Carlos Boozer has a broken hand that is going to require surgery and he’s set to miss the next eight weeks.

Boozer suffered the injury on Saturday during the Bulls’ day off. Boozer tripped over a bag in his house and fell.

“[I was] at my house, came around the corner, fell over a bag, put my arm down to kind of brace myself,” Boozer said. “I’ll get surgery on Tuesday and do my rehab, be conditioned and run with the guys. The good thing about it was at least it only happened in the preseason.

The team says Boozer broke the fifth metacarpal bone in his hand. He was evaluated by team physician Dr. Brian Cole and hand specialist Dr. Marc Cohen of Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush.

There’s injury-prone, and then there’s this. Good grief. I wonder who put the bag “around the corner” — whoever it was, they’re probably going to cost the Bulls a few wins in November.

Boozer has already missed 145 games in his career, and now he’s going to miss around 15 more with this injury, including a particularly brutal seven-game road trip that includes the Spurs, Nuggets, Suns, Lakers, Mavs and Rockets. In fact, nine of the Bulls’ first 15 games are on the road, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Chicago is sitting at 6-9 or 7-8 at the end of November.

The good news is that Taj Gibson is a very capable power forward, so the Bulls won’t lose much in the starting lineup. But Gibson will have to be replaced on the bench, and that’s where Boozer’s minutes will really be missed.

You know you’re burned out on NBA news and rumors when you decide to write 10 haiku to summarize the NBA Summer of 2010. Off we go (in the English 5-7-5 syllable format)…

Atlanta spends big
to keep twenty-eight year-old
Here comes the remorse

Read the rest of this entry »

If you want a lesson on how NBA trade exceptions are used, take a look at what the Utah Jazz are reportedly doing to acquire Al Jefferson.

The Utah Jazz have quickly moved into the lead to acquire Al Jefferson and were actively working Monday night to complete a deal with Minnesota, according to NBA front-office sources.

Sources told ESPN.com that the Jazz and Timberwolves are on the verge of completing a trade that would slot Jefferson’s contract into the $14 million trade exception that Utah created earlier this week in its sign-and-trade deal with Chicago for Carlos Boozer.

But because its trade exception is large enough to absorb Jefferson’s $13 million salary next season, Utah can complete a trade for Jefferson without sending back any players to the Wolves. Sources with knowledge of Minnesota’s thinking said Monday that the Wolves’ main aim in shopping Jefferson in recent weeks has been securing multiple future first-round picks and taking back as little salary if possible.

Via his Twitter account Monday night, Utah CEO Greg Miller wrote: “I just approved a Jazz roster move that I’m very excited about. Planning to share details tomorrow.

Playing in the NBA’s version of purgatory, Jefferson posted 21-and-11 in 2007-08 and 23-and-11 in 2008-09 before suffering a knee injury that required surgery. He finished with 17-and-9 playing alongside Kevin Love in his post-injury 2009-10.

He’s just 25 and one of the league’s true back-to-the-basket big men. Assuming his knees are okay, he will serve as a nice replacement for Carlos Boozer.

There’s an old adage — when one door closes, another opens. Congrats to the Jazz if they can swing this trade. The Mavericks were also very interested in Jefferson.

Now that the top 10 NBA free agents have made up their minds, let’s check in with my list of ‘sure-to-be-wrong’ predictions and see how I fared.

1. Dwyane Wade will re-sign with the Heat.
Check.

2. Chris Bosh will also sign with Miami.
Check.

3. LeBron and Carlos Boozer will sign with Chicago.
I didn’t think that LeBron would join what many consider to be ‘Wade’s Team’ and the Bulls gave him the next-best chance to win a championship, especially if Boozer landed there as well. The Bulls were wise to grab Boozer, who is a very nice fit alongside Joakim Noah.

4. Joe Johnson will sign with the Clippers.
I bought into the report that Johnson was in L.A. leading up to free agency and that he had a good relationship with the Clippers’ GM. The Hawks shocked the league when they offered him a six-year max contract and methinks they’ll be regretting it in 2-3 years. Who would have thought that when everything was said and done, that Joe Johnson would get the biggest contract of this free agent class?

5. Stoudemire will land in the Big Apple.
…”the Knicks will be sure to throw gobs of money to save face after pretty much striking out on the other top free agents.” Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened, though the Knicks were proactive and signed Stoudemire before being shunned by LeBron and Wade. And Amare was happy to lap up the dough after the Suns wanted to negotiate a deal that included incentives related to his health.

6. The Knicks will re-sign David Lee.
Donnie Walsh elected to conserve most of his cap space so that the Knicks can be a player in next summer’s free agency, plus the Lee-for-Randolph trade gives the Knicks a good (and cheap) up-and-coming power forward to replace Lee.

7. The Knicks will trade Eddy Curry for Gilbert Arenas.
This could still happen, but it looks like it won’t, at least not now. The Lee trade signals that the Knicks are going to be careful with their cap space, and trading for Arenas would be a huge risk.

8. The Grizzlies will match a max offer for Rudy Gay.
Technically, this prediction wasn’t correct. The Grizzlies once again raised eyebrows around the league by signing Gay to a max contract without letting the market set his price.

9. Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce re-sign with the Mavs and C’s, respectively.
There were pundits out there that actually thought that Pierce could land with the Nets and that Nowitzki would join LeBron in Chicago, but Boston and Dallas made sure these players stayed put.

Overall, I didn’t do too badly, did I?

Per ESPN.com…

Carlos Boozer is the latest domino to fall, agreeing to a five-year, $80 million contract with the Chicago Bulls, a source close to the negotiations told ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher on Wednesday.

Looks like the Bulls read my post-Wade/Bosh offseason blueprint. This is a big contract that averages $16 million per season, but as John Hollinger notes, there’s enough room to sign LeBron outright on the off chance that he utters “the Bulls” tomorrow night.

$80 mil deal has cap figure of $13.8M, which should leave juuuuust enough for LBJ if no cap surprise tonite. S&T drops 1st year to $13.2M.

Bulls fans can’t say the team didn’t react quickly to the Wade/Bosh news. Signing Boozer would seemingly put the Bulls back in the picture for LeBron, but even if it doesn’t, it was the next logical move for a franchise with cap space and a need for low post scoring. He will be a nice fit alongside a defensive, offensively-challenged center like Joakim Noah. He will also fare well in the pick-and-roll with Derrick Rose after running so many with Deron Williams over the years.

Chicago sports radio is predictably on fire right now with the news that hometown hero Dwyane Wade is going to stay with the Heat, and that he’s taking Chris Bosh with him. Couple that with the fact that it looks like the Bulls are a long shot to land the services of LeBron James, and Bulls fans are understandably panicked.

They can still improve their pitch to LeBron, but they need to move quickly. Here’s how they do it.

1. Sign Carlos Boozer (or David Lee). Boozer would be a very nice fit alongside Joakim Noah because he can score in the post and Noah can cover for Boozer’s lack of defensive. This is move #1 because the Bulls need to make this signing anyway to improve the roster. If Boozer wants the max, Lee would be a good backup plan. He’s not a good post scorer, but he can hit open jumpers and that would be appealing to both Derrick Rose and LeBron, if he were to come to Chicago. Lee is also younger and more durable.

2. Quickly work out an extension with Noah. The Bulls are known around a league as a franchise that has never paid the luxury tax, so if they were able lock up Noah long term, LeBron’s camp would take it as a sign that ownership will be willing to spend to win.

3. Ask LeBron for another meeting. Explain how the Boozer/Lee signing and the Noah extension makes Chicago the most attractive place to play. Ask LeBron if he really wants to face a loaded Miami team, the Magic, or the Celtics with the current roster in Cleveland. Underline how he’ll be the leader in Chicago, while the perception will be that he followed Wade and Bosh to Miami.
If LeBron decides to stay in Cleveland or bolt to Miami or some other team…

4. Go out and get drunk, or do whatever someone does when they lose the love of their life. Get over it.

5. Wake up, drink a big glass of water and pop a couple of ibuprofen. Use the remaining cap space to sign a good shooting guard, like Ray Allen or Mike Miller, either guy would be a good fit in a lineup with Rose, Deng, Boozer and Noah. That lineup needs shooting and Allen/Miller can provide it. Kyle Korver or J.J. Redick are also options, though they will have trouble defending starter-caliber shooting guards.

The point is, all is not lost. The Bulls still might have a chance to sign LeBron, but they need to bring in a PF like Boozer or Lee and extend Noah so that he knows that the Bulls clearly have the best supporting cast this side of South Florida.

If they miss out on LeBron, they can still together a very nice lineup building around Rose, Boozer and Noah.

Step off the edge, Bulls fans. There are still a few balls in the air.

Adrian Wojnarowski wrote on his Twitter feed that Cavs officials feel that the idea of a Bosh sign-and-trade to Cleveland is dead.

Cavs officials are confident of two things now, multiple sources say: Chris Bosh won’t play for them next season, but LeBron James will.

Bosh has long made it clear that he doesn’t want to play in Cleveland, and LeBron knew it was a longshot to sell him on it.

Cavs understand there are still looming threats to pry LeBron, but getting Bosh isn’t make or break on keeping LBJ.

Ric Bucher chimed in with this info:

Can we agree on this? Bosh/Wade are now clearly a package deal, be it in Chi or Mia. And I’ve outlined the challenge of getting both to Chi.

Not sure where the idea Tor won’t S&T w/Mia came from, but it’s not true. Calderon/Bosh for Chalmers, 2 future 1sts + trade exception: done.

More and more, it’s looking like Wade and Bosh both get the max deal (~$130 million) to play in Miami — the Heat and Raptors would have to work out a S&T — and LeBron is staying put in Cleveland.

What are your options if you’re LeBron and you want to stay in Cleveland? Carlos Boozer is probably out due to his relationship with the Cavs. David Lee? Yeah, maybe the Knicks would bite on a Hickson/Varejao deal in a sign-and-trade.

Not to second-guess the self-proclaimed King, but if you’re going to stay in Cleveland despite the fact that it’s an inferior option, why not say that from the start and actively recruit to get some additional help? That way players might angle to play with you instead of sitting on their hands trying to figure out what the hell you’re going to do.

As for the Wade/Bosh combo, they can also go to the Bulls, but someone would need to sacrifice the sixth year of a max contract, as Bucher outlined above. They’d definitely be in a better situation, title-wise, with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah on their rookie contracts, though the Bulls have never paid the luxury tax, so that’s a concern.

Doug Thonus of Bulls Confidential wonders if the signing of Carlos Boozer would bring LeBron or Wade to Chicago.

Say the Bulls sign Boozer today.

Bosh will then play with either Wade or LeBron in Cleveland or Miami. The other guy is then left with what? If Bosh joins LeBron in Miami Cleveland then Miami’s off-season is down to some combination of second tier guys like David Lee, Anthony Morrow, JJ Reddick, and Brendan Haywood. He said he’d leave without getting significant improvements, but significant improvements would clearly not be coming.

If Bosh goes to Miami with Wade the case for LeBron isn’t nearly as straight forward. He still may opt to continue to not win titles for his home town, but his odds of winning will continue to fall as his team gets worse and still lacks assets to improve considerably. The Bulls team will then have Rose, Deng, Boozer, and Noah.

Is that enough to lock in LeBron? How badly does he want to win?

You’ll notice I crossed out a typo that Thonus made to make the piece a little more clear. He was talking about Bosh joining LeBron in Cleveland, not Miami.

Regardless, it’s an interesting take on the latest news — that LeBron wants Bosh in Cleveland, while Wade wants him in Miami.

Bosh is a difficult get because he apparently wants the sixth year that the Raptors can offer via a sign-and-trade, so whatever team is on the other end of that will have to give up significant assets. He doesn’t seem to like the idea of playing in Cleveland either. (City-wise, Cleveland just isn’t Chicago, New York or Miami.)

So the argument goes, if the Bulls lock up Boozer, who would be a great fit alongside the defensive-minded Noah, they’d eventually end up with LeBron or Wade. Bosh would go to Cleveland or Miami, and then the superstar that doesn’t get Bosh would be left with the decision — stay in Cleveland or Miami or go play for the Bulls with a supporting cast of Rose, Boozer, Noah and Deng?

I’d actually prefer David Lee to Boozer (cheaper and less injury prone), so Wade might too, and elect to stay in Miami if the Heat can sign Lee. But he seems to already be on the fence with the idea of playing in Chicago, so if he misses out on getting LeBron or Bosh as a teammate, the Bulls suddenly look very attractive, especially with Boozer in tow.

For LeBron, if Bosh joins Wade in Miami, staying in Cleveland becomes even tougher. Then there’s Chicago, who would have that aforementioned supporting cast in place — would he sign a five-year deal and leave the money on the table? As Thonus asks, how important is winning to him?

That sixth year shouldn’t be that important to LeBron. He would be 30 in the final year of a five-year deal, so he would still be in line for a very big salary. In other words, that $30 million that everyone loves to throw about would really only be $4 million plus the difference in his theoretical sixth-year salary ($25 million) and the first year of his next contract.

So, really, under that scenario, the question would be — how important is Cleveland to LeBron?

Here’s where I stop ruminating about rumors and pose a few predictions about what will happen in the NBA over the next couple of weeks. Let’s start with a near-sure thing and work our way around the league.

1. Dwyane Wade will re-sign with the Heat.
He has said all along that Miami is where he wants to be, and even if he strikes out on getting LeBron and/or Chris Bosh to join him, he won’t have a tough time recruiting a couple of other high-priced free agents to join him. Whether it’s Carlos Boozer, Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson or Rudy Gay, someone will want to play in sunny South Florida with a Top 5 player who has already proven he can take over an NBA Finals.

2. Chris Bosh will also sign with Miami.
I thought the Bulls might have inside track on Bosh, but if we’re to believe Dan LeBatard, a deal is already in place that would bring Bosh to Miami. Even if LeBron doesn’t join them, Bosh and Wade will make an excellent one-two punch.

3. LeBron and Carlos Boozer will sign with Chicago.
It’s the reunion that no one was expecting. I have no earthly idea what LeBron is going to do, but he says that winning is the most important thing, so if that’s true, he’ll either sign with the Bulls or join Wade and Bosh in Miami. With his ego, I think he’d rather play in Chicago in the shadow of Michael Jordan’s legacy than join ‘Wade’s team’ in South Florida. But who really knows? (Remember, I said these were sure-to-be-wrong predictions.) As for Boozer, if the Bulls strike out on Bosh, he’s the next-best fit at the four. The Bulls could take advantage of his strengths (low-post scoring, rebounding) while Joakim Noah could hide his weaknesses (post defense).

4. Joe Johnson will sign with the Clippers.
Think about it Knick fans — would you want to play under the NY microscope after the city missed out on the big-name free agents? Expectations are so high in the Big Apple and Johnson is a quiet guy that has proven in Atlanta that he doesn’t deal well with critical fans. He’s reportedly close with Clipper GM Neil Olshey and would be a nice fit there since he can play small forward alongside Eric Gordon on the wing.

5. Stoudemire will land in the Big Apple.
I almost wrote “land in New Jersey” but I didn’t want to send any Knick fans off the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge. If predictions #1-#4 come to fruition, the Knicks won’t be a very attractive place to play, but Stoudemire thrived under Mike D’Antoni in Phoenix and the Knicks will be sure to throw gobs of money to save face after pretty much striking out on the other top free agents. D’Antoni can run Stoudemire at the five and…

6. The Knicks will re-sign David Lee…
…to play the four. They’ll be defensively challenged, but that’s life. Then…

7. The Knicks will trade Eddy Curry for Gilbert Arenas…
…which will make them even more defensively challenged, but again, that’s life. At least the Knicks will be fun to watch.

8. The Grizzlies will match a max offer for Rudy Gay.
The Nets (and maybe the T-Wolves) will make a strong run at Rudy Gay, but the Grizzlies’ owner Michael Heisley has said all along that he’ll match any offer Gay gets in free agency.

9. Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce re-sign with the Mavs and C’s, respectively.
These guys aren’t going anywhere.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Per the Star-Tribune…

Kahn said a staff member spoke up in a draft meeting last week and expressed the same doubt.

They pulled out a list and went through the possibilities one by one. They crossed off free agents deemed too old to fit the Wolves’ rebuilding plans and came up with a short list of players the team’s staff collectively considered out of their reach.

“We counted three players we didn’t think we could get,” Kahn said. “By the way, I think you could put us in 92, 93 percent of the league.”

Three players?

Really?

That excluded short list — presumably James, Wade and Bosh — would leave the likes of Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, David Lee and Rudy Gay possible.

“I don’t want anybody here to feel like we’re some poor stepchildren,” Kahn said. “We’re not. We’re building something of great value that will be sustainable. I think we have a chance to have some serious discussions with free agents after July 1.”

If nothing else, Minnesota’s David Kahn is one of the more entertaining general managers in the NBA. Last year, he drafted three point guards in the first round — passing on Stephen Curry and Brandon Jennings in the process — and traded the one that was most NBA-ready (Ty Lawson) away. He’s still waiting on the promise of Ricky Rubio to run his club.

This year, he drafted for need (Wes Johnson) and passed on arguably the best player in the draft (DeMarcus Cousins), even though he’s trying to trade away his best player (Al Jefferson). Passing on Cousins may ultimately be the right move, but centers who can score and rebound like he can don’t come around very often. There’s also a school of thought that his best chance to thrive is in a smaller city where there aren’t as many ‘distractions.’

It sounds like Jefferson is being dangled in order to acquire a top-notch center or power forward, even though the T-Wolves already have the promising Kevin Love playing that position.

The T-Wolves do have a chance to sign a quality free agent, but chances are that they’re going to have to overpay. That means a max contract for a second-tier free agent like Carlos Boozer or Rudy Gay, who may have to decide if they want to take near-max money to play in New York, New Jersey or Miami, or max money from Minnesota.