With the addition of Patterson to a PF lineup of Scola, Hayes and Hill, you have to think that one of these guys is on the move. Hayes isn't going to net you very much now, but may be valuable at the trade deadline with an expiring contract. Hill still has 3 years (including the upcoming season) on his rookie contract. He'd be a deal sweetener, but definitely not a cornerstone of any deal. With all of the Bosh talk, I think a proposed sign and trade involving a resigned Scola, Battier and Hayes coupled with a future pick would be a good start. Battier and Hayes would come off the books for the Raptors next season and Scola is entering/in his NBA prime. Toronto is going nowhere, but this deal gives them flexibility to build at the deadline or next summer. A frontline of Yao, Bosh and Patterson are long, athletic and can put the ball in the basket. I'd love to somehow keep Hill to see what we have after a full season. Fantasyland thoughts?
I think everyone outside of Yao is trade bait. To me the Rockets are sort of stuck this year, waiting to see if Yao can make it all the way back. If he does, great, if not, they need players that can compete on the floor without him as well. IMO, that is what Morey is doing, building a versatile team that is great with Yao, and good without him. And will try to make it even better in free agency, and possibly trading some of the assets, because at some point, we are just not going to have enough minutes for our talented players, and that can be a chemistry problem as well. We are reaching that point now.....it is probably time to flip a few of the quality assets for a star NBA player.... DD
Scola would probably be the logical choice, but I could see the Rapters wanting some of our younger talent. The expiring contracts of Battier & Jefferies along with Hill, Budinger and draft picks might be demanded in a trade for Bosh. This would leave us with Yao, Bosh, Scola & Patterson on the front lines. Yao would start at center and Bosh would man the PF position. I could see Bosh sliding to the 5 and Scola would come off the bench to play the 4. I would love to get Bosh, but fear that we would have to give up too much talent. Scola is the heart & hustle of this Rocket team, really don't want to lose him. The Rockets are very high on Hill and he could be our answer to back up Yao at the 5. I'm starting to have mixed feelings about going after Bosh. Why don't we just upgrade at the 3? Anybody for James??
And why would Scola want to go to Toronto? This topic has been beaten to death and until somebody can make a reasonable argument why Scola would want to go to the Raptors and why they would even want him for their rebuilding team, I think there is nothing to discuss.
DD pretty much nailed it. Thing is, I have grown very attached to these players! :grin: I don't want to see Brooks/Lowry/Hill/Budinger/Scola/Patterson go!!! Here is to Daryl Morey moving Ariza/Jeffries and picks for a stud SF...
Scola is a restricted free agent he cant be trade bait, at least not for Bosh Unless Toronto wants to trade Bosh for Scola straight up with would be stupid and besides the Rockets do not have the cap space to even legally make a move like that unless Toronto signs Bosh to a 6 million/year deal (never gonna happen) or the Rockets sign Scola to the max and trade him to Toronto (as much as Mrs. Scola would like that never gonna happen either)
Technically, if Bosh signs his option for one more year, we could S&T Scola. I guess we wouldn't do that unless we had a firm agreement with his agent to do a new deal...
This. I feel like, if we get Bosh, but trade Scola, Bosh will have the same skillset as Hill and perhaps even Patterson. I think we should package either Hill or Patterson for Bosh; it would be nice to have versatility in a single position, such as the case with Brooks and Lowry. Both do different things, but are so effective still. The thing is, I just wish we could see Patterson play a couple of games before deciding to do something with the kid. If we trade him off, and he becomes a successful Bosh/Howard hybrid of offense and defense, I would be so disappointed.
So it is not possible to package a restricted free agent with other assets to make the numbers work? I thought the problem was more a matter of Scola and Bosh both agreeing to this. I'm not perfectly versed in how all this works, so if thats a rule, I'd love to see it. As far as getting Scola to Canada...why not? He's an international guy and Toronto is a gorgeous city. Argentina can get pretty cold, so I don't know that weather would be an issue.
I'd rather see the Rockets keep Scola and trade some of the younger talent, because I want to see the team win this year. If you gain Bosh and lose Scola, you improve the team, but not by much. And in terms of intangibles, locker room presence and the Rockets' culture of hard-nosed, unselfish players, you come out on the losing end. If they want to compete for a championship next year, keeping Scola is in their best interests.
