• How did the Rockets get Scola for so little?
• How did the Rockets sign Scola for so little?
• How did the Rockets pull this off with an in-division, in-state rival?
• How did the Rockets significantly upgrade the team's two big weaknesses without giving up a single one of what was perceived to be the trade assets they had at their disposal?

Their first round pick. The expiring contract of Bobby Sura. Luther Head. Maybe Shane Battier.

Luis Scola (and the Rockets) were all smiles on Tuesday (photo taken by Jeff Balke)

Those were the four big assets most thought Rockets general manager Daryl Morey had to work with in trying to land a point guard, a power forward and somehow a legitimate third scorer.

All four assets have so far remained in Houston, yet Morey was able to bring in Mike James in a classic buy-low move, convince Bonzi Wells to stay for relative peanuts, acquire Scola for table scraps and, oh yeah ... draft the guy who many now are saying could be the steal of the 2007 NBA Draft in Aaron Brooks.

You're starting to get the feel that Kobe Bryant isn't far behind, but only after the Timberwolves can introduce John Lucas III from the Kevin Garnett trade.

But this day was about Scola, who the Rockets list at 6-foot-9 and 245 pounds. The power forward, at 27 years old, was in the prime of his career overseas. He averaged 15.5 points, 5.9 boards and 2.2 assists for Tau Ceramica of the Spanish League last season, earning All-Euroleague First-Team honors.

"I'm so excited to play here, to be in Houston and to be a part of the Rockets," said Scola. "I'll do my best to help the team win games and to help everybody to do a better job."

The Rockets sorely needed bigs, so Morey was, as expected, thrilled to be able to get him.

"We thought he was the best guy out there and we worked really hard to get him," said Morey. "He fills a position of need. He has size and experience. He's been a professional for 11 years. He's been at the highest levels of competition outside the NBA. He's been a winner."

Rockets coach Rick Adelman thought Scola was the right compliment to Yao Ming.

"He's very active, he plays very hard, he's always moving [and] he's a good passer," said Adelman. "He's just a very effective player. Of all the people we looked at as far as a compliment to Yao, he really fills the bill."

Scola said the NBA has always been his dream, but playing with Yao and Tracy McGrady was a bonus.

"When it was all confirmed that I was coming to Houston, the first thing you think is, 'Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady'," said Scola. "It's amazing. For me it's great to be with them and try to help them a little bit, but for sure they're going to help me much more than I can help them because they are such great players that make things easier for everybody else."

Scola, Adelman and Morey were all beaming, but overall, I was still blown away with the "How?"

Even the size of the contract that the Rockets were rumored to have given (3-years at slightly less than $10 million total) was worthy of the question. After all, a guy like Scola would surely command more than that as a free agent in a market where Darko Milicic gets $7 million per.

"You can't be so sure what he would command, but I think he would probably be a more than mid-level [exception] type player," said Morey. "He's comparable in quality of a player to an Andres Nocioni. He's someone that because we were bringing him over and it's sort of a deal that was pre-arranged, we're able to fit him in. We obviously have constraints with our two superstars commanding a lot of the resources."

More from the Press Conference