Oberto a los Spurs

Spurs reach agreement with Oberto, not Scola

Web Posted: 07/15/2005 12:00 AM CDT

Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer

Unwilling to wait any longer for Argentine forward Luis Scola to arrange a buyout agreement with his Spanish team, the Spurs have decided to sign one of his countrymen instead.

Fabricio Oberto, the starting center on Argentina's national team and one of Manu Ginobili's best friends, has reached an agreement in principle with the Spurs on a three-year contract worth about $7.5 million.

Players can't officially sign contracts until the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement is completed. The league has set July22 as a target date for lifting its signing moratorium.

Oberto, 30, averaged 14.2 points and 7.3 rebounds last season for Pamesa Valencia in Spain's top league. He stands 6-foot-10 and is a good passer and solid low-post scorer whose selflessness, toughness and basketball IQ have long attracted the Spurs.

Oberto teamed with Ginobili, Scola and Chicago's Andres Nocioni when Argentina upset the United States in the 2002 World Championships. The team beat Team USA again last summer on the way to the gold medal in Athens.

Having established himself as one of the best big men in Europe, Oberto had hoped in recent years to join Ginobili in making the jump to the NBA. The Spurs, whose center and power forward positions are basically interchangeable, think he will fit nicely into their rotation. He also is a poor free-throw shooter, so he should feel comfortable among his new teammates.

"He's really wanted this for a long time," said Oberto's agent, Herb Rudoy, who also represents Ginobili. "When I told him we had reached agreement, he said, 'I can't talk, I can only tell you same thing Manu said: My body is too small for my heart. I'm so happy; that's how I feel.'"

Scola likely didn't express the same sentiments when told of the Spurs' decision.

Scola, a 2002 second-round pick of the Spurs, is five years younger than Oberto and considered a more-skilled player. The Spurs had hoped to sign Scola this summer but became fearful of losing Oberto and other free agents if they waited any longer for Scola to reach an agreement on a buyout with his Spanish team, Tau Ceramica.

The NBA buyout in Scola's initial contract with Tau was a staggering 12 million euros or $14.5million. The team later revised the contract to give Scola a much more affordable buyout based on where he was drafted in the first round. Yet because the deal never specified anything about being selected in the second round, Tau officials claim Scola must pay the original buyout if he wants to leave for the NBA or wait until his contract expires in three years when the buyout is reduced to $1 million.

The Spurs, who are limited by NBA rules to contributing no more than $350,000 to the buyout, have spent more than two years trying to resolve the matter. While Scola's agents tried to convince the Spurs they eventually will strike a deal with Tau — the issue could end up in the hands of an arbitrator — team officials decided they couldn't risk waiting.

Tau already has lost its head coach this summer, and two of the team's top players, Jose Calderon and Arvydas Macijauskas, could depart. As a result, Tau's owners might be hesitant about letting Scola also leave.

The Spurs have discussed trading Scola's rights, but any team interested in him is likely going to want assurances he will be able to free himself from his Spanish contract.

After Oberto's signing, the Spurs will have about half of their $4.9 million midlevel exception remaining, in addition to their $1.6 million exception. They would like to add an athletic wing player, a third point guard (re-signing Mike Wilks remains a possibility) and another reserve big man to occupy the role Tony Massenburg and Kevin Willis held previously.