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NBA Rumors/Bleacher Report
By Brandon Galvin (Featured Columnist) on July 13, 2011
It seems the Spurs generally make all of the right moves. Head coach Gregg Popovich and general manger RC Buford are simply two of the greatest basketball minds in the history of the game.
They’ve stolen players in the draft from Tony Parker to Manu Ginobili to DeJuan Blair to recently Kawhi Leonard and Davis Bertans via trades and the second round of the draft.
Yet everybody makes mistakes.
On their short list of epic fails include signing Richard Jefferson to a hefty, long-term contract and trading away Luis Scola.
The Spurs stole Scola with the No. 56 overall selection in the 2002 draft. He remained overseas for three years and when it came time to attempt to buyout his contract in 2005, Baskonia increased the buyout, which kept Scola overseason.
Instead of holding out for him to fully resolve his buyout situation overseas, the organization decided to trade Scola's rights and Jackie Butler to the Houston Rockets in 2007 for Vassilis Spanoulis and cash.
If you’re asking yourself ‘who?’ just stop. It’s irrelevant. All that matters is that nobody knows who Spanoulis is and never will.
Yet Scola has turned into one of the most consistent power forwards on both sides of the court for the Rockets. He is an underrated big man in this league who can defend several positions, rebound and knock down midrange shots with ease. He can post or face up his opponents and has great touch around the rim.
The 31-year-old averages 14.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, .7 steals and shoots .515 percent from the field in 32.6 minutes for his career.
Yet Houston clearly wants to get younger. They drafted Kansas power forward and offensive threat Marcus Morris to battle Scola for the starting job. Although some believe Morris could play small forward in the NBA, he is better suited for the power forward position. This means Scola could be on the move.
Do not think for a second the Spurs aren’t monitoring this situation closely. In the end, the Spurs and Scola could still reunite. Tim Duncan is on his last legs and the Spurs need to bolster the front court.
Scola is a well-rounded professional with great basketball intelligence. He would fit in perfectly with this Spurs organization, which Popovich and Buford envisioned back in 2002. We often see players come full circle and this would make an excellent story to see Scola in black and silver.
