Scola overrated?
Sorry, but how the Spurs dealt with Scola probably cost them at least one le.
The key to Scola wasn't in his respectable rebounding (which has been better in the NBA), his savvy scoring around the basket like a supercharged Oberto, his solid mid-range jumper, and his offensive and defensive craftiness . . .
It was the fact that as a continuously contending team, the Spurs had limited opportunities to get good players as the years went on. They were consistently drafting towards the end of the first round, they were out of capspace, they didn't have any young players signed to use as trade bait . . . they were in a routine of signing guys in their 30s (Barry, Vaughn, NVE, Oberto, Elson) or young unproven guys (Fattie Butler).
The miraculous thing about Scola was that here was one of the top players in Europe, in his mid-20s, and the Spurs had his exclusive rights! Not only that, but he would be cheap, he was publicly asking for a 3 year deal between 9-10 million! That was insane! That a team always up against the cap had a useful piece right in their grasp for so cheap . . . the Spurs were freaking lucky.
Add to that the built-in 'corporate knowledge' due to him having a rapport with Manu. And Tim Duncan being his favorite player. And little things like him and Splitter being so close that a son was named after the other, that could have come in handy with trying to lure Splitter over the first time.
But the Spurs pissed it all away. They had a legit big-time rotation big man with multiple, legit skills who did all the little things people associate with being a winner right in their hands for cheap and they blew it.
They blew it so bad it warped the minds of kool-aid drinking Spurs fans. To this day people believe the anti-Scola trash leaked to the media and invented their own to build upon it. Go back and read the Scola threads and view a mass hysteria of buffoonery as people didn't only just claim Scola was overrated or too small, but sputtered garbage like "Scola demands to start! But we have Tim Duncan, he's our PF!" or "Scola is demanding the full MLE! That bas !" and other nonsense. Meanwhile Scola signs for less than the MLE and humbly comes off the bench at the start of his Rockets career. lol
And let's not forget the entirely bizarre line-in-the-sand . . . an insane insistence that giving 3/9-10 was unacceptable because it would have made Scola the 'highest paid second rounder in history'. It was so strange, it was like insisting that the Spurs shouldn't pay Scola more than the minimum because that would set a precedent of making him the highest paid player with long, greasy hair.
But the Spurs had a piece right in their grasp, for cheap, and they blew it. That's a huge roster fail and honest history books will reflect that.
Because the other players on the list mostly . . . were desperation moves. They were reaching, hoping for a move to work out. Derek Anderson, desperate and were lucky to get him on the 1-year deal. Steve Smith, desperation move when Anderson wanted to go to Portland. Hedo Turkoglu, last minute reaction to not wanting to pay Stephen Jackson. Richard Jefferson, last-hurrah reaction to being rolled in the first round. Kurt Thomas, desperation trade to counter the Lakers. McDyess, last hurrah attempt at a big man (makes more than Scola!). NVE, Stoudamire, Gooden, short term desperation. All desperate moves, but because of that they couldn't be held too much against the front office. Their backs were against the wall, some move had to be made, they made them.
Scola wasn't.
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