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Rockets Get Luis Scola From Spurs

Jul 12, 2007 – 11:58 PM
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Tom Ziller

Tom Ziller %BloggerTitle%

And we have our first blockbuster trade of the offseason: the Houston Chronicle reports the Rockets have acquired Argentine power forward Luis Scola and fellow big dude Jackie Butler from San Antonio in exchange for Vassilis Spanoulis, a future second round pick, and cash.

Scola is the best big outside of the NBA by a fair margin. He was the Euroleague Spanish League MVP this year (and a former Euroleague MVP, thanks etru1927) and he was a huge part of Argentina's 2004 gold in Athens. He's an absolute stud by all accounts, he's 27, and he's going to be cheap for a few seasons.

We should never doubt R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich... but I'm stunned they made this deal. Scola wasn't in their plans, given the melding of Fabricio Oberto in the rotation and the continued brilliance of Tim Duncan. But you'd think they could pull more in return than a guard who has sworn off the NBA and next year's #50something pick. As I said, Scola is a beast. His rights had to have been valuable.

Even more, dealing with Houston is dangerous. Does Rick Adelman really need one more weapon at his disposal? San Antonio's getting cocky... and it could haunt them in times to come.
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