http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/4968818.html
Adelman impressed with potential of newest Rocket
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
LAS VEGAS — Word bounced around the Cox Pavilion gym rapidly, from agent to general manager, general manager to scout, scout to coach.
In a room like this, no crossover dribble is ever as quick as a rumor. But this one had some juice to it, more than the usual free-agent signing or even fresh trade rumor.
This appealed to the insiders and the experts. The Rockets had landed the draft rights to Luis Scola, giving up only a player who said he didn't want to play for them. And the talk started, especially after word spread he would buy out his Tau Ceramica contract and make the jump to the NBA five years after the San Antonio Spurs drafted him.
In Buenos Aires, Scola went through a "crazy" few days of phone calls, meetings and a physical, quickly agreeing to the Rockets' contract offer of three years, $9.3 million (not including the Rockets' $500,000 payment toward his buyout).
By Friday night, the trade was approved. By Saturday, the 27-year-old power forward was making arrangements to arrive in Houston late Monday night and begin the career he had imagined since he began playing basketball.
"I've been waiting to be in NBA since I remember, not just last five years," Scola said when reached at his home in Buenos Aires. "I think it's the best league in the world. I always wanted to be playing with the best players in the world.
"As I started playing and growing, I felt like I got a little closer every year. I just needed a chance to play in the league and make a good career."
Scola, 6-9 and 230 pounds, has that chance. And as scouts and general managers who have watched him for the past decade, especially as a part of Argentina's powerhouse Olympic champion national team, spoke of him, they described a passion, toughness and most of all, a good fit.
"He's really interesting," said Mavericks general manager Donn Nelson, who has scouted Scola for more than 10 years. "He's athletic. He's got the Argentinian toughness. Early on, he didn't have the outside shot, but that's there now. He's a really nice pickup.
"I think he's a fit. He knows how to play. He's a really nice passer. There is an art to knowing how to get out of the way to let other people do things. He's a glue guy, just an all-around good player. He knows how to play, plays hard all the time, does what it takes for his team to win.
"I was involved in coaching him in some of the international teams. He was on some of those first teams to come over. I really liked him then. I thought he needed some time over in Europe. He worked on his game, added the outside game. And he's always been one of those really engaging personalities. He's a true winner in every sense of the word."
That has made Scola a coveted prospect. The fit became a topic of conversation since the trade.
"If (Rockets coach Rick) Adelman does anything like he did in the past, the passing game, the movement, Scola will fit great," said Ryan Bowen, the former Rockets forward who practiced with Scola last season. "He's a great passer, he moves and he hits the midrange jumper."
Adelman's impressed
While the Pistons, SuperSonics, Cavaliers and Rockets vied to get Scola's draft rights from the Spurs, Adelman watched tape and was impressed enough with what he saw for Scola to become the Rockets' priority.
"I've watched him on tape a lot," Adelman said. "I just think he is a very active player, plays every possession hard. He passes the ball well. I just like the activity more than anything else.
"He's different from a lot of guys because he is always playing, always moving. He's one of those guys if someone makes a play and gives it to him, if he doesn't have it, he gives it to the next guy. That's what I saw on that team they played on in Argentina. He always made the right play.
"That was the advantage I had in Sacramento. We had some smart players. If they're smart and willing to give it up, the offense flows. When I was in Sacramento, people didn't talk about it, but we were a pretty good defensive team. In the playoffs we had a very good defensive team because we were smart. If you're smart offensively, you can be smart defensively, when you put a gameplan together."
As it became apparent that Scola and the Spurs would not get together and San Antonio was ready to find a trading partner, the compe ion for him began across the NBA. But he was far from a discovery to the people repeating his name around the summer league.
"I've been watching Scola since high school," said Brent Johnson, in his 10th year as a Rockets scout. "He is a very, very intelligent player, fits our new coaching style because he is a big man that can pass, very physical, can score in the low post. He is probably the best (power forward) in Europe. I'm really excited about what Rick can do with him. It's going to be unbelievable. Scola really fits.
"We're getting a lot of compliments. I think he's going to be a surprise for people who don't know. People in the basketball world, they all know. People have been watching him all this time."
Championship aspirations
This is what Scola had imagined all this time, too. He said he was flattered to hear about the talk in Las Vegas.
"I'm willing to work hard every day, and I'm willing to help," he said. "I don't know what else to say. I think those are the most important things. I'm motivated to work hard and help the team win games. The players there, they know the team, the city, the fans, they are the real players of the Rockets, but I will try to help them win more games."
His national teammates, Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto, have won NBA championships with the Spurs. Scola said it was too soon to talk about that, but with one dream realized, he seemed ready to imagine another.
"If we win a championship," he said, "I would be the happiest person in the world."
That would really be something to talk about.
There it is- finally in writing. All it took to sign him.In Buenos Aires, Scola went through a "crazy" few days of phone calls, meetings and a physical, quickly agreeing to the Rockets' contract offer of three years, $9.3 million (not including the Rockets' $500,000 payment toward his buyout).
1st year salary of $2.8 mil.In Buenos Aires, Scola went through a "crazy" few days of phone calls, meetings and a physical, quickly agreeing to the Rockets' contract offer of three years, $9.3 million (not including the Rockets' $500,000 payment toward his buyout).
Other than the Spurs being willing to hand over a quality talent willing to sign a relatively cheap NBA contract in exchange for a combined $6.8 mil in payroll savings and cash to a divisional rival, perhaps their view of Scola has been the correct one all along. It's rather obvious that if the Spurs thought he would blow up in the NBA they would have found a way to bring him in earlier. As much as the forum doesn't believe so, the Spurs knew on the basis of prospective talent that this deal is one-sided. The Spurs have been willing to make mistakes before (Josh Howard) when other considerations were at hand. If Scola struggles to transfer his game to the NBA and Butler's bad habits and speech impediment cap his growth then the wisdom of the trade will look a little different in hindsight. We'll find out soon enough if their assessment was correct.As it became apparent that Scola and the Spurs would not get together and San Antonio was ready to find a trading partner, the compe ion for him began across the NBA. But he was far from a discovery to the people repeating his name around the summer league.
Oh well, it's quite clear now, the Spurs simply view Scola as an unfit acquisiton for them, 9.3 mil for a player with his credit is simply peanut if a NBA team really wants him in the 1st place.
VITORIA, Spain - It is a matter of hours before Tau Ceramica's Luis Scola is free to sign for the Houston Rockets.
On Thursday night, Houston worked a trade with San Antonio for the rights to the Argentinian power forward, with the Spurs having selected Scola in the second round of the 2002 draft.
Scola, 27, one of the best players in Europe for the past several years, has one more year on his contract at Tau and is understood to have a buyout of close to $3 million.
"In the next few hours, the player's agent will get in touch with the club to negotiate the details of the player's exit," A statement placed on Tau Ceramica's website on Saturday morning said.
"Obviously, Houston bought the player's rights and sent an offer," Scola's agent Claudio Villanueva said. "Everything could be completed today."
Tau have been one of the leading teams in Spain and Europe for several years, and Scola has been their inspiration.
He was a key member of the Argentina squad that captured a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics.
Tau do not want to lose the player.
"I have said many times that he is the most important player in the club's history, so to lose a player of this calibre would logically be a problem," Club president Josean Querejeta said. "He is also one of the most important players in Europe, but in the past we have been able to overcome the departures of (Andres) Nocioni, (Jose Manuel) Calderon and (Arvydas) Macijauskas.
"The player has told me that he has an offer from Houston and that he wants to accept it. He says that he is very sorry but that this is his ambition. We thank him for his behaviour and we support him."
Querejeta warned Scola and his agent, however, not to expect a reduction in the buyout.
"The buy-out clauses are there to be followed," Querejeta said. "Evidently, if he pays the buy-out clause there's nothing to discuss because he is within his right of leaving."
If he is able to clinch his move, he would become the sixth player from Argentina currently in the NBA.
Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto are on the books with the NBA champions, San Antonio.
Nocioni, Scola's former teammate at Tau, just signed a contract extension with the Chicago Bulls, and Detroit traded Carlos Delfino to the Toronto Raptors this summer.
Walter Herrmann is also in the league after a fabulous rookie campaign with the Charlotte Bobcats.
"I understand Luis' dream to play in the NBA," Querejeta said. "We have spoken about it many times. He has had an exceptional period at the club, both in a sporting sense but also because of his human qualities.
"He's the most important player ever in the history of the club."
http://www.sbrforum.com/Headlines/NBA/47737.aspx
Remember when the greatest player in Australian basketball history won a le with the Spurs?
I disagree.
If Scola and Butler don't pan out, then the Spurs will have been correct in their future projection of their worth. However, they still deserve criticism for not getting even close to value based on present assessment.
Scola and Butler were assets which they turned into nothing when they should have gotten something (like a first-round pick). Not only that, they gave them away at zero risk to a divison rival. There's no way the Rockets can lose on that trade, unless Scola turns out to be an awful locker room cancer.
If Portland today traded Oden for a 2010 second round pick, and Oden immediately goes on to be the greatest bust since LaRue Martin, does that still mean that Portland made a good trade?
Bogut played for the Spurs?
Well, at the time.Bogut played for the Spurs?
I don't buy that the market was that high for either of them. Both were on the block for some time and the Spurs were asking for a 1st round pick back in Scola's case. In Butler's case, the Spurs were close to offering him for free and even the Nets passed on him. Yes, sending them both to a division rival is still not that palatable. Frankly I'd rather the Spurs have kept them and seen if the market was wrong.
Sour grapes!!
Scola will ass rape the Spurs abusing them day in and day out!
Dumb as trade. Of course the Spurs could have gotten more for Scola, in basketball terms, but they went for negative value - in basketball terms - because they stood to slash payroll.
WTF???? Is your opinion that if a player doesn't blow up and become an allstar they ain't worth a ?
If you read the article, you will hear comments from top professionals in the basketball industry. Why the ing hate? Is Scola going to be a 3/9.3 mill hall of famer???
I don't ing get you all's knut sack riding of the Spurs organization.
This is a total up. This was an easy ing decision. You call Bonner in the office and say here is a minimum deal, take it or move the on.
Call up Scola, offer him the 3 for 9 and everyone is ing happy and you have a better lineup.
Scola is a ing winner. If he has half of the mental toughness as Oberto and Manu then you go with him instead of Bonner.
This is a total up of all proportions.
BTW, Bonner ing sucks, I don't give a what he did in one year in Europe.
This was almost as bad as the Malik Rose contract.
Oh, I get it... Because Bonner can make 3 out of 10 3s, he should be an allstar in the Eastern Conference, so we should keep him...
The dude didn't play a ing worthy minute in the post season.
It truly must be if it has Sequ carrying the Argentine flag.
I guess his "hustle" and some rebounds earned him that contract! LOL
Adelman is a joke just like D'Antoni. They're both very good at running teams that end up being pushovers for championship contenders.
He must've won the Tim Duncan Wash my car contest.
just like bonzi did and will do again
Hope springs eternal for Rockets' fans. This is their favorite time of the year. Has been since Jordan came back to play/just like bonzi did and will do again
Yeah, while you hope your team can repeat
Yeah, Houston's the league leader in trades without results.
I'll take 4 over 2 anytime. I'd also take 3 in the last 5 over none in the last 12....Yeah, while you hope your team can repeat
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