FanHouse Jackie Butler

We all thought a long look at Boobie in May and June would help Cleveland get over Mike Bibby, but the Cavaliers just can't let that flame die.

Two independent reports say Cleveland and Sacramento were close to acting on Danny Ferry's Bibby lust this week. Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon Journal says Jackie Butler was scheduled to head to Sacramento with Cleveland's Drew Gooden in a deal getting Bibby to Ohio. Damon Jones was the probable buy-in for San Antonio. But things stalled and the Spurs got antsy, instead consummating the Luis Scola deal which sent Butler to Houston.

Sam Amick of The Sacramento Bee has the intriguing note that Gooden was seen hanging out with the Maloofs in Las Vegas Thursday. There has to be a third team involved, and the Butler rumors serve to show what Geoff Petrie is after: an overweight Mike Sweetney clone a young prospect. More than anything, the rumored deal shows how badly San Antonio wanted to get out of Butler's contract. (I'm not sure how constraining a 22-year-old center with two years, $4.7 million left on his deal can be...)

One other ramification from these overheated talks: Ron Artest really is going to stay in Sacramento. Let's just pray he doesn't kill Spencer Hawes before Christmas.

And we have our first blockbuster trade of the offseason: the Houston Chronicle reports the Rockets have acquired Argentine power forward Luis Scola and fellow big dude Jackie Butler from San Antonio in exchange for Vassilis Spanoulis, a future second round pick, and cash.

Scola is the best big outside of the NBA by a fair margin. He was the Euroleague Spanish League MVP this year (and a former Euroleague MVP, thanks etru1927) and he was a huge part of Argentina's 2004 gold in Athens. He's an absolute stud by all accounts, he's 27, and he's going to be cheap for a few seasons.

We should never doubt R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich... but I'm stunned they made this deal. Scola wasn't in their plans, given the melding of Fabricio Oberto in the rotation and the continued brilliance of Tim Duncan. But you'd think they could pull more in return than a guard who has sworn off the NBA and next year's #50something pick. As I said, Scola is a beast. His rights had to have been valuable.

Even more, dealing with Houston is dangerous. Does Rick Adelman really need one more weapon at his disposal? San Antonio's getting cocky... and it could haunt them in times to come.