Carlos Boozer raised a few eyebrows recently when he told ESPN’s Chris Sheridan that he did intend to opt out after this season. He confirmed this to The Salt Lake Tribune via a conference call.
Since I wasn’t there for the conversation between Carlos Boozer and ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan on Wednesday night, I can’t say what was and wasn’t said. What I can report is that there are some in the Jazz organization who believe Boozer was, to borrow the description of one, “sideswiped” by the whole report.
That’s not excusing anything Boozer said. But Boozer thought he was chatting with Sheridan, who covered the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing, and might have been talking through the various scenarios associated with opting out more than making any definitive statements about his future.
As the Jazz note, Boozer gains nothing by announcing he’s opting out right now. Maybe it would have made sense to do so before the season. But right now, all Boozer’s achieving is calling attention to himself when he’s not playing and undergoing second MRI exams. In other words, he’s hurting his value.
The Jazz also continue to believe the Boozer-to-Miami rumors are more media driven than grounded in fact. There are questions, first of all, about whether the Heat will even have $10 million of cap space to sign a free agent this summer. The Heat also have forwards Udonis Haslem and Michael Beasley, both similar to Boozer.
Boozer took part in a conference call this afternoon with the Deseret News’ Tim Buckley and me. Here’s the transcript of what he had to say:
“First of all, I just want to say when I was talking to Chris yesterday, obviously I was thinking it was more of a casual conversation, but he was asking about the future, for myself and also for Paul and for our team. Obviously, the thing that came out in the papers, or the Internet, whatever, what I was trying to say to him was obviously in my business, like in most people’s businesses, you get a chance every now and then to sign a long-term contract and have stability.
“So the smart thing for me as an individual obviously would be to opt out and have a chance to have stability. Obviously, I wanted to stay here with the team. I wasn’t trying to say I was going to leave or anything like that. Obviously, I’ll look at my options, but the smart thing for me is to opt out and instead of having a one-year deal, the possibility of having a six-year deal. That makes sense for my business. That’s what I was trying to tell him yesterday. I didn’t know it was going to turn into this big rainfall type of thing.”
I don’t know why Jazz owner Larry Miller is upset.
Jazz owner Larry Miller slammed Boozer in his weekly radio appearance on KFAN 1320, saying, “It’s one of the top 10 stupidest things I’ve heard an NBA player do in 20 years.”
Miller said Boozer’s timing detracted from the Jazz’s victory over New Jersey and came not only as he has missed 15 games with a strained left quadriceps tendon but after he missed 80 games early on after coming to the Jazz.
Those memories are hard to shake, with Miller saying, “a lot of people are still suspicious about that, a lot of fans and stuff, and we’ve covered for him and protected him, justifiably.”
Of course he’s going to opt out. He’s due to make $12.7 million next season which is well below the market value of a player with his skill set. Assuming he’s healthy — and he has battled injuries in the past — he’s going to be able to sign a max or near-max contract next summer. Why would anyone play out the final year of a deal when they could sign a five- or six-year guaranteed contract and start at a higher salary?
The timing is odd, considering that Boozer has missed the last 15 games with a quad injury. It doesn’t sound like he planned to share this information with the world, but I don’t know why anyone is really surprised.
Paul Millsap has averaged 17.8 points and 11.1 rebounds in 13 games as a starter filling in for Boozer. He too is a free agent after the season, so it will be interesting to see how the Jazz handle these two players as they bring similar things to the table. In my latest column, I suggested that Utah trade Boozer to Dallas for Dirk Nowitzki. To me, it’s likely that he’s going to leave and sign with Miami, but he continues to state that he intends to stay in Salt Lake City.
