The Houston Chronicle reports
Scola reached agreement with the Rockets on a new five-year deal Thursday, and was happy to share how thrilled he was with the news.
“I feel great. I feel great,” Scola, 30, said. “I’m going to be in the place I wanted to be. I’m so happy.”
A day after announcing they would match the offer sheet received by guard Kyle Lowry, the Rockets reached an agreement with Scola on a contract that will be worth $47 million over five seasons, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Thursday.
Link – Jonathon Feigen article on Scola – click here
Thoughts
Good signing for Houston.
I thought they made a mistake by not being more proactive signing in Scola early in free agency. Once teams like the New Jersey Nets missed out on their top targets, and second choice targets, they turned their attention to Scola and I think that drove up Scola’s price forcing the Rockets to spend more than they would have had to earlier in free agency. Or at least, that was my impression of the situation.
I thought Scola was worth around $40 million over five years. The Rockets paid more than that but they didn’t have much of a choice and for the time being at least that is a good contract. Scola is worth about $10 million a year in present ability. However, the question is, at 30 years of age how well is Scola going to be able to play near the tail end of that contract? So those final couple of years are going to be dicey since the Rockets overpaid a bit.
I have read elsewhere that the final year of Scola’s contract may be non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed (update: Feigen’s article linked above confirms this). If accurate, that would wash all of my concerns away + make Scola a terrific trade asset (similar to Dampier) in that final year of his contract.
Two Notes
First Note: Houston has an offer out to Brad Miller for part of their MLE or their LLE. He hasn’t made a decision yet but it looks likely that he’ll be joining the Rockets over the next few days.
Second Note: Scola averaged 19 and 9 while shooting 52% from the field over the final 30 or so games of the regular season after the Carl Landry trade.
Now, he’s not going to do that with Yao back but Scola is a legitimate third or fourth scoring option + a double double machine + plays solid defense. Those players are very valuable.
john
July 17, 2010
Hi Dave!
How’s it going? Been a while since I’ve talked anything about basketball as my mind was always in South Africa.
But guess now the best thing to look forward to is Turkey 2010. I hope you will provide us some coverage from that tournament. I’m sure it will be great one.
Now about Scola, I’m glad his contract issue is now settled. I’m sure the Rockets did the right thing as he was always their main saviour during Yao’s absence. Ok, the money might be a little bit too much for your 3o year old, but he is quality player that the Rockets could not afford to loose. The main what I’m hoping from the Rockets is to build a solid team since the departure of several key players.
Furthermore, with this behind him; Scola can now easily focus on his mission to help Argentina in Turkey. We do need all the help we can get from him considering Manu won’t be going.
khandor
July 17, 2010
Luis Scola is a terrific PF.
If/when Yao Ming returns to good health, the Rockets are going to be a very solid team in the WC.
babytyche08
July 17, 2010
Something to cheer about if you are a Houston fan. I hope he delivers and helps Houston climb up the ladder.
Dave
July 18, 2010
Hey John, long time, hope all is well!
World Cup
I have to say I was quite disappointed with Argentina’s World Cup.
I never felt any confidence in the squad selection — I was very disappointed that Javier Zanetti, Lucho Gonzalez and Esteban Cambiasso were left off the squad — or with the formation that Maradona used.
I thought that formation was too light in midfield and not good enough at winning back possession of the ball. Too many times, especially against Germany, Mascherano was left to his lonesome and had no help in fending off the opponent’s team’s attacks. That left Argentina far too vulnerable defensively against any of the great teams they were going to have to play in the latter stages of the World Cup. I thought it was only a matter of time before they got knocked out as a result.
I also greatly disliked Jonas Guttierez at right back. I couldn’t understand that one for the life of me!
I thought the team selection + the formation killed Argentina’s chances of winning the tournament before it even began.
It’s a shame because with all those wonderful players Argentina should have one of the great sides of the tournament … but I never got that feeling from them.
Houston Rockets
Great to see Scola back in Houston. He has had a fantastic three years there and Houston looks primed to be one of the top three teams in the Western Conference next season with Scola playing a leading role in that.
Fun time for Houston Rockets fans. It should be a great season … so long as Yao stays healthy!
john
July 18, 2010
Hey Dave, I’m doing fine. Thanks.
You’re absolutely right about our team selection and tactics. It was the main reason in our failure in South Africa. I too had no confidence right from the start. It’s a shame as many talented players were left off (such as the names which you’ve mentioned).
Anyway, I hope to hear you doing some coverage on the FIBA World Championship 2010 in Turkey. Should be great tournament I guess. I’ve been hearing that a lot of the US superstars from Beijing will not be there this time.
Dave
July 22, 2010
Some more information on the Scola situation
So New Jersey did back Houston into a corner and raise the value of that contract.
Scola added that he was willing to go to Toronto as part of a sign and trade with Chris Bosh + feels that the Rockets have improved themselves since their playoff run two years ago.