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Who is John P. Lopez?
Why the Spurs dealt Scola for virtually nothing.
Many of you have asked and talked about the peculiarity of the Spurs basically handing the Rockets an impact power forward and potential star for cash, a second-round pick and a homesick player (Vassilis Spanoulis) who won't be in the NBA again any time soon.
Well, they did do that.
But the Spurs weren't exactly doing it out of the kindness of their collective hearts.
It looks as if this was a deal that got the Spurs virtually nothing. In truth, they got a lot and continued to show why the organization is among the more forward-thinking in the league.
Originally the Spurs had a deal in place to send the talented Argentine, Luis Scola, to Cleveland. And by the way, I must say had they done that the Cavs could well have taken a huge step toward becoming an Eastern Conference dynasty, considering all their other parts.
When that deal fell through, the Spurs turned to their rivals to the west and helped make the Rockets a lot better. Trust me on that. I've seen Scola up close in the Olympics and love his game. He's better than the Spurs' Fabricio Oberto, but that type of player.
But the Spurs are not four-time le winners because they're dumb. In fact, it could be argued that eventually the Spurs will end up with more significant pieces as a result of this deal.
Ultimately, both teams will be happy. Here's why:
The deal began taking shape shortly after the Spurs decided to take Brazilian center (and Scola's current Tau Ceramica teammate) Tiago Splitter. This kid is a phenomenal prospect as well.
Splitter is a physical player who can score inside and from mid-range, measured 6-11 3/4 at the NBA pre-draft camp two years ago, has a 7-4 reach and is just 22, five years younger than Scola.
Splitter won't be able to buy out his contract until after the 2007-2008 season, which is what the Spurs were looking at when they dealt Scola.
The Spurs could have cleared some money to bring over Scola next season, but as they saw it Splitter was younger, better, a better defender and would cost about the same to sign as Scola.
By including Jackie Butler in the deal and putting in cash considerations, the Spurs will not have to pay Butler's $2.9 million salary next season, nor Spanoulis' $1.9 million. That allows the Spurs to clear a roster spot and be able to better afford signing athletic French big man Ian Mahinmi, their 2005 draft pick, and also free agent swingman and athletic Bruce Bowen-type defender Ime Udoka.
The Spurs' "generosity" helped the Rockets, no doubt. This will be a huge pickup.
But ultimately, Spurs fans are going to love this deal as much or more.
It's going to allow them to bring in the next Bruce Bowen, a project in Mahinmi whose athleticism has been compared to David Robinson's and a younger, taller, better Scola.
Posted by John P. Lopez at July 15, 2007 10:01
Who is John P. Lopez?
How can you not know who he is????
We'll see if they actually bring in Udoka, if Mahinmi even makes it to the league, and if Splitter is a "younger, taller, better Scola."
No one will know if this was a good trade for the Spurs for quite a while.
Sugar coating at its best form. LOL.
Still waiting for the love coming from this trade..
Why would a well known and respectd Houston Chronicle columnist sugar coat a deal that seems to favor his team???
Dumb article. He has no clue.
The only thing Scola and Oberto share in common is their homeland.He's better than the Spurs' Fabricio Oberto, but that type of player.
Nice research.The Spurs could have cleared some money to bring over Scola next season, but as they saw it Splitter was younger, better, a better defender and would cost about the same to sign as Scola.
What do you mean "virtually" ?
They traded them for absolutely nothing... for a guy they know will never play another NBA game again.
Calling Splitter a "phenomenal prospect" is clearly going overboard.
Lopez is just showing admirable restraint by not journalistically busting his gut.
He said that Scola was better than Oberto.
No, he's smart. The more he softpedals how bad this was, the more The Mole can infiltrate the Spurs FO and continue his dirty work.
If Scola and Butler could play D and rebound as well as Oberto and Bonner...they'd be here. And Bonner and Oberto wouldn't.
Spurs had 5 years to look at Scola....I don't think they misjudged him. He's a scoring big who is not score as well in the NBA. His at ude didn't help either...people can not pay attention to this...but it was a factor. Spurs asked this dude to improve his rebounding...and not only did he not do it...he was indignant about it and said he was happy playing in Europe.
Butler had zero trade value on his own merit...other than a scrub exchange...and the Spurs don't want another scrub, they want the slot....for a project whose talents do lie on the defensive/rebounding/shotblocking side of the ball, unlike Scola. They also don't want to be paying doubletime million dollar contracts for players that are going to ride the IR all year. Who also don't play D.
The Spurs are sick of bigmen that can't rebound...and they never going to put a defensive non en y next to Duncan...because it isn't fair to Duncan, and it isn't good for the Spurs le chances.
So everybody is basically coming down on them for not spending on a player they didn't need...or for not letting him go for nothing.
It's not Rocket Science to figure this stuff out...
Spurs did not like Scola's game and they traded him for as much as they could get...
If they could have traded Butler and Scola separately for second round picks and capspace, they would have done so....were any of the teams interested in Butler under the cap? No they weren't...
Were the Spurs ever offered anything more than a second rounder for Scola as far as anyone knows? No they weren't.
And on top of that...I'd much rather them make Houston better than the team with future of the NBA playing on it...who we just happened to meet in the finals.
Spurs fans are pissed because we didn't get more....
What more was there to get?
Spurs fans are pissed for the Spurs not spending stupidly on players that were not going to crack the rotation in a major way...
Why? So we could be as stupid as the freaking Knicks?
Pay for what we don't need just to prove we aren't small market?
That's stupid.
It wasn't there...and Scola would have ridden the bench on the Spurs because he is a defensive and rebounding liabitlity...and Pop isn't going play guyd that don't play D...that's why the Spurs have great D.
Everyone is sickeningly over-rating Scola as well...I read one artice by some bag that said Scola is a 20 and 10 guy...
All we know is that the Spurs wanted to rid themselves of Scola and the other dude like right now. "Doesn't matter to who, just get rid of them" said Peter Holt.
I is obvious tat the Spurs know what they are doing and you people have no clue.
I can not count how many times you peopl have questioned the organization over moves only to find out that they were right all along.
Leave it to the professionals, and wait a while before jumping off any buildings.
Glad I humored you.
Well, coming from the guy who pulled the biggest championship-run bailout this side of T Park . . .
Can't lipstick this pig. It's a bad trade in any way basketball-related. It was done to clear money from a team averse to spending any even in championship territory. They went for a deal most advantageous for them financially at the expense of greatly assisting a rival, which will be far better for years to come. Houston spent money to make themselves significantly better at a spot of great need; San Antonio spent all their good assets to shed the salary of a guy they were overjoyed to sign last summer.
This is one ugly pig.
Even after being able to digest it for a couple days, it still feels and looks like a horrible trade. You don't give a divisional rival a free gift. There's no excuse for that.
If the Spurs really, really needed to save money, they should have done something like Barry and a first rounder to the Sonics/Bobcats/Warriors for a second rounder. Then you ship Scola to the highest bidder (not the Lakers, Dallas, Phoenix or Houston). Even if that's a second round pick, you'd basically end up trading two second round picks and $8M in savings for a fist round pick.
You don't salary dump a player making 40% of what Barry makes to a divisional rival and include Scola as part of the package. I don't think Scola would have been a great fit on the Spurs, but he's going to be a good scorer. In Europe, he scored more per minute than Ginobili did.
If Adelman almost won a championship with Chris Webber, he can do something with TMac and Yao, with Scola scoring when those two guys start feeling the pressure.
Two years from now, this is going to look like a horrendous trade.
Are you THAT cluless?
Why can't fans question this organization just because they made good decisions with Parker and Ginobili? They are more than capable of ing up and this trade is very questionable.
timvp makes a great take on how even to save money this wasn't a creative or smart move, and even clearing Butler's salary in other ways could have netted the Spurs more than a single 2nd round pick, since Scola would have netted that by himself. The Spurs were unprepared, lazy, and for some reason failed to recognize that Houston is an up-and-coming rival suddenly chock full of offensive talent.
This was just bad, bad, bad.
Dennis Lindsey settles in to his new digs . . .
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