By Paul Levine Jul 15, 2005, 23:13 GMT
Los Angeles - Frustrated with efforts to reach a buyout agreement with Spanish team Tau Ceramica for Argentine forward Luis Scola, the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs have agreed to terms with countryman Fabrice Oberto instead, on a three-year deal worth about 7.5 million dollars, according to Friday's edition of the San Antonio Express-News.
"He's really wanted this for a long time," Oberto's agent told the newspaper. "When I told him we had reached agreement, he said, 'I can't talk, I can only tell you same thing Manu (Ginobili) said: My body is too small for my heart. I'm so happy; that's how I feel.'"
Though the agreement has been reached in principle, the 30-year- old Oberto cannot officially ink the deal until the league's moratorium on free-agent signings is lifted on July 22.
The 6-foot-10 Oberto averaged 14.2 points and 7.3 rebounds last season for Pamesa Valencia in Spain's top league. He is considered a good passer and solid low-post scorer whose selflessness, toughness and basketball mentality attracted the Spurs, who already boast several international players on their roster, including Ginobili and Frenchman Tony Parker.
Oberto was the starting centre for the Argentine national team, which along with Ginobili and Soto surprised the United States in the 2002 World Championships. They did it again last summer on the way to winning the gold medal in the Athens Olympics.
The Spurs, meanwhile, had hoped to sign the Soto, whom they drafted as a second-round pick in 2002. But they became fearful of losing out on Oberto while waiting to reach an agreement with his team.
The NBA buyout in Scola's initial contract with Tau was a reported whopping 12 million euros or 14.5 million dollars. The team later revised the contract to give him a much more affordable buyout based on where he was drafted in the first round.
But 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 one million dollars.
The Spurs are discussing trading his rights to other NBA teams but those clubs might be scared away by his inability to get free from Tau Ceramica.
While Oberto is headed to the NBA, Vlade Divac is being forced to leave.
Divac, one of the most popular Europeans to enjoy success in the NBA, announced his retirement due to physical problems, according to media outlets.
"My back is causing me a lot of problems," Divac said in Belgrade late Thursday. "At the moment I don't feel pain, but after four or five days of playing I feel it a lot.
"There is just a 50-50 chance for me to be fully recovered for the new season. As I don't want to become a disabled player, I think this is a right time for me to stop playing basketball."
Divac, a versatile 7-foot centre from Serbo-Montenegro averaged 11.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists during a 16-year NBA career.
The 37-year-old Divac signed a contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers last summer but underwent back surgery six months ago and played only 15 game last season, averaging just 2.3 points and 2.1 rebounds.
He planned to finish his career back in his homeland with Partizan Belgrade, the club he left to join the Lakers in 1989, however, those hopes appear to be dashed.
Divac made his debut for the Yugoslavia national team in 1986 and won two gold medals at the World Championships in 1990 and 2002.
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