Scola Still Out Of NBA

[Shapecity]

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The San Antonio Spurs, who visit the United Center today, have something the Bulls could use.

Something besides most of their players, that is.

The Spurs have held the rights to Argentinian power forward Luis Scola since making him a second-round draft pick in 2002. Scola, 26, is arguably the best big man playing in Europe. In 11 Euroleague games for Spain’s Tau Ceramica, Scola is averaging 16.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and is shooting 61 percent from the field.

Bulls forward Andres Nocioni calls Scola one of his closest friends. In addition to playing together on the successful Argentinian national squad, they were Tau Ceramica teammates for four seasons.

But Scola can’t join the NBA until the Spurs either sign him or trade him, and San Antonio has done neither. Even when the Spurs went looking for big men last summer, they settled on free agents Francisco Elson (from Denver) and Jackie Butler (New York).

San Antonio also signed another Argentine big man, Fabricio Oberto, who is playing well in his second NBA season.

Asked to compare Scola and Oberto, Nocioni said Scola is much better. But he’s a different kind of player. Scola is more offensive-minded; Oberto is a much better defender.

“For me, Scola has more talent offensively. He’s not a bad defender, but he’s not as good as Oberto,” Nocioni said. “The height is similar, but I think Scola is more (power forward) and Oberto is more (center). But Scola is an unbelievable talent. Offensively, he’s may be one of the best in Europe right now.”

Scola is listed at 2.07 meters tall on the Tau roster, which is about 6-feet-9¨. There may be some question as to whether he’s tall enough to succeed in the NBA.

The Bulls might like to find out. Adding competent big men is one of the their top priorities. Nocioni understands Scola’s frustration about being kept out of the NBA.

“They (the Spurs) don’t want him. They don’t want to trade him,” Nocioni said. “Just bad luck for him, because he could play here in Chicago and help us a lot. He’s a really, really good player.”</div>

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[M Two One]

I've been studying this for a few weeks now. It would be great if the Spurs would do something to trade him, perhaps for considerations or otherwise. I'd be looking forward to seeing how that pans out if the Bulls were able to acquire him. However, Scola's contract is very strange.