Indiana Pacers: Does Gaining Luis Scola Equal NBA Finals?

In an offseason move that nobody anticipated, the Indiana Pacers have completed a trade with the Phoenix Suns to receive forward Luis Scola in exchange for forwards Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee. It wasn’t a secret last season that Indiana’s bench was relatively weak. General manager Kevin Pritchard and president Larry Bird have been determined to improve the roster this summer in hopes of building a team strong enough to take down the Miami Heat.

The Suns will also get a lottery-protected 2014 first-round draft pick.

Luis Scola’s aggressive post game has been widely overlooked due to his stint in Phoenix. Photo Credit: Michael Dunlap, HoopsHabit.com

With that goal in mind, Luis Scola certainly qualifies as a piece the Pacers were truly looking for. The frontcourt depth that they occupied prior to this deal was, at best, mediocre. Rookie Solomon Hill looked to be the primary backup for starter David West and Gerald Green would have received a decrease in minutes due to the signing of Chris Copeland. Understanding the advantages that Scola brings to this young team, it’s incredibly easy to call this a winning move by Pacers’ management.

Scola, the 33-year-old Argentinian, will be entering his seventh season in the league. Many remember him from his days in Houston, as his best statistical season came in 2010-11. Averaging 18.3 points and 8.2 rebounds while shooting better than 50 percent that season, Scola proved that he could succeed against nearly any dominant post presence in the NBA. His numbers have taken a bit of a dip recently, only providing Phoenix with 12.8 points per game last season while shooting 47 percent. However, it is arguable that his lack of dominant production could just be due to the Suns looking like a complete mess in 2012-13. Experimenting with numerous rotations last season, Phoenix never really looked like a perfect fit for Scola’s type of play.

Let’s get to the reason why Indiana pulled the trigger on this deal.

Does this stop Miami from reaching the Finals yet again?

I’m not sure how much closer a team could have been from dethroning the champion Miami Heat. The Pacers stood strong through seven games, but just wasn’t quite as talented in terms of bench production, superstar power and leadership. With that being said, the one important aspect of basketball that Indiana had over Miami was their interior offense and defense.

Finally having a true offensive threat behind him, David West and Indiana’s frontcourt will overpower Miami. Photo: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule

Roy Hibbert and David West clearly outplayed Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem and Chris Anderson in majority of the series. Lacking a true center last season (as they currently still do), the Heat could have been sent home in the Eastern Conference Finals if just one player from Indiana’s bench could have stepped up and helped out their starters. Having to ask entirely too much of the starting lineup is not something that helps you win a championship.

Well, we should have no worries of that happening next season.

Scola’s career production has been at the caliber of a starting power forward, not one off the bench. From his sophomore season in the league up to 2011-12, he started every game that he played. The thought of having Scola playing around 25 or 26 minutes per game behind the starting duo of Hibbert and West is probably frightening for Heat fans that were sweating bullets throughout the East Finals.

It’s apparent that the goal of helping Indiana make that one tiny step towards a championship is already in Scola’s mind:

He can use his form of humor until training camps begin, which will be the time to learn the offense of his new team and focus on ways to succeed like the Luis Scola that we know from three years ago.

Possibly the most underrated difference from last season’s Pacers to the team we will see hit the floor in October is the overall effect of Danny Grangers‘ return.

Re-introducing Granger into the starting lineup after only playing in five games last season, coach Frank Vogel will see immediate improvement from his bench. Lance Stephenson will no longer be forced to start at shooting guard and fill the shoes of Indiana’s long-time star. Instead, he will most likely play alongside C.J. Watson in the backcourt off the bench.

Scola will headline the frontcourt of the loaded second unit, with Ian Mahinimi being expected to receive around 15 to 16 minutes per game. The shooting of Copeland and Watson along with Stephenson’s athleticism and Scola’s excellent efforts in the post will combine to form one of the top benches to be afraid of in the league.

Barring the health of Granger in his returning season, Indiana’s offseason moves have launched them ahead of Miami as my front-runners to reach the 2014 NBA Finals.