Happy Bday Luis Scola

[texasholdem]

Happy belated birthday to Luis. He turned 31 last Saturday 4/30.

4th year in NBA.
Season: 18.3 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 2.5 apg, 50% fg
Career: 14.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.8 apg, 51.5% fg
Salary commitment: 4 years left (8.5 million, 9.4 million, 10.2 million, 11 million)

12 Teams Luis could start for: Charlotte, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Golden State, Indiana, Milwaukee, Orlando, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio and Toronto

Not saying we should absoultely trade him but it should be explored.

Atlanta Hawks - (Players signed for next season: Horford, Smith, Johnson, Hinrich, Williams, Teague, Pachulia)..Josh Smith signed for 2 more years with nearly 26 million owed. Al Horford's extension kicks in next year at $12m per season. Marvin Williams will make 7.5 million and is probably available. His playoff numbers so far have been poor this postseason. He would likely start over Chase Budinger on the Rockets but he is expensive and this is his second straight mediocre season. Doubtful the Hawks would be interesed in Scola since they have so much money tied up in Smith and Horford already.

Boston Celtics - (players signed for next season: Pierce, KG, Allen, Rondo, JermaineO, Shaq, Green, Bradley) - Garnett is going into his final year of his contract (21 million next season) but is probably not ready to retire just yet. Jeff Green is likely his successor anyway and they gave up Perkins to get him.

Charlotte Hornets - (players signed for next season: Diaw, SJax, TyrusT, Diop, Carroll, Livingston, Augustin, Henderson, Najera, White) Luis would be a starter in Charlotte over Thomas or Diaw. Stephen Jackson has 2 years left (9.2m and 10m) so he would be a straight up trade for Scola. He would be better than Budinger at SF but he's 32 years old and isn't the most behaved player. Livingston would bring some size to the backcourt and is still young. He can't hit a 3 pointer to save his live though (he's 7 of 36 in 266 games played). . They will likely have the 9th pick in this year's draft.

Chicago Bulls - (players signed for next season: Rose, Boozer, Deng, Noah, Korver, Brewer, Asik, Gibson, Bogans, Watson). Boozer and Noah are solid and earning 23m combined next season. Scola wouldn't start for Chicago and the Bulls likely would have no interest in him.

Cleveland Cavaliers - (players signed for next season: Jamison, Davis, Sessions, Gibson, Varejao, Hollins, Hickson, Eyenga, Graham, Samuels, Harris, Edren, Harongody) Scola would easily start for Cleveland over Hickson or Jamison. They are in rebuilding mode though and Scola is probably too old for their plans. Not too much the Rockets would be interested in on their squad either. They do have 2 lottery picks this year.

Dallas Mavericks - (players signed for next season: Dirk, JT, Haywood, Kidd, Marion, Brewer, Beaubois, Jones, Mahinmi). Scola wouldn't start over Dirk. Mavs will try to re-sign Chandler and Barea. Scola for Marion works but The Matrix turns 33 this weekend and they need him there at SF with Caron Butler unlikey to return.

Denver Nuggets - (players signed for next season: Nene, Felton, Lawson, Harrington, Mozgov, Birdman, Gallinari, Chandler, Afflalo, Koufos) Scola would start for the Nuggets. Gallinari would be an upgrade over Budinger for the Rockets. He will make 4 million next year. A trade of Scola for Danilo and Birdman works and I think is fair for both teams.

Detroit Pistons - (players signed for next season: Rip, Gordon, CharlieV, Monroe, Maxiel, WBynum, Stuckey, Wallace, Daye) Luis would start for Detroit over Villanueva if Monroe starts at center. Rockets could use Austin Daye as a tall SF but he's only making $2m next season so far below Scola's 8.5m. Doubtful the Rockets would be interested in anyone else on that roster other than Monroe and he's not available. They most likely will have the 7th pick in the draft this year.

Golden State Warriors - (players signed for next season: Ellis, Curry, Lee, Biedrins, Bell, Wright, Lin, Udoh, Amundson) Luis has played well against the Warriors and would start for them with David Lee at center with Udoh and Biedrins off the bench. Rockets would love to have a sharpshooter like Dorell Wright at small forward. He will make 3.8m next year. Scola for Wright and Bell works capwise. They will most likely have the 11th pick in this draft.

Indiana Pacers - (players signed for next season: Granger, Posey, DJones, George, Rush, Hansbrough, Hibbert, Collison, Price). Luis would start for the Pacers over Hansbrough and McRoberts (FA). Granger will make $12m next season. He had a decent playoff series vs Chicago so unlikely it's he is available right now. Hibbert would be great for the Rockets but doubtful he is available either. I Would do a Scola/23rdpick for Hibbert/Posey deal.

LA Clippers - (players signed for next season: BlakeG, Kaman, Gordon, MoWilliams, Foye, Gomes, Moon, Aminu, Bledsoe, Cook, Warren) Luis wouldn't start over Griffin. Clippers will try to re-sign DeAndre Jordan. Scola and Brad Miller for Kaman? He will make $12m in the last year of his deal. Kaman's injuries are a concern but he is a solid starting center in this league. Doubtful that Donald Sterling will want to pay that much for Scola as a backup.

LA Lakers - (players signed for next season: Kobe, Pau, RonRon, Bynum, Odom, Walton, Blake, Fisher, Brown, Barnes, Ebanks, Caracter). Luis wouldn't start over Pau. Don't see any plausible trade scenarios that would benefit the Rockets.

Memphis Grizzlies (players signed for next season: Gay, Randolph, Conley, Mayo, Allen, Henry, Haddadi, Arthur, Vasquez, Young, IshSmith) Luis wouldn't start over Zach Randolph. Grizzlies will be busy trying to re-sign Marc Gasol. Gay would be nice on the Rockets but is way overpaid.

Miami Heat (players signed for next season: James, Wade, Bosh, Miller, Haslem, J.Anthony, House, Ilgauskas, Pittman, Beverly, Butler, Hasbrouck). Luis wouldn't start over Bosh. Nothing the Rockets would want outside of the Big 3.

Milwaukee Bucks (players signed for next season: Bogut, Maggette, Salmons, Gooden, Delfino, Jennings, Ilyasova, Dooling, Sanders, Douglas-Roberts, Brockman). Luis would start for the Bucks over Gooden, Mbah a Moute (FA) or Ilyasova. Salmons or Maggette for Scola would work but both players are older than Luis and are in decline already. Sanders showed some potential this season but needs to bulk up to play center. Doubtful that Bogut is available.

Minnesota Timberwolves - (players signed for next season: Love, Webster, Darko, Pekovic, Beasley, Ridnour, WesJohnson, Flynn, Tolliver, Randolph, Ellington). Luis wouldn't start over Kevin Love. He could start over Darko and Love move to center but don't think that's likely. Wolves will likely have the top pick in the draft and take another forward in Derrick Williams. Don't see much plausible trades for the Rockets.

New Jersey Nets - (players signed for next season: BLopez, DWilliams, Outlaw, Morrow, Farmar, Wright, Petro, DJames, Gaines). Nets will try to re-sign Kris Humphries at PF. Scola is better of course but probably more expensive and older. Don't think Morey would be interested in Travis Outlaw at 7 million per over 3 years.

New Orleans Hornets - (players signed for next season: Paul, Okafor, West, Ariza, Jack, Belineli, Smith, Pondexter. Gray). Hornets will probably try to bring back Landry. West is also coming back with a player option and he and Scola are about the same. Don't see any plausible trade scenarios with the Hornets.

New York Knicks - (players signed for next season: Carmelo, A'mare, Billups, Turiaf, Douglas, Balkman, Walker, Rautins, Fields). Luis wouldn't start over A'mare at PF but if Stoudemire would agree to play center full time that would make a tough front line with A'mare, Scola and Carmelo. Probably not enough ball to share between the 3 of them Probably not likely though if Knicks want to try for CP3 in 2012. Other than Fields not much available for the Rockets.

OKC Thunder - (players signed for next season: Durant, Westbrook, Collison, Ibaka, Perkins, Harden, Sefolosha, Robinson, Cook, Aldrich, Maynor, Mullens, Ivey) Scola wouldn't start over Ibaka (because of defense). Collison a solid backup at 4/5. Durant and Westbrook already dominate the ball. Don't think it's a good fit for them.

Orlando Magic (players signed for next season: Dwight, Arenas, Turkoglu, Redick, Nelson, Bass, Duhon, QRIch, Anderson, Orton)> Luis would start for the Magic and be the perfect fit next to Dwight Howard. What would the Rockets want from Orlando though? Ryan Anderson is nice but not much else of interest.

Phildelphia Sixers: (players signed for next season: Brand, Iggy, Nocioni, LWilliams, Young, Hawes, Speights, Holiday, Brackins, Meeks, Turner). Luis is a better player than Brand now but Elton is scheduled to earn 17 and 18 mllion over the next two seasons. Doubtful Sixers want that much invested in one position and they probably dont want to bring a player who makes that much off the bench. Rockets would love to have Thad Young but don't see the Sixers being interested in Scola.

Phoenix Suns: (players signed for next season: Nash, Childress, Gortat, Pietrus, Frye, Warrick, Dudley, Lopez, Lawal, Siler) Luis would start for Phoenix and would likely excel with Nash passing to him. A Scola for Gortat swap would be great for both teams. Are the Suns in a rebuilding mode now however with Carter's contract expiring? Nash might be traded and if so they probably wouldn't want an older player like Scola. Phoenix should own the 13th pick, one ahead of us.

Portland Trailblazers: (players signed for next season: Roy, Aldridge, Camby, Wallace, Matthews, Babbitt, Williams, Batum, Fernandez, AJohnson). Luis would not start over Aldridge. If LaMarcus moved to center permanently though Luis could be the power forward with Camby off the bench. That doesn't seem likely though. Wallace or Batum would be an upgrade over Chase at SF.

Sacramento Kings: (players signed for next season: Cousins, Evans, Udrih, JThompson, Casspi, Garcia, Greene, Whiteside). If Cousins moves to center then Luis would start for the Kings. A sign and trade of Dalembert for Scola would work.

San Antonio Spurs: (players signed for next season: Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Jefferson, McDyess [retiring], Splitter, Bonner, Hill, Blair, Neal, Anderson) . Luis would start for the Spurs over Blair or Bonner. I already mentioned how a Spiltter/McDyess for Scola trade could benefit the Rockets but yes I know it's not likely to happen.

Toronto Raptors (players signed for next season: Kleiza, DeRozan, Calderon, Bargnani, AmirJohnson, Ed Davis, Johnson, Barboda, Alabi) Luis would start for the Raptors over Davis, Johnson or Kleiza. Rockets would love to have DeRozan but don't think the Raps would trade him. Bargnani is said to be available but he's way more expensive than Scola and not the true center the Rockets need. Raps likely to own the 3rd pick in the draft.

Utah Jazz (Players signed for next season: Favors, Jefferson, Millsap, Miles, Harris, Okur, Bell, Hayward, Evans). Jazz already have a logjam at PF with Favors and Millsap. Jazz probably don't have any interest.

Washington Wizards: (players signed for next season: RLewis, Blatche, McGee, Wall, Crawford, Booker, Seraphin). Luis would probably start over Blatche but they have a ton invested in him already so they probably wouldn't be interested in Scola. Rockets would love McGee but don't think we have the pieces to trade for him. He's only making $2m also. Likely to own the 4th pick in the NBA draft.

[moofs]

Thankfully, I've never received a "GTFO" birthday thread.

[rocketsballin]

lol. funny thread. "happy birthday scola! you're 31 years old, so here's the teams that we could trade you to..."

[Guy986]

This is OP's train of thoughts:

Scola is 31 now!!!

Too old. DO NOT WANT.

[Mr. E]

Thankfully, I've never received a "GTFO" birthday thread.

Exactly what I was about to post!

Hope my brother from Argentina is having a good birthday!

[TMU]

What's more important than his age is his career minutes.

[texasholdem]

What's more important than his age is his career minutes.

He's been playing pro basketball since he was 15. that's over half his life.

I don't think 31 is too old to be a good NBA player. I think Luis is a top 10 PF in the league
(in no particular order the other 9: Pau, Dirk, Carlos, LaMarcus, Love, Blake, Millsap, A'mare, Zach)

However, looking at Brad Miller, who just turned 35 last month and I really don't want to be paying Luis $11 million if he's in decline and the rest of the team is (hopefully) finally a contender. Better to get something for him now while he's still a commodity and not a liability.

[TMU]

What's more important than his age is his career minutes.

He's been playing pro basketball since he was 15. that's over half his life.

I don't think 31 is too old to be a good NBA player. I think Luis is a top 10 PF in the league
(in no particular order the other 9: Pau, Dirk, Carlos, LaMarcus, Love, Blake, Millsap, A'mare, Zach)

However, looking at Brad Miller, who just turned 35 last month and I really don't want to be paying Luis $11 million if he's in decline and the rest of the team is (hopefully) finally a contender. Better to get something for him now while he's still a commodity and not a liability.

I'm trying to find information about his playing time during his career in Spain and Argentina. Because European leagues are shorter, I believe his career minutes are less than those NBA veterans who were at his age. Just need the numbers to back it up.

[moofs]

I don't think 31 is too old to be a good NBA player. I think Luis is a top 10 PF in the league
(in no particular order the other 9: Pau, Dirk, Carlos, LaMarcus, Love, Blake, Millsap, A'mare, Zach)

Totally agree

However, looking at Brad Miller, who just turned 35 last month and I really don't want to be paying Luis $11 million if he's in decline and the rest of the team is (hopefully) finally a contender. Better to get something for him now while he's still a commodity and not a liability.

Mostly agree? Scola's on a decent enough contract. It's maybe a shade high, but most NBA contracts are. Miller's contract shouldn't come into consideration, really. Scola should be able to play near his current level for 2 more years. While trading him isn't a bad option, we will WANT to get something back in return, and he needs to be a building block, which makes it a tricky trade - you effectively need to find an established team with a bad contract and a very good draft pick / young player / hidden talent.

That was why I was pointing out things like Scola + Martin for Howard (and having no one point back to me that the trade absolutely doesn't resolve against Orlando's cap situation or roster - Arenas, Martin, Turkoglu, and Richardson? On the same roster? at 53m? Till 2013?? Yikes! - admittedly, I didn't think about it for very long )

[texasholdem]

I'm trying to find information about his playing time during his career in Spain and Argentina. Because European leagues are shorter, I believe his career minutes are less than those NBA veterans who were at his age. Just need the numbers to back it up.

Maybe, but he also plays for the Argentine National Team almost every summer.
Maybe I'm just spooked by his injury at the end of the year. Don't want another Yao situation.

[x-]

I still think Denver is the best trade partner for Scola.

They have a boatload of talented wings (Afflalo, JR Smith, Chandler, Gallinari) and no PF.
Kenyon Martin is a washed up expiring, that at this point in his career is no more than a backup and Harrington is a chucker, that should play no more than 20 minutes in a playoffs game.
The question of course remains if they're willing to part ways with Gallinari, because none of those other wings would be worth giving up Scola.

There are a few other team where Scola would fit in nicely, but those team have either nothing to offer (MIL, ORL, NJ, SA) or have a young core they seem to be contend with themselves (OKC, IND, MIA).

That said, though, I expect the unexpected, because frankly a lot, if not most NBA trades make very little sense on paper. To me anyway.
I could even see us keeping Scola around for a while.

Sorry, gotta cover all my bases.
Who was this idiot that said Dallas had no shot beating L.A. ?

[Aaron Brooks]

I think Denver is a terrible trade partner for Scola

They are rebuilding and Scola doesn't compliment Nene's game

Though i would love Scola for Gallo but hate looking at Gallo's smug face

[x-]

Ya, BUT IT MAKES SENSE FOR THE ROCKETS!



You're right. Scola doesn't complement Nene, so while the Nuggets probably should trade one of their wings for a PF, it doesn't make much sense for them to trade for Scola.

And yeah, I'm not a fan of Gallinari's face either.

I've grown to hate trade ideas. Remind me not to comment or come up with any on my own.

Back onto the T-Will bandwagon.

He was tweeting about his dogs the other day.

[texasholdem]

LOL why am I not surprised that T-Will has Pitbulls.

[moofs]

I've grown to hate trade ideas. Remind me not to comment or come up with any on my own.

I've notice mine always seem to be full of fail as well. It's so much easier to shoot them down.