Rockets reach deal with Scola - 5 years, $47 million

The Beast is back where he belongs. I am glad to have Scola back and I can't wait to see the team down here in the RGV. Now all that is needed is a backup Center, Miller signd by tomorrow??

 

He deserves it!

 

Wait, you really think Daryl Morey, or any other NBA GM worth this salt, would be suprised at the fact that a Spanish team has interest in Luis Scola, who was an MVP level player in Spain and did great in the NBA?

And you really think that if the Rockets had offered Scola, say, $7 mil a year for 3 years on July 1st, he and his agent would have just accpted without investigating the market further? "Me so happy with offer, me sign! Me no need to hear nothing!"

 

So does this mean we're over the luxury tax?

 

NICE! Love watching Scola play! Now sign Brad Miller and we're good until the trade deadline to see where we are and what we need for our playoff run! :grin:

 

Uh, its a perfectly reasonable price. Just under 10M is around what I expected Scola to get per year, and even at price Scola is a bargain. 16 and 9 on 30 mins a game, or 20-10 in 40 is worth more than 9M, esp. if that guy is an off the court asset to the team. Remember Philly signed Elton Brand to guaranteed deal twice what Scola is making for essentially almost the same production if you consider PT:

Pre-Injury brand : 20.5 PPG 9.3 rebs 38.5 Min 53.3 FG%
Luis Scola as number 1 post option: 16.2 PPG 8.6 rebs 32 Min 51 FG%

So with 6 mins more PT Brand got 4 more ppg and 0.7 reb more on 2% more efficiency.

Fact is Scola is a bonafide star in the league. People just have no idea who he is because he isn't a 20-10 guy, although that's more the result of him having less PT. If I were RA I'd continue having Scola as the number 1 post option on O. He's just freaking unstoppable.

 

Scola is the man, it would have sucked to see him play on another team.

Congrats to him on cashing in, he's worth the money, a guy like him could probably play till his late 30's.

One of the most smartest players in the NBA, if Stromile Swift had the basketball IQ this guy has he'd be an allstar.

I also like the Lowry signing, he brings an element to the team that Brooks can't. They compliment each other very well.

 

Since scola was houstons free agent,they couldve been talking contract for a long time,but just like with lowry,morey was going to wait and match as usual. The spainish league team and their seriousness made him move. If the rockets had been talking 5yr 40m from go, scola probably signs that deal.

 

This is huge. Not sure what we would've done without him. And I have a feeling the longer we waited, the harder the decision would've been (more $$). I'm very happy with this deal.

 

Leeb, if you have a RFA you NEVER make the first offer. Every team out there that makes the first offer on their RFA ends up overpaying. That's because:

1. The team judges his players' value based on his production, and has no idea what the market value is.

2. A FA is essentially haggling for more $$$. Even if you offer Scola 9M a year to play from the start, his agent will turn to the other teams and use it as the baseline, and another team out there will offer 10M or something.

Look at Atlanta, they ended up paying like 5th best player in this FA the most amount of money possible. Look at Memphis, they ended up giving a little bit higher than mid-level player the max (FYI I think Rudy Gay and Ariza have the same talent level). These gaffes all happened because they went ahead and decided their players' value for themselves, and didn't let the market decide it instead.

More importantly, just because you offer a contract doesn't mean the RFA will take it. As with the Lowry deal, if you go ahead and offer an 15M 5 year contract or something, all that will result in is the RFA will feel insulted. That's what happened with Landry (IIRC they offered Landry a garbage 2 year minimum contract), and I'm glad DM learned from his mistakes. Take it from DD Leeb, Morey knows how to negotiate better than you

 

Sometimes I think Leebigez likes to complain just b/c its his MO. I'm just glad he usually accompanies it with some pretty good analysis. Not so this time.

Forgive me if I get some of these numbers wrong, but let's compare Scola's deal to some actual market data:

David Lee - 6/80MM
Brendan Haywood - 6/55MM
Carlos Boozer - 5/80MM

No question that Scola is less valuable than the players above. You could debate Haywood, maybe, but Centers carry a premium.

Consider the following contracts for players that are dramatically inferior to Scola. In comparison, Scola's 5/47MM looks quite reasonable, particularly if it is truly a 4/36 MM with a partial guarantee for the fifth year.

Tyrus Thomas 5/40 MM
Travis Outlaw 5/35 MM
Channing Frye - 5/30 MM
Amir Johnson - 5/34 MM
Drew Gooden - 5/32 MM

Consider also the following players. Scola's contract at 4/36 plus a partial guarantee on the 5th year looks good.

John Salmons 4/39MM
Darko - 4/20
Hakeem Warrick - 4/18MM

People need to quit speculating about what some alleged offers might have been. Let's deal with facts.

Do you really think Morey would have paid significantly more than he had to?

Similarly, do you honestly think that signing scola early in this free agency bonanza would have yielded a cheaper contract? I can't see it.

Morey played it correctly.

 

I believe the team is but they can get back under by trading expiring contracts for picks by Mid December like Utah tried to do last season with Boser.

 

"I’m happy there," Scola said. "That’s the main thing. I think we have great team. My first team. My only team."

Every time this topic has come up, whether we would sign Luis to a new contract, sign and trade him, etc., I've said that he didn't want to leave. That he loved the team and loved playing for Houston. Luis is the very definition of loyalty and giving 100% every game to his team. The Houston Rockets just did something they won't regret. Scola is staying home.


VIVA SCOLA!!

 

Thats a lot of money but hey, he deserves it.

 

Hill + Jeffries + $3M for→ Ryan Hollins (T-Wolves under the cap)

Such a move would swipe $7.2 million off the Rockets payroll and back under the tax.

Brooks, Lowry
Martin, Budinger, Taylor
Ariza, Battier
Scola, Patterson, Andersen
Hollins, Yao, Hayes

 

That would be malpractice by his agent. A contract worth 5/40MM is not much above MLE, if I recall correctly.

At the outset of FA, it would be a terrible decision to take such an offer. You have to assume that Scola's realistic downside is full MLE. But there's a real possibility, at the outset of FA, that one team would toss serious money at Scola in the 10MM to 11MM /yr range. If you're the agent, you have to let this play out and tell Scola to pass on 5/40, at least at the start of FA.

 

Honestly, Lowry's contract suprised me more than Scola's. Scola got starters minutes and put up great conventional box score numbers. Lowry, on the other hand, was a backup and his PPG, APG, FG% etc. did not look exceptional. The Cavs offer to him might signal that the teams are getting smarter with their stats guys.

 

That and this is a wacky year, teams are paying a lot more $$$ for free agents, and it seems everyone has cap room or the MLE to spend.

DD

 

Higher than I expected to be honest. I think it will work out though, he relies on smarts, so his inevitable decline in athleticism won't affect him much.

 

Yes! Price was right where I expected.