Luis Scola signs reported 1-year, $3-million deal with Raptors

Luis Scola tweets "We the North, here I come".

Did the Raptors just sign veteran power forward Luis Scola?

And confirmed through the words of Woj:

Oddly enough, Scola was Zarar’s top suggestion for an affordable power forward in his piece on Tuesday. Since it’s late, and I’ve got work in the morning, I’ll just steal snippets from Zarar’s piece.

Scola isn’t a great defender but we don’t need him to be.  He is, however, a smart defender that plays the angles, (tries to) move his feet, and doesn’t pick up silly fouls.  Offensively, he’s still a crafty player with an old-man game, has back-to-the-basket moves, and can even play the pick ‘n roll in spots.  His 35-year old body is a non-factor to me because he doesn’t rely on his athleticism to be effective, and in that regard is very much like his countryman, Manu Ginobili.

He played 81 games and averaged 21 minutes last season with Indiana, on a team that wasn’t going anywhere.  He was well-received in the Indiana locker-room and he learned to come off the bench on a team that had hoped to contend before being decimated with injuries. He’s got at least a year or two left in the tank, and with the Raptors carrying inexperienced and development-stunted bigs like Bismack Biyombo and Lucas Nogueira, it makes sense to have someone of Scola’s intelligence level on the team.

Also, Zarar should hit up the casino sometime soon:

https://twitter.com/CornerSniper/status/619002495843479553

The 35-year-old Argentinian spent the last two seasons with the Indiana Pacers. He’s a crafty post scorer that has little-to-no bounce. He can nail a midrange jumper and should help bring playmaking to the frontcourt, something the Raptors sorely lack (see my piece later on Thursday). Scola averaged 16.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per 36 minutes last season, which are right in-line with his career figures. That was good for a PER of 16.8.

The move suggests that Patrick Patterson will get the starting power forward gig, while Scola serves as backup. It’s not an ideal situation, especially since Patterson and Jonas Valanciunas sucked as a frontcourt last season, but who knows? Maybe it’ll work since Jonas is improving his jumper and his quickness? Maybe he’ll teach Valanciunas and the rest of the Raptors about the principle of verticality, as he did with the Pacers. His veteranship is also to be mentioned, and there’s a South American connection with Bebe and Bruno, if only so that they can talk about the strange decline of Brazilian soccer.

Scola’s signing brings the Raptors’ roster to 13 (minus Luke Ridnour, who is not gonna stay). The depth chart now looks as follows:

PG: Lowry/Joseph/Wright

SG: DeRozan/Ross

SF: Carroll/Johnson/Bruno

PF: Patterson/Scola

C: Valanciunas/Biyombo/Bebe

At $3 million, the Raptors should still have something around $2 million in cap room. But if that’s the case, just structure the multi-year deals as declining salary scales and grab another two wings on the minimum. Maybe promote DeAndre Daniels if he’s ready? I’m very tired.