Tag: Carlos Boozer (Page 2 of 13)

      Where do the Bulls go from here?

      July 7, 2010 /

      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.

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      Wojnarowski: Bosh won’t play for Cavs, LeBron will

      July 6, 2010 /
      BEIJING - AUGUST 24: LeBron James #6 and Chris Bosh #12 of the United State celebrate a play in the gold medal game against Spain during Day 16 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on August 24, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

      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.

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      For the Bulls, does signing Boozer guarantee LeBron or Wade?

      July 6, 2010 /

      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?

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      Nine sure-to-be wrong NBA free agency predictions

      June 30, 2010 /

      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

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      T-Wolves’ plan in free agency

      June 28, 2010 /

      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.

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