The last thing Sergio is thinking about right now is the NBA. He does not even put his name eligible on the last draft, just was selected at the 2nd round because his age. He's now motivated with the new project of Real Madrid and wants to improve with the team and compete for titles. He's still young and has 2 years of contract with his current team, so he's focused on that. 2011 summer can be a moment for him to look for new challenges. But it's not only about going to the NBA, it's about take a radical turn in your life, consider that.
The reason why Llull was taken in the second round was not because of his age. It was because of his contract and because of the fact that he might not have agreed to come over until 2012 if he was going to be constrained by a late first round rookie scale salary. Sergio was taken very early in the second round because of how good a player he is and could become.
Hopefully, when he comes over, his game is as polished as Scola's...but with more room for improvement since he'll be a lot younger than Scola.
... We'll never now the authentic reason. Maybe I explained myself badly. What I wanted to say is just that this was his last year eligible because of his age. Some other european players are waiting for the draft and declare themselves eligible, Llull hired a representative because he knew he would be selected, but wasn't thinking in the NBA at that time. On the other hand I have the feeling that there are people here who overestimates a little the player. I've even read that "he will be better than Rubio"...
Before coming to the Rockets, Scola was the 2nd best player on an Olympic gold medal team, the best player on one of the top Euroleague teams, and voted all-Euroleague 1st team twice. More room for improvement? Sure. As polished as Scola? Not even close. If Llul comes over, he's going to be treated like any rookie coming out of college here. Which likely means Budinger minutes at best in his first year.
To be fair, he said he hoped Llull would be as polished as Scola when he came over, which looks to be prior to the 2011 season. Agree that it is asking for some major improvement from Sergio for that to happen, but it isn't impossible. It's also hard to judge now how Llull will be played when he does make it to the Rockets (we're assuming he will come over to play, for the sake of discussion, and I think he will). If he ends up getting Air Bud minutes his first season, that means he's either playing very well, or we've at a disaster at the 1 spot. Let's hope it's the former!
The only way Llull comes over to the NBA and starts, is if we trade either Brooks or Lowry and the other gets hurt the year he finally is brought over. The boy will come off the bench, but that shouldn't be a big shock since as little as last year, I think he was coming off the bench for his Madrid team in the Spanish league. Still really, the acquisition of Llull's rights were mainly meant just for insurance purposes and potential trade filler. Time will tell if he amounts to more then that for the team, although I can't believe people are equating Scola's stellar development to the average international players. Outside of super stars, very few international players adapt to the NBA game as quickly or as effectively as Scola and Fernandez (who would be starting if the Blazers didn't have Roy or if he could play defense better).
