed to terms with Trevor Ariza it didn't make much sense for them to also offer Parsons a big-money contract, and that perhaps played into the decision of letting him walk more so than the money issue with Harden, but it's an interesting point brought up by Motiejunas.

Donatas Motiejunas double-doubled with 18 points and 13 rebounds on Sunday, helping the Rockets advance to the Summer League tournament finals.

There's nothing at stake beyond pride and player development, but Motiejunas has averaged a healthy 16.7 points on 64.4 percent shooting while helping Houston to a 5-3 record. He has yet to develop reliable 3-point range and his lack of defensive stats are a major obstacle to fantasy value this season, but he deserves close attention in deeper leagues.

Donatas Motiejunas excelled vs. the Hawks in a win on Saturday with 19 points, 13 boards, one assist and two 3-pointers.

He's scored at least 13 points in all seven of his summer-league games. Motiejunas had a couple great games last year during the season, but he's still going to be behind Terrence Jones. He'd likely need an injury in order to be a consistent player in the NBA.

Donatas Motiejunas came off the bench for 13 points, 15 rebounds and a block in 24 minutes on Tuesday.

D-Mo was great tonight, but this was a blowout and Terrence Jones left early with an apparent leg cramp. It's possible he could do this again at some point, but he was clearly a beneficiary of garbage time in this one.

Donatas Motiejunas came off the bench for 13 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's loss at Toronto.

Terrence Jones (illness) started, but lasted just 10 minutes. That left Motiejunas to start the second half and play 23 minutes total. Still, this is about the ceiling for a player that has consistently disappointed when given opportunities. Owners should be aiming higher during Friday's full slate even if Jones sits.

Donatas Motiejunas started Tuesday's game at PF in place of Terrence Jones (flu) but he picked up four in only eight minutes of action.

Motie had no chance defending Paul Pierce and he never got a chance to produce given his disastrous foul total. Jordan Hamilton, Omri Casspi and Francisco Garcia all played more minutes off the bench as a consequence, and with T-Jones day-to-day there's no reason to bother with Motiejunas in any leagues.

Donatas Motiejunas played 27 minutes off the bench on Saturday vs. the Clippers with six points, seven boards, one assist and two blocks.

Terrence Jones was in foul trouble and Dwight Howard (ankle) is out, so D-Mo saw some extra run. Motiejunas should have minutes in the 20s and will be worth a look in deeper leagues thanks to the fast pace of the Rockets.

Donatas Motiejunas scored a career-high 20 points vs. the Wolves on Thursday with six boards, one steal and one 3-pointer in 26 minutes.

Motiejunas was dominant in the post and shot 9-of-11 from the field. Nine of his 20 points came in the fourth quarter in this blowout win and Dwight Howard (ankle) did not play, so this great night doesn't affect his outlook for the weekend. Unless you're just looking for a spot-start against the Cavs on Saturday as some Howard insurance, D-Mo can stay on the wire.

Donatas Motiejunas went to the locker room in the second quarter of Tuesday's game.

He looked like he took a shot to the face and perhaps may have been poked in the eye. Terrence Jones subbed back in for him and may get some extra playing time tonight.

Donatas Motiejunas played 22 minutes and had eight points, four rebounds and two assists on 2-of-6 shooting Wednesday.

He's starting to eat into the playing time of Terrence Jones, along with Omer Asik and Jordan Hamilton. Motiejunas has not fantasy value, but might be ruining Jones with the increase in playing time. Motiejunas is averaging 19.2 minutes per game over his last five, while Jones is clocking in at just over 20.

Donatas Motiejunas played 26 minutes against the Mavericks on Wednesday with 12 points, 13 boards and one turnover.

Excluding the 12 minutes of Omri Casspi, the Rockets ran a seven-man rotation with James Harden (thumb) out of the lineup. Motiejunas even saw some run down the stretch to give Terrence Jones a break off Dirk Nowitzki. There is believed to be some interest from other teams in acquiring him, so the Rockets could be showcasing him. Jones is playing too well to think D-Mo will get enough minutes to matter in standard leagues, though.

The Rockets prefer to keep PF Donatas Motiejunas despite getting "a lot of calls" about him from other teams, according to GM Daryl Morey.

"Teams are opportunistic," Morey said. "[Motiejunas] is a mobile seven-footer with offensive skill. He's not a perfect player, but because he wasn't playing, teams are like 'Maybe we can get him on the cheap'." The Rockets can keep Motiejunas under a rookie-scale contract through the end of the 2015-16 season, and Morey is too savvy to trade away an affordable asset for minimal short-term gain.

Donatas Motiejunas started in place of Terrence Jones (thigh) on Wednesday and had six points, nine rebounds and a block in 29 minutes.

It sounds like Jones is likely to be ready for his next game, and D-Mo has scored a total of 18 points over his last three games. Add those two facts together and there's no reason to pick Motiejunas up at this point.

Donatas Motiejunas played well in 22 minutes against the Blazers on Monday with nine points, nine boards, two assists, one steal, one block and one 3-pointer.

It was his first start of the season after making 14 starts last year. Terrence Jones was out due to a thigh bruise and is not expected to miss too much time, so there is very little to be excited about in picking D-Mo up. The Rockets were looking to trade Motiejunas, so this game does give them a little leverage in that regard.

Donatas Motiejunas will get the start at power forward against the Blazers on Monday.

Donatas Montiejunas cooled off on Saturday with just three points, three boards, two assists, two steals and one turnover in 21 minutes.

He scored a career-high 15 points on Thursday and had nowhere to go but down. Motiejunas getting 21 minutes tonight is still somewhat solid and the Rockets have gone with some bigger lineups lately. He's only an option in deeper leagues.

Donatas Motiejunas played 24 minutes against the Thunder on Thursday with 15 points, seven boards and three 3-pointers.

He had season highs in points, boards, minute and treys tonight, so this was unexpected to say the least. D-Mo did have a 10-point game on Wednesday and seems to be back in the rotation for now. Although, the Rockets are believed to be looking to trade Motiejunas, which may be their motivation to playing him. He's only on the radar in deep leagues.