Boozer, Cavs deal nearly set By Brian Windhorst, Beacon Journal staff writer The Cavaliers have no intention of letting go of Carlos Boozer. According to NBA sources, the Cavaliers have come to terms with Boozer, who became a free agent Thursday, and will officially sign him to a contract as soon as the free-agent signing period begins July 14. Under league rules and the Cavaliers' current salary cap position, Boozer can sign a deal with the club for around $41 million over six years. The exact amount won't be known until July 14 when the NBA releases it's updated salary cap figures. There's a chance there would be a player option in the deal, which would allow Boozer to get out of the contract early if he desired. Cavaliers general manager Jim Paxson has declined comment on Boozer until after July 13, and messages for Boozer and his agent, Rob Pelinka, were not returned. The deal is not in writing so Boozer still could renege, which is the biggest fear of general managers at this time of the year, but the sources said the Cavaliers were confident in Boozer's word. If the Cavaliers had any worries, it would be other teams with salary cap space taking a run at Boozer after learning he'd be on the market. But apparently the word has gotten out around the league that Boozer, who averaged 15.5 points and 11.4 rebounds last season, is dedicated to returning to Cleveland. Sources close to the Utah Jazz, a team with $30 million in salary cap room and a need for a power forward, said the team was convinced Boozer wasn't interested in leaving the Cavaliers. The Jazz are believed to have focused their efforts on Detroit Pistons free-agent forward Memhet Okur. Another team with extra salary cap room, the Denver Nuggets, has agreed to terms with free-agent center Marcus Camby and seem to be concentrating on courting guards Quentin Richardson and Manu Ginobili. The Phoenix Suns used up the lion's share of their cap room Thursday when they came to an oral agreement on a $65 million deal with point guard Steve Nash, and now couldn't outbid the Cavaliers for Boozer. Though the expansion Charlotte Bobcats have $17 million in cap space and Boozer's family and his wife's family live in North Carolina, that franchise has it's power forward of the future in No. 2 overall pick Emeka Okafor. Boozer isn't believed to be interested in the remaining team with loads of cap space, the Atlanta Hawks. Messages for Brian Windhorst can be left at 330-996-3819 or bwindhor@thebeaconjournal.com http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mymod/hdln/n...boozercavsdealnearlyset&prov=knight&type=lgns -------------------------- Very strange!! Why is he selling himself so cheaply...I feel he could get more money. He must be really serious about wanting to stay in Cleveland...
Wow, I think would he would be a steal at around 60 million over 6 years. I can't remeber how many times I looked at the boxscore for Cleveland games and saw him put up gigantic numbers.
boozer getting screwed. 6 years for 41 million? thats it about 7 mil a year. If camby got 10 mil a year so should he.
i was thinking the same thing i wonder if his agent mentioned 'CUTTINO MOBLEY' to him . . take less than u worth . . and then get traded a few years later Rocket River what kind of offer could we offer him?
Can we convince Hawks to throw the $6.9M at Boozer and get him using TE? I think we can offer him more than $40M for 5 years, much better than the deal he is getting.
Wow...I respect and like him more and more. It might be the most important contract in his life and he gives up a lot of money for loyalty. How many players would ACTUALLY do that? As I'm new comer here, did cat do the same thing to the rockets? If it's true, I would feel like an idiot as a rocket fan. I think the management should ask for his approval before trade him to Orlando.
nice mobley like contract, smart move by the cavs surely though there will be a player opt out after 3-4 years
Wow. If I were Utah, Denver or any other team under the cap, I would immediately offer Boozer a 6 years contract starting at 7-8 million now, so that the Cavs might not find the cash to resign him! He's not that far worse than Kenyon Martin who is seeking the max!
Boozer would be a dream. Too bad there is absolutely no way the Rockets could get him...too bad. Hmm...what if we offered him a sign-and-trade where he gets a 7-year-deal starting at the trade exception level and with an opt-out for him after three or four years? How would the numbers in that contract look like? Sounds like that would be a lot more than what the Cavs could offer? Problem is, they would have to agree to the sign-and-trade...
We can offer 41M over 6 seasons can't we? Isn't that the full MLE with maximum escalations over 6 years? Or can Cleveland offer 12.5%, which we can't? Something like that? For 2.5% less per year, would he rather make Houston immediate title contenders? Can you even IMAGINE a core of Yao, Boozer and T-Mac? That would be amazing. Boozer would be incredible on the Rockets. If the Cavs agree a sign n trade, we can offer him even more. We can sign n trade for him with a starting salary of 6.9M (TE), and over 6 years that would be around 49M I believe.
it would be stupid if no team ups the bid and let Cavs get Boozer so cheap. At least force Cavs to committ $60M, and limit their future options.
I've met Boozer a few times before, and he's not the type that would pack up and leave just because a team offers him more money than we do in Cleveland. He's commited to the team and he wants to play here. He was on the news this evening saying how he only wanted to play for the Cavs because of how everyone else passed him up in the draft, and now they all want him all of a sudden because they see how good he really is. Stuff like that (loyalty) has 10x's the effect that money does when it comes to the more mature players in the league, and fortunately for us, Boozer's one of them.
carlos boozer is the money man. the way he plays he dooesn't need to have chemistry or "adapt to the system" to be a total stud.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1836318 While O'Connor wouldn't divulge the other direction the team was heading, two league sources told Insider that the Jazz were talking with Cavs forward Carlos Boozer and were strongly considering making him a large contract offer. Boozer, who is a restricted free agent, was let out of the last year of his contract by the Cavs with an understanding that he'd re-sign with the team for the mid-level exception. Because of the Cavs cap situation, they are unable to offer or match any contract that exceeds the mid-level exception. This could get interesting. Evan
