San Antonio's 2002 draft pick Scola signs with Rockets
Associated Press
July 17, 2007, 6:44 PM ET

HOUSTON -- Five years after being drafted, Luis Scola has finally signed with an NBA team.

Scola, who was chosen by San Antonio in the 2002 draft but never played for the Spurs, was introduced as the newest member of the Houston Rockets on Tuesday.

The Spurs held his rights since 2002 while he continued to play for Tau Ceramica of the Euroleague. The Rockets obtained the draft rights to the Argentinian forward and acquired Jackie Butler in exchange for Vassilis Spanoulis in a trade last week with the Spurs. Houston also had to give up a second-round pick in the 2009 draft for Scola.

"Luis fills a position of need," Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said. "We thought he was the best guy out there and we worked really hard to get him here."

The 6-foot-9, 245-pound Scola helped the Argentinian National Team to an Olympic Gold Medal in 2004 and was named the Spanish League regular season most valuable player in both 2005 and 2006.

New coach Rick Adelman thinks Scola will help in the continued development of Yao Ming.

"I looked at a lot of tape on Luis and how he plays and I think he's going to be a great attribute to Yao," Adelman said. "He's very active."

Adelman thinks Scola's style of play will fit nicely into his system.

"In the offense that we like to run, we like to have a lot of activity on the floor to make it easier for your better players to be effective," Adelman said. "I think he can do that as far as cutting to the basket or passing the ball. I think it's going to be easy for him. I think he's going to fit right in there."

Scola, 27, said he's excited to play with Yao and All-Star Tracy McGrady and that they're the first thing he thought of when he learned he'd be playing for the Rockets.

"It's great to be with them," he said. "I'm sure they're going to help me much more than I'm going to help them."

He averaged 15.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists last season for Tau Ceramica to earn All-Euroleague first-team honors.

Scola believes the extra time he spent in the Euroleague will help in his transition to the NBA.

"I grew up not only as a player but as a person," he said. "I want to take this challenge to see if I can succeed."

Adelman said it was too soon to say if the Rockets expect Scola to start immediately, but he and Morey agree that Scola will contribute quickly.

"I think he can step in and be an effective player for us right away," Adelman said.

Though Scola has signed with the Rockets, his contract will not be effective until they complete the buyout of his contract with Tau Ceramica.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press


Vassilis Spanoulis for Jackie Butler and Scola? Sheesh that's a stinker

I'm telling you!

Scola is finally free. Hopefully he comes in and mans up to Duncan in the playoffs and helps in beating them year in and out.

Posted by Silverfuel:

Why did San Antonio trade him? Didn't they know he would sign with Houston?

I'm sure they knew, it was probably contingent for the deal to happen.

financial move for the spurs to save money.

spanoulis is playing in europe next year so the spurs dumped jackie blue + scola for a 2nd round pick (and to save around $4 mil).

only teams that could've offered a better package were teams under the cap.

How good is Scola? Anyone have an NBA comparision?

Posted by Silverfuel:

How good is Scola? Anyone have an NBA comparision?

I would say juwan Howard maybe. Howard had a slick post game and he had the quickness to play small fwd back in the day. He's not gonna dominate defensively but he will bang and put a body on someone. He can shoot and pass like just about all the euro guys that come to the NBA. He is just one of the best forward in euro league.

Posted by EnySpree:

Posted by Silverfuel:

How good is Scola? Anyone have an NBA comparision?

I would say juwan Howard maybe. Howard had a slick post game and he had the quickness to play small fwd back in the day. He's not gonna dominate defensively but he will bang and put a body on someone. He can shoot and pass like just about all the euro guys that come to the NBA. He is just one of the best forward in euro league.

Good description Eny, he is REALLY GOOD. He has been named MVP in the Spanish league (among the best if not the best in Europe) more than once. He is a very talented PF. As always in this cases, his rebounding and defense will be the key factors to determine if he will become a back up or a very good player. I think he will be awesome next to Yao.

The only little bad thing I can say about him is that he is also known for making stupid decisions (a lot of stupid fouls in the first minutes for example) in crucial games, and that he has lost a lot of finals (and just won a couple of them). I mean, he has won one ACB but lost two finals and also has lost his two Euroleague finals. On the other hand he has won three Spanish Cups (much less valuable than ACB) and lost one final. For example, Gasol in his only year with considerable playing time won the ACB and Spanish Cup (MVP of both finals) and his team Barcelona did not reach the final four in the Euroleague because he was injured in the deciding games.
(Ok, I know Im a big Gasol fan, hehe) But anyway, I wish Scola the best in the NBA and hope he gets to win something there.

Posted by JohnWallace44:

I wonder if Jackie was horrible for them or what? I guess since he rides the pine, its just not worth it to pay him that salary.

I think it has alot to do with that. He was going to have a time getting minutes behind Duncan, Oberto and Elson. While Oberto and Elson are hardly even average, Poppovich gets exactly what he wants out of them. Jackie should find greener pastures in Houston.