[Chron] Keeping Scola becomes Rockets' top priority

Don't be surprised if we get Scola back by matching a MLE offer from another team.

If we offer $30 mil for 4 years, Scola should jump on it. The economics of the game are going to come into effect this summer. There simply isn't enough money to go around and the salary cap is going down. Morey jumped on this whole scenaro a couple years ago and has been rolling in advance off the curve. It's going to pay off. Wait and see.

 

Music to my ears!!! Scola is everything you'd want in a player and leader, key piece to a championship puzzle.

Scolanites REJOICE!!!

This does tell me that PF position will probably not be our primary focus this offseason because if a guy like Gortat got the full MLE a skilled proven leader like Scola will probably get between 7-8 million.

 

Scola has the heart of a champion and makes those around him better.

He is a throwback to the old Rocket days.

Keep him.

 

Bring back Luis "Bonnie Tyler" Scola!.... That was painful to listen to..., but that's what I love about our team. We have people who would not mind laughing at themselves for the good of the community. We need more guys like him!

 

I'm sorry, but Scola is right. Morey can basically the whatever the hell he wants because the Rockets are in a commanding position due to Scola being a Restricted Free Agent.

Morey talked big about wanting to keep Landry too, then sat on his ass for months waiting for someone to give him a contract. He's not going to pay Scola a cent over what Scola can get on the market. The Rockets are going to be paying luxury tax, and any amount Scola get could easily be doubled depending on our roster situation.

In addition to being a shrewd basketball mind, Morey plays the salary situation as well as any GM in the game. Morey's not doing his job if he weren't using all his leverage against Scola for his next contract.

Did you just call Zach Randolph a keeper?

 

I don't know if it's a smoke screen by Morey. But I sure hope that he is thinking what I think -- get a star level big and keep Scola.

A lot of people think if we got a Bosh-type player, Scola would be expendable. I disagree, especially after Landry was traded. We need 3 starter-level guys in the C-PF rotation in order to compete. Morey knows the risk involved with Yao's health. So we can't afford losing Scola.

The x-factor is Jordan Hill. His development has to be a pleasant surprise to everybody. But he is still just a potential, not a sure thing like Scola.

 

Do we pay Scola 20/10 player money? 10+ mil a year?
Is Scola still a 20/10 player playing alongside a legit center?
How many years should we offer him? Scola isn't exactly young.

There are too many questions.

 

Scola is a championship type player, you do everything in reason to keep him in my opinion........plus he my favorite player....

 

Ding ding. That's why all these proposals of Scola + Martin or Brooks + Hill + multiple firsts are absolutely ridiculous. Sign and trades aren't normal trades, because the playing field isn't level. The team has absolutely, positively zero leverage, because the free agent can leave them with nothing. And most other teams that would "offer" more - it doesn't matter if Bosh doesn't want to sign there.

I can't think of a single S&T in NBA history where even remotely comparable talent went back to the trading team to the extent some of you are proposing (Brooks + Hill + firsts, Scola and Martin, etc., etc.). It's not up to Houston matching Toronto's demands, because they're not in a position to make many. Now certainly, Houston has to give some value, or else Toronto would just call Bosh's bluff and tell him to go to NY, because the alternative, if he does it (getting nothing), isn't as comparatively bad. But these offers are almost level with what you'd expect Bosh to have gotten a season ago - under contract - and that's just silly.

It'll come down to whether Morey and the Rockets can sell Bosh that this is where he should be, and how willing Bosh is to take the steps to make it happen.

 

So let's keep assuming a few things:

1. Scola will agree to stay as a backup when some other team might sign him to start.
2. Scola will agree to let us sign and trade him so we can upgrade ("upgrade") the 4/5 spot.
3. We'd pay a lot of money so that Luis can be a backup; in which case we'd trade him anyway, perhaps reneging on a "yes-you'll-start" or "yes you'll get 30 minutes per game" or a "no we won't trade you" or "no we won't trade for a Bosh or Stoudemire---OOPS!" promise.

I liked what another poster mentioned. I don't know about Gerald Wallace, but an upgrade at the 3, or, at least, some defense SOMEwhere. Let Scola/Hill/Hayes man the 4.

 

This! Why oh why do many posters here want to trade a warrior with all star caliber skills? The combination of both heart and skills is pretty rare in the NBA nowadays. Scola is indeed a throwback to when the NBA was less hype but all blood and guts. So why would some folks throw all that away for some all stats but no heart and guts players?

 

You keep Scola before you keep anyone else on this current roster IMO. He's the best player and the best competitor on the team and he plays every single game. Give him whatever it takes for him to stay here for the next 3+ years.

I still think Battier is on his way out. Morey has said Scola and Lowry are not going anywhere. I doubt Ariza and Martin are going anywhere considering they just got here and Bud and Hill both have an upside that I think the organization wants to see. That basically leaves Brooks and Battier as the big pieces to be used in a trade and I just don't see Brooks being moved while he is still signed on the cheap like he is now. Battier, on the other hand, is expiring, has a big contract and still has a reputation as a lock-down defender and a great leader. A contending or near-contending team will want him to try to make a run at a title.

 

Toronto won't get equal value for Bosh, but they can be selective among different teams that want Bosh in a S&T. If, for instance, NY offers something they really want (don't ask what), and Houston's offering half that, Toronto can say they won't S&T him to Houston, with some believability. It is a valid negotiating position. At one point a few years ago, Donald Trump actually had a negative net worth, but he was still able to negotiate deals on his money-losing properties with his creditors, who wanted to foreclose, rather than just walk away to work at McDonalds.

Aside from this, this announcement really surprised me. Making such a big deal, they can't turn around and trade Scola shortly after re-signing him. So, are they really going for a big-time big man in free agency or in trade? If so, I suppose it'll have to be someone that can play decent Center. Otherwise, if it's just someone like Scola, who really can't play much Center, they have to have Hill as their backup C.

 

Reading this and numerous other Scola threads, it seems I'm the only person who feels Morey should, and likely will, treat Scola as a Restricted Free Agent.

I think maybe I've been playing too much Madden, that I'm beginning to think of players as only assets and not people. But then again, this phenomenon doesn't seem to apply to our other RFAs in the past or current. So maybe I just don't have the mancrush everyone else have on the guy.

 

I second that. G Wallace is sick! Plays so hard and great defender.

 

Yeah, just what we need... another injury prone player.

 

I hope we re-sign Klow7 as well. He is the one that brings that dont f'ck with me attitude. You need to have that guy on your team. I dont see us getting a big name like Bosh or whoever else but I do hope we bring in a shot blocking back up center (Camby) or ask Deke to un-retire and go for another year lol. Im sure Deke would still be one of the best shot blockers in the game if he played next year lol.

But whatever happens In Morey I Trust.

 

I do think it will take something to get Bosh here as the Rockets will have to give up a lot of trash to match his salary. Nothing is better than Jeffries and Battier's contracts. Toronto does have some leverage as Bosh would lose a lot of money if he just walked without doing a S&T.

 

I know the point you're trying to make, but that's what makes this summer even better for teams like the Rockets. The team with the cap room that max FAs will use most as leverage (Knicks) has practically zero assets - neither first rounders or young players - to make an even remotely attractive S&T offer, and everyone knows it.

To get back to this thread, though, I think Scola has a big place regardless. Even if Houston gets a Bosh or Amare, and you pencil in them for 35 mpg - I think you only count on Yao for about 25-30 mpg (at least in the regular season), and that leaves at least 30 mpg for a third big. Definite starter's minutes and worthy of a big contract, even though Yao would get the technical honor. (You'd have to assume that Hill would be a centerpiece of a Bosh or Amare deal, if they were to come here.)

 

hater watchu be on the bandwagon and on Moreys nuts when he pulls another rabbit out the hat

un-enthused fans get to the back