Donatas Motiejūnas (Lithuanian pronunciation: [dɔˈnaːtɐs moːtʲiəˈjûːnɐs]; born September 20, 1990) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player who most recently played for Crvena zvezda of the Basketball League of Serbia (KLS), the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He was drafted 20th overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves who traded his rights to the Houston Rockets. After spending four seasons with the Rockets from 2012 to 2016, Motiejūnas joined the New Orleans Pelicans in January 2017. In 2019, he signed with the San Antonio Spurs.
In 2005, Motiejūnas began his career playing with Žalgiris Kaunas junior team, Žalgiris-Arvydas Sabonis school, who played in Lithuania's second-tier National Basketball League. In 2007–08, he made his debut for the senior team in a Baltic Basketball League (BBL) game against the ASK Riga. He scored 15 points in 22 minutes.
In 2008, Motiejūnas was loaned to Aisčiai for the 2008–09 season where he went on to average 19.9 points and 7.0 rebounds in 29.3 minutes per game, and he scored a season-high 29 points in a Lithuanian League game against Nevėžis on March 22, 2009.
In April 2009, Motiejūnas participated in the Nike Hoop Summit and on 14 April 2009 scored 21 points for the Team World which defeated 97–89 Team USA.
In August 2009, Motiejūnas signed a multi-year deal with Benetton Basket of Italy's Lega Basket Serie A. In 33 league games in 2009–10, he averaged 9.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
In April 2010, Motiejūnas declared for the 2010 NBA draft, but later withdrew and returned to Benetton. He went on to win the 2011 EuroCup Rising Star award after helping Benetton reach Eurocup's 2011 Final Four, averaging 10.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
On June 23, 2011, Motiejūnas was selected with the 20th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The next day, his rights were traded, along with Jonny Flynn, to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Brad Miller and the draft rights to the 23rd overall pick, Nikola Mirotić. Due to the NBA lockout, Motiejūnas returned to Europe.
On September 22, 2011, Benetton loaned Motiejūnas to Asseco Prokom for the 2011–12 season. On December 7, 2011, he recorded a career-high 21 rebounds (18 defensive) against Union Olimpija, the most defensive rebounds in a EuroLeague game since the 2000–01 season. He also helped lead Asseco Prokom to a ninth consecutive Polish Basketball League title in 2011–12. During the seventh and final game of the finals, he recorded 23 points and 11 rebounds.
On July 6, 2012, Motiejūnas signed a four-year, rookie scale contract with the Houston Rockets, and joined them for the 2012 NBA Summer League. In his summer league debut, he recorded 25 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. After the game, he quoted a famous Lithuanian idiom describing his debut: "Jeigu bijai vilko – neik į mišką" (English: If you're scared of wolves, do not go into the woods). Overall, he averaged 16.3 points and 7.8 rebounds in four games.
On November 14, 2012, Motiejūnas was assigned to Houston's NBA Development League (NBA D-League) affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. In his D-League debut on November 23, he recorded 31 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steals. Two days later, he was recalled by the Rockets. He was later reassigned two more times throughout the season and in seven D-League games, he averaged 20.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. In 44 games for the Rockets, he averaged 5.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
On October 30, 2013, the Rockets exercised their third-year team option on Motiejūnas' rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2014–15 season. He went on to play 62 games for the Rockets while averaging 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
In August 2014, Motiejūnas came under fire for comments made about his Rocket teammates James Harden and Dwight Howard, describing their relationship as "Hi & bye. They even eat separately from the team. Usually in some fast food place." The comments came in an interview with Lithuanian media. It was later revealed that Motiejūnas was misquoted in his comments due to an incorrect translation by Lithuanian media from Lithuanian to English.
On October 30, 2014, the Rockets exercised their fourth-year team option on Motiejūnas' rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2015–16 season. With Dwight Howard out for a 11 games during November and December, and Terrence Jones out for the majority of the first half of the season, Motiejūnas averaged 14.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in Howard's 11-game absence. After Howard's return on December 13, Motiejūnas scored a then career-high 25 points on 11-of-19 shooting to help the Rockets defeat the Denver Nuggets 108–96.
On January 30, 2015, Motiejūnas scored a career-high 26 points in a 93–87 win over the Boston Celtics. On March 27, he was ruled out for one to two weeks with lower back pain and tightness. However, the injury later ruled him out for the rest of the season, and put his chances of playing for the Lithuanian national team in doubt.
In his third NBA season, Motiejūnas led the league in post-up field goal percentage (53.4%), with his biggest competitor being fellow Lithuanian Jonas Valančiūnas of the Toronto Raptors (51.3%). In recognition, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle awarded Motiejūnas an "A" grade for his 2014–15 season performance.
On December 1, 2015, Motiejūnas was cleared to return to practice, having been out since March 2015 after requiring surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back. Four days later, he returned to the Rockets' lineup and made his season debut, earning a standing ovation when he entered the game for the first time during the first quarter of the team's 120–113 win over the Sacramento Kings. He had one rebound and took a charge in six minutes of play. He played in 14 straight games for the Rockets, including making one start, before more back pain forced him out again. He subsequently missed all of January's action, and on January 30, he was assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers for the first time since 2013 to complete his rehab from the back injury. He later received two more assignments to the Vipers.
On February 18, 2016, Motiejūnas and Marcus Thornton were traded to the Detroit Pistons in a three-team trade involving the Rockets and the Philadelphia 76ers. However, four days later, the Pistons rescinded their trade following a failed physical by Motiejūnas. On February 27, Motiejūnas returned to the Rockets' lineup and played for the first time since December 31. The Rockets finished the 2015–16 regular season as the eighth seed in the Western Conference with a 41–41 record. In the first round of the 2016 playoffs, the Rockets faced the first-seeded Golden State Warriors, and in a game 3 win on April 21, Motiejūnas recorded 14 points and 13 rebounds for his first career double-double in the postseason.
After the 2015–16 season, Motiejūnas became a restricted free agent. On December 2, 2016, following a prolonged contract dispute with the Rockets that lasted into the first month of the 2016–17 season, he received a four-year, $37 million offer sheet from the Brooklyn Nets, which the Rockets matched three days later. A day after the Rockets matched his four-year offer sheet to retain him, Motiejūnas did not show up for his scheduled physical exam with the team. Motiejūnas' camp made the decision to not report to the Rockets because of a difference of nearly $6 million from the offer sheet he signed with the Nets; the Rockets only had to match the principle terms of the offer sheet, which came to $31 million. As a result, on December 9, the two sides negotiated a new four-year, partially guaranteed deal worth between $35 million and $37 million with bonus clauses. While they appeared to have a new deal in place, Motiejūnas was sent home before the team's game on December 10 after taking a physical, and five days later, the Rockets renounced the four-year deal and their rights to Motiejūnas, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.