One thing Morey has to consider with any moves this summer is that scola's contract is up at then end of the coming season and he will want a huge raise. He is an unrestricted free agent and he will be a free agent at a time when there will be lots of teams with CAP room. The rockets will basically have to pay full value for him. Let's look at Scola's game; Strengths - He has a reliable midrange jumper when his feet is set. He has great footwork in the post and can get his shot off against taller and stronger opponents because of his footwork. He doesn't really get to postup much because of Yao Ming, but he can score reliably against most single coverage. He has great hands and can catch the ball in traffic, a good finisher around the basket. He runs the fast break well and is a good finisher on the break. He is a great pick and roll defender and can chase guards off the penetration. He has quick hands on D and knocks balls lose. A very aggressive Rebounder both offensively and defensively, can really come up with loose balls because of his nose for the ball. Great team defender that looks to draw charges. Weaknesses - Has a very slow release on his jumper, so he has to be wide open to hit it, a very high % of his jumpers are assisted so he needs a setup man for this. Cannot finish reliably with his left hand hurts his postgame. Is not very athletic so he can get blocked by a secondary defender in the post. Has a propensity to commit fouls because he makes plays on the ball a lot. Cannot guard post players who are stronger than him because he cannot hold his ground in the post. Does not box out well on rebounds, more of a get after it type of rebounder. Having said all that, I think he is the second most important player on the rockets. Let's try to determine his value; Here are the list of 4s that are definitely better than him; KG Chris Bosh Dirk Pau Gasol Rashard Lewis Elton Brand Amare Stoudemire Duncan Carlos Boozer Antawn Jamison here are the 4s that Scola is better than with No discussion; Tyrus Thomas Kenyon Martin Anthony Randolph Darrel Arthur Brian cardinal Ryan Anderson Jason thompson Here are the list of 4s that you can have a discussion about; Boris Diaw Josh Smith Varejao Rasheed Wallace Troy Murphy Zach Randolph Udonis Haslem Charlie V David West David Lee Jeff Green LemArcus Aldridge If you exclude rookie contracts , the lowest paid amongst that bunch are Udonis Haslem - $7m, David West - $10m and boris Diaw - $9m. both David Lee and Charlie V are up for contracts this summer, so looking at their new deals will give a good guage how much Scola is worth. I think without a doubt looking at the list of comparable 4s, that Scola's new deal will range from $8-$11m per year depending on how he performs in the upcoming year. I think he could easily be a 18-10 guy in the right team, teams I could see offering him a big contract would be Miami, Detroit, Cleveland and Dallas, they all have cap room in 2010 and they all need a secondary post-up rebounder threat in addition to their elite perimeter players. I can see each of those teams offering him a 3 year $30m contract easily.
1) Chinese shoe contract 2) Best teammate he's ever had. Scola seems to be the type of player who wants to win more than anything else so he may take a pay cut to stay with us if we are championship contenders.
I'd add these strengths and weaknesses: Strengths: -good bball IQ, good thinker -moves off the ball extremely well -pretty good passer for a big, probably much better than we have seen because he doesn't get many opportunities to show this skill, if Adelman is eventually able to implement a more dynamic offense, I think we will see more of Scola's passing abilities and court vision Weaknesses: -very poor at finishing over the top of defenders, sometimes even defenders that are the same size as him or smaller (this is partially related to his lack of athleticism but I think it's more than just, I think it's related to how he developed as a player overseas due to the style of big man play over there as well as the level of competition, I think there is a chance he can improve marginally in this area during the remainder of his NBA career) -age, he isn't old by any means but he lost a lot of his learning curve by coming over to the NBA so late into his career, he is also less moldable because of playing for over a decade overseas
This is actually a strength as far as the rockets are concerned. Scola will be 30 when his contract comes up. This is great for us. Teams looking to rebuild in the 2010 free agency won't be offering him big bucks. Guys like Troy Murphy, David West, and Josh Smith received big contracts because there was a reasonable expectation for them to get better. This is why I disagree with the OP. Nobody wants to play the 'when will he decline?' game when 10 mil is at stake.
The 4 teams that I listed that are willing to pay him are not looking to rebuild, but will pay him because they want to contend.
1. Overated, how much is it worth? 2. Name me ONE player in NBA history that has taken a paycut in his prime. This excuse is trotted out every time free agency comes up, and it NEVER is true, these guys are professional basketball players, they are gonna maximise their earning ability.
Depends. The financial crunch has changed the landscape. Five years ago, he might have gotten ten million a year. Now, I'm not so sure.
$6-$7 million sounds super reasonable to me. As super important he is to this team and obviously talented, he still only averaged 13 points and 9 rebounds in 30 minutes a game. His numbers probably won't be much higher than that next year.
I am sure it sounds reasonable to you, however NBA salaries for big men don't work like that. His points are garbage points, if he was on a team that would run some plays for him, he could easily average 18-10. Let's put it this way, instead of all those artest fadeaways, wouldn't you rather post scola up? He is astonishingly efficient in his possessions.
i agree with the OP. this is the likely salary range he'd be commanding. im sure the rockets would offer him 8m/yr for 3 years with team options. it's a pretty decent contract that can be moved later on if the team needs to.
Considering his pros and cons,between 6-7 M sounds right to me for a 3yr contract. I like him,but 8-11 M as suggested by others seems a bit too much.What we need is an athletic backup, eg the Birdman to help Yao and Luis out on the defensive end.
his contract will be determined by the market conditions and other factors at the time we extend him. but i were the gm, i'd think something like a 4yr 30mils contract would be reasonable.
John Amechi Cuttino Mobley Charles Barkley took a significant pay cut a few years after his prime when he was a Rocket. He still was a good player when he took the paycut: a 17/11 guy
When did Cat take a pay-cut? Dice certainly did last year. Chuckie Barkalounger took a one-year cut and was 'rewarded' with a make-up contract (this allowed the signing of...oh, let's fuggeddabout that one).
I'm quite curious as to what he'll get. So far Morey has not had to deal with tough negotiations so far in his tenure(Landry doesn't count because he was a RFA). I think Artest and Scola/Yao next year will really show how good Morey is at dealing with players. I believe he'll be 28 or 29 when the contract is up, right? In that case I'm thinking 3 year/18 mil at the minimum(no improvement) to 4 year/40 mil if he really blossoms.
Arenas took a massive pay cut from the Wizards to accomodate their needs Jordan played for 3 million a year to help Chicago Okur offerred Utah a 4-5 million home discount on his free agency Happens more than you think.
Scola will be a RESTRICTED free agent next summer. The Rockets can sit back and wait to see what other teams offer him.
