Boozer headed to Detroit or New Jersey?
That’s the word from Peter Vecsey of the New York Post, anyway.
Apparently, rising free agent-of-choice Carlos Boozer is telling confidants he’s either going to Detroit or New Jersey — only way the capsized Nets pull that off is by doing a sign-and-trade.
Utah seems more interested in re-signing Paul Millsap (and justifiably so). It’s not a huge surprise that Boozer is thinking about his next destination, and when he’s healthy, he’s an All-NBA caliber player.
Detroit seems like a good fit. They have a nice set of perimeter players — Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton and Rodney Stuckey — and with Rasheed Wallace likely leaving, they need help up front. They have a ton of cap space, and might elect to use it this summer on Boozer instead of waiting for Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire and failing to sign either. Had they found a way to hold onto Chauncey Billups, that would be a formidable foursome, but it was the Billups trade that freed up the cap space to potentially sign Boozer. Depending on how they structured his contract, they could sign Boozer and then re-sign Wallace for another year, which would make them a scary playoff team next postseason.
The Nets are over the cap, but they have Bobby Simmons’ expiring deal (~$11.2 million) that could be used in a sign-and-trade with the Jazz. However, Utah will need some other incentive to take on Simmons; otherwise, they could just let Boozer go if he opts out. The Nets have a few young, mildly interesting prospects — Ryan Anderson, Sean Williams, Josh Boone, Yi Jianlian — but they’d be foolish to give up Brook Lopez for Boozer. Would Simmons plus the #11 pick in the draft be enough to convince Utah to do a sign-and-trade? They’d basically be paying the Nets $11.2 million for the #11 pick — I’m not sure it’s worth it.
Keep in mind that if the Nets find a way to acquire Boozer, it is highly unlikely that they’ll have the cap space to sign LeBron next summer unless they find a way to move Vince Carter before next February’s trade deadline.







Or is this that Boozer is finding his market is smaller and less people want him than he thought and he needs teams (such as the Jazz) that wouldn’t mind having him to think they need to jump on him and pay him because other teams are also going to take him. It is very hard to get him to New Jersey, it just isn’t happening. His agent is just bluffing things up trying to get Boozer more money.
Boozer wouldn’t get much next year. He should opt out now, collect his fat contract and join a team that will be a contender. He won’t get as much money next year, so get in while detroit have the big bucks to spend.