Boozer

[Fish80]

Boozer is quoted as saying he expects to be traded soon. I'm shocked.

Jazz's Boozer expecting trade

[theAlaskanBear]

for awhile there were rumors about a trade to Chicago...it will be interesting to see if thats still the case.

[superdave]

Too much salary coupled with too many injuries. Utah could try to move Kirilinko as well.

[Newton_14]

I guess I need to purchase some sweaters for those cold, windy, Chicago nights huh??

[ice-9]

Sometimes I wish Boozer took a class in PR...I'm a fan, but dang, it's easy to understand why others don't like him.

[CDu]

I guess I need to purchase some sweaters for those cold, windy, Chicago nights huh??

I'm gonna say it's unlikely that "you" end up in Chicago. Sounds like the Bulls/Jazz/Blazers rumor lost its legs pretty quickly.

[MChambers]

Wizards could use a rebounder, to say the least.

[ForeverBlowingBubbles]

I'm a little surprised - no one seems to want Boozer.

[Matches]

He should never have left Cleveland. I know he made a ton of $ in Utah, but he would've made a ton in Cleveland too - and he'd probably have a ring or two teamed with Lebron by now.

[CDu]

I'm a little surprised - no one seems to want Boozer.

I think it has less to do with people wanting Boozer, and more to do with the difficulty of finding an appropriate trade. The Bulls definitely wanted Boozer, but the proposed trade scenario didn't work for them (forcing them to give up too much in return).

[JBDuke]

Wizards could use a rebounder, to say the least.

Yeah, but what they really need is post defense - not just rebounding, but a big body to also block shots and defend opposing centers. Jamison does a pretty decent job at PF, although his offense is a little more perimeter oriented and inconsistent than I'd like. Still, he's been a 20 and 10 guy for the last couple of years, and is a solid locker room presence. IMO, Carlos isn't a great center on D, so I don't think his skills mix well with the Wizards' "Big 3".

[CDu]

Yeah, but what they really need is post defense - not just rebounding, but a big body to also block shots and defend opposing centers. Jamison does a pretty decent job at PF, although his offense is a little more perimeter oriented and inconsistent than I'd like. Still, he's been a 20 and 10 guy for the last couple of years, and is a solid locker room presence. IMO, Carlos isn't a great center on D, so I don't think his skills mix well with the Wizards' "Big 3".

Yeah, that is supposed to be Brendan Haywood's role, but he missed all of last year. Getting Haywood back helps there (though not enough). The Wizards could definitely use a better version of Haywood though.

I think the Wizards are always doomed to mediocrity though as long as their four best players are all perimeter-oriented shoot-first guys. They have no one to play the role of unselfish setup man. Arenas, Stevenson, Butler, and Jamison all look to shoot first and ask questions later.

But I agree - Boozer isn't the biggest need for the Wizards. Defense and unselfishness are. And Boozer's assets are scoring and rebounding, not defense or passing.

[BD80]

I'm a little surprised - no one seems to want Boozer.

More than a few teams want Boozer in their uniform. Problem is, Los is in the last year of his contract, so teams would want him to agree to an extension before giving up any real value to get him. After the Cavalier fiasco, doesn't sound like GMs trust him enough to deal with him. The Pistons would be a perfect fit, and they have value to give (Rip Hamilton), but Dumars won't take the chance on Los booking next year.

[theAlaskanBear]

There was an article on NBA.com or SLAM about a possible deal with Miami and Memphis, sending him to the heat.

[CDu]

More than a few teams want Boozer in their uniform. Problem is, Los is in the last year of his contract, so teams would want him to agree to an extension before giving up any real value to get him. After the Cavalier fiasco, doesn't sound like GMs trust him enough to deal with him. The Pistons would be a perfect fit, and they have value to give (Rip Hamilton), but Dumars won't take the chance on Los booking next year.

The other problem is that the Jazz have very specific interests in a return. Specifically, they want young, inexpensive talent. They want to save money so that they can re-sign Millsap. So any team that can make a trade either has to be able to absorb Boozer's salary or find a trade partner to absorb salary. Teams with salary cap space tend to be bad teams, so they're less interested in getting Boozer (who would likely walk after next year). Teams for which Boozer could provide help generally need to find a third team to make the numbers work. And that's complicated, as the third team wants to get its piece of the pie too.

And like you said, it may or may not help that Boozer will be a free agent. I think the Bulls were okay with the idea of Boozer being a free agent. They were willing to gamble on getting him and then recruiting him to stay and having him recruit another big star. The Bulls problem was apparently that they were being asked to give up their only backup guard AND a talented forward and an expiring contract and basically only get Boozer in return, while the third team was going to make a killing.

[JasonEvans]

Here is an article about Carlos doing interviews with radio talk shows in his preferred destinations. Hard to say where this all ends, but it sure is starting to feel like he has burned his bridges in Utah.

--Jason "If Miami does not land Lamar Odom, I think they will turn to Carlos" Evans

[Poincaré]

He should never have left Cleveland. I know he made a ton of $ in Utah, but he would've made a ton in Cleveland too - and he'd probably have a ring or two teamed with Lebron by now.

All of the following is my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt, but:

This is a bit of mythology. Paul Silas, who was coaching the Cavs at the time Boozer was there, called him a "see you next Tuesday" to reporters. The Cavs brass made it clear to him that they did not expect him to be more than an efficient role player. Boozer himself also made it clear that he was attracted by the big expectations that Jazz had for him. Boozer only became a legitimate all star after he left. If he had stayed, his career may never have taken off to the extent that it did. If he had stayed, we might know him only as a better rebounding version of Varejao. Boozer's awesome in the pick-and-roll and the low post. Lebron is still not at the point where he can maximize the potential of constant low post threat because his jumper is extremely shaky. Furthermore Lebron has not shown any consistent ability to make plays off the pick and roll. The optimal big man to complement Lebron is an open court runner with three point range, not a low post banger like Boozer. Lebron's game may evolve to a point where he can make maximum use of Boozer's potential, but he's not there yet. Well, that's my opinion anyways.

[theAlaskanBear]

All of the following is my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt, but:

This is a bit of mythology. Paul Silas, who was coaching the Cavs at the time Boozer was there, called him a "see you next Tuesday" to reporters. The Cavs brass made it clear to him that they did not expect him to be more than an efficient role player. Boozer himself also made it clear that he was attracted by the big expectations that Jazz had for him. Boozer only became a legitimate all star after he left. If he had stayed, his career may never have taken off to the extent that it did. If he had stayed, we might know him only as a better rebounding version of Varejao. Boozer's awesome in the pick-and-roll and the low post. Lebron is still not at the point where he can maximize the potential of constant low post threat because his jumper is extremely shaky. Furthermore Lebron has not shown any consistent ability to make plays off the pick and roll. The optimal big man to complement Lebron is an open court runner with three point range, not a low post banger like Boozer. Lebron's game may evolve to a point where he can make maximum use of Boozer's potential, but he's not there yet. Well, that's my opinion anyways.

I disagree with your analysis of LeBron's game, but your post has a lot of truth to it.

Cleveland DID see Boozer as a roleplayer, not a force or star, and offered him a role players contract. In Utah, Boozer proved he is capable of near-star status and earning big contract money. You can't fault him for leaving Cleveland.

The real tragedy is the Cavs ability to find good coaches. Silas and Brown are both known as defensive coaches which is all well and good, but neither of them are offensively gifted in the least. If you had someone in Cleveland who knew how to run offenses, they would have recognized Boozer's worth (which is definitely NOT on the defensive end!).