Houston’s many millions were evidently enough to convince Scola to stick around the NBA. From the Chronicle: “Scola reached agreement with the Rockets on a new five-year deal Thursday, and was happy to share how thrilled he was with the news. ‘I feel great. I feel great,’ Scola, 30, said. ‘I’m going to be in the place I wanted to be. I’m so happy.’ A day after announcing they would match the offer sheet received by guard Kyle Lowry, the Rockets reached an agreement with Scola on a contract that will be worth $47 million over five seasons, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Thursday. But Scola, 6-9, came much closer to leaving than Lowry, even though Lowry, 24, signed an offer sheet with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Rockets always said they would match any offers received by Scola and Lowry, who signed a deal worth $23.5 million over five years, and announced they would match Lowry’s offer sheet roughly 12 hours after he signed it. But Scola said Thursday he was close to accepting an offer to return to Tau Vitoria in the Spanish league, where he had been the Rookie of the Year in 1999-2000 and the league Most Valuable Player in 2004-05 and 2006-07 when he was unable to reach an agreement with the San Antonio Spurs.”