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It's always about the money.
Spurs: The Scola/Spanoulis Trade Mystery
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By Bill Ingram
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Sep 9, 2007, 13:44
In the wake of last week's FIBA Americas Tournament there has been a great deal of speculation that the San Antonio Spurs will find themselves in the spotlight as the 2007-08 season gets underway. It won't be for the usual reason, though. The defending champs will hang another banner, but many of their fans will be keeping an eye on the team playing just a few miles to the East.
Luis Scola has been the property of the San Antonio Spurs since the 2002 NBA Draft, when he was taken with the 56th overall pick. The Spurs, though, were never able to make the necessary arrangements to bring him over to the NBA. It's widely believed that Scola wanted to start, and obviously he wouldn't do that during Tim Duncan's tenure. The fact that a trade to a team that needed a starting power forward cleared things up immediately supports that idea.
So the San Antonio Spurs traded one of the best international power forwards - a teammate of Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto - for a point guard who was never going to suit up for the team? Sure, it gave San Antonio some cap relief, but that's hardly going to be reassuring if Scola leads the Houston Rockets to a division le and perhaps more.
A little cap relief seemed to be the primary motivation in a deal that also sent Jackie Butler to Houston. Butler didn't play for the Spurs and Rockets GM Daryl Morey told HOOPSWORLD last week that he doesn't expect Butler to play for the Rockets, either. But now a source close to Panathinaikos has revealed that the Greek team paid the Spurs more than $1 million to release Spanoulis, who was as much a star in Greece before joining the Rockets as Scola is in Argentina.
All in all, it seems the Spurs saved as much as $13 million through this series of events. Five million from Spanoulis (two million in salary times two for luxury cap is four million plus one million from Panathinaikos equals five million). Then they saved 2.2 million times two years = 4.4 million from Jackie Butler or 8.5 say 8 million including the luxury tax. Total savings 8+5 = 13 million. Not bad.
It still won't be much of a consolation if the Rockets somehow use Scola as a means to overcome San Antonio's dominance of the Western Conference, but at least the deal makes a little more sense in light of this new information.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_23249.shtml
It's always about the money.
What is the mystery?
Scola is officially overhyped
This is more newsworthy. I assume he means there won't be playing time, but surely Mutumbo would like a rest.Rockets GM Daryl Morey told HOOPSWORLD last week that he doesn't expect Butler to play for the Rockets, either.
I think the Rockets may cut Butler. I believe they already have 16 players signed to guaranteed contracts (signing Mutumbo would make 17). (See link http://blogs.chron.com/nba/)
I think there is a distinct chance Butler is not a Rocket by the start of the season.
oh my god, October 30th '07 seems to be the farest and most difficult to reach date ever!
Last edited by Martin R; 09-10-2007 at 01:35 PM.
Apologies awaited...you know who you are.Butler didn't play for the Spurs and Rockets GM Daryl Morey told HOOPSWORLD last week that he doesn't expect Butler to play for the Rockets, either.
butler and span were never on the roster at the same time, you can't count them together. you save on one or the other.
they owed butler 4.4 million. instead of owing that, they got 1 million. that makes 5.4 million. if they saved 4.4 million in luxery tax (not determined by this trade but by other decisions made after the trade), they saved 9.8 million. if they missed out on 1 million/year of lux tax payouts (the amount paid to teams under the luxery tax cap this season), then they saved between 6.4 million and 11.8 million (depending on where they would have been). but the front office will make their decisions today based on today's situation, not the situation they faced before this trade happened, so we won't actually quantify it.
we don't know what it would have cost if scola had been signed by the spurs because we don't know if he would have been signed (regardless of whether it was the f.o. or scola that was against it).
in addition, we can't quantify the amount of income based on whether the spurs play in the finals or exit earlier because we'll never know what would have happened if the trade had not happened. i'm sure if the rockets beat the spurs in the playoffs, somebody will quantify that for us.
THANK YOU.
Unbelievable how stupid this article is. Why not add up the salaries of everyone NOT a Spur and say they saved on them, too?
All the trade did was cut Butler's salary out (or the amount Span was owed, whichever is greater), plus whatever the Greek team paid them.
THAT'S IT.
Man, the Spurs saved over $40 million on Shaq and KG this year!
This is Hoopsworld we are talking about.
Scola/Rockets overcome the Tim Duncan/Spurs????????
Just another ĻNBA expertĻwriter trying to make R.C look like THE MAN, while we all know He is Dumb .
I wonder whatīs behind such a stupid and senceless article.
This asswholes probably think spurs fans are stupid enough to believe and to buy that .
He's the resident Rocket columnist, so he must be an asswhole.
nope,He is just doing R.C a favor by writing that .
after all, theyīve got the Vegas MVP for a bag of peanuts.
*SIGH*
Down to only 4 Scola threads on the main page...
Actually I think you may need to check the Spurs backside. I think they got a bag of Peanuts and H.I.T.A.
yeap,and won it over the USīs NBA stars.(kobe,Carmelo,Lebron etc)
It hurts , doesnt it?
Not as bad as the ass beating the Argentina team took, ouch
thatīs ok.Manu and the guys wanted Carmelo and Co.to have just one good tourny before the main event starts.
BTW,I donīt think that any of the US guys wouldīve been able to qualify the team without the 80% of the main guys playing on it.
Letīs say,Lebron had to play the same tourny in Vegas with a bunch of NCAA unknown players.
would it be the same result as Scolaīs qualifing the Arg team and winning the MVP?
Donīt think so.
So Scola's better than LeBron now?thatīs ok.Manu and the guys wanted Carmelo and Co.to have just one good tourny before the main event starts.
BTW,I donīt think that any of the US guys wouldīve been able to qualify the team without the 80% of the main guys playing on it.
Letīs say,Lebron had to play the same tourny in Vegas with a bunch of NCAA unknown players.
would it be the same result as Scolaīs qualifing the Arg team and winning the MVP?
Donīt think so.
And your right, Delfino is pretty much the equal to a NCAA unknown player.
argspursfan=scolanuthuger
,delfino played the same minutes on Detroit in 3 yrs tham the whole USA bench in ONE GAME!!!
FACE IT YOU BEATED NOBODY YET.
Samething wont be in Beijin.
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