IMO, can't blame Boozer too much. 28M extra money, are you kidding me, it is a fatal temptation for anyone in the world. I am not so surpised a sencond round pick changed his mind with so much money. Cavs should share some of the blame too, they should just pick up the option and prepare a 10M/per year contact next year. Instead they wanted go cheap and try to sign him with full MLE? What is that? In this business, if you try to save money, you could lose more.
The league prohibited negotiating deals prior to July 1, which was also the deadline for picking up (or dropping) Boozer's option year.
Somehow I find Boozer's comment more believable than then Cavs'. No matter how they spin it, Cavs tried to get Boozer cheap before July 1st, the time when team can talk to free agents LEGALLY. Even if they reached a verbal agreement, it would have been ILLEGAL.
notice how little everyone cares about the fact that the CAVS WERE CHEATING like Minnesota with JOE SMITH they only care about bashing the players never the management The CAVS are cheaters. . and they got burned Rocket River
I can. He would have been making 41 million with the cavs. 41 MILLION. Is that so hard to swallow and keep your integrity? Especially if it is what you ASKED for? Bottom line: He asked for a favor and got it. As a thank you he told the nice people who helped him to F off. Maybe if it was 28 million or nothing I would agree. But its not like the Cavs did'nt pony up a lot of dough too. Boozer is a whiner who basically is screwing up the GM/player relationship for everybody in his seflishness. After this debacle, I would not blame any GM for being a hard-nosed biatch, regardless of the individual player. And that's the real issue. All the players will pay for Boozer's selfishness. Can't say I feel that bad for them (the players) since they make so much money anyhow, but it is irritating that things will get even more cutthroat in the NBA. My two bits.
The difference between 41 million and 68 million is HUGE! The difference does not make up for loss integrity in Cleveland, who cares what Cav's fans think, they could boo him all they want, I bet he still has good games against them since they're left with nothing down low. How about this... The Cavs tried to do what's best for their organization by releasing Boozer with the hope of signing him to a long term deal that in the long run would of saved them millions. Boozer turned around and did the exact same thing, but instead of helping the Cavs he did what's best for Carlos Boozer and his family. Hate on him if you want but that's exactly what happened.
Huge mistake by Paxson and by Boozer's agent. I can't believe they thought this guy was going to settle for 41 mil.
Not quite. The only reson the Cavs released him was because they trusted him to resign up, just like he said he would. No doubt they also thought they could save some coin too, but they could have told Boozer to deal with this 700k and risk an injury and no further deals ever. They accomodated his concerns and he burned them. I know a lot of people nowadays think that enough money will justify anything, but I don't buy it (no pun intended). This would be like me ditching a little league team becuase the other team had cooler uniforms - oh and when every other team though I sucked that team let me have a a chance anyway. But I understand that some people don't care as long as they have more money. That's sad though, IMHO.
I guess I don't care that the Cavs were cheating because just about every team does it. Didn't the Rockets have a wink and nod agreement with Maurice Taylor when he signed here? The fact that Boozer broke his promise is what bothers me the most.
What is this "the Cavs were just trying to save money" nonsense, as if it's justified to put the blame on the Cavs? Total crap. I love how those of you playing this song just completely IGNORE the overwhelming evidence here. Read the SI article. Boozer played a violin that he needed to take care of his family, that a paltry FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND a year has he and his wife on welfare. He begged them to let him free from his contract, talking about respect, trust and good faith. He said he would re-up with the Cavs. Boozer KNEW the Cavs financial cap situation. Boozer KNEW the Cavs wouldn't let him go. The Cavs KNEW they would have Bird Rights on Boozer next season. Yet defying all common sense and logic, they let Boozer free. $28 million? That's the price of Boozer's impatience to take care of his family. Had he played another season he might have gotten $91 million. This is the Cavs we're talking about. Not the Lakers, Rockets or Spurs. They haven't had a quality team in ages and they had a chance to build something special with Boozer/LeBron. They would not have risked that without a verbal agreement. As if this wasn't enough evidence for you to look past, you have the agent firing Boozer from the fallout. Agents are leeches. You're telling me an agent is going to fire a client if they've done nothing wrong? Boozer is a liar. He has no integrity. Fans may not remember, but you can bet your ass that GMs and agents will not forget this one for a long, long time. Boozer hurt players here -- there will not be any more favors done. There's a new phrase in town when you get cheated, and it's "I've been bamboozered".
That's exactlyt he reason why so many agents are worried about the situation. All teams did these kind of deals and the bottom line was it benefittd teh players because they could get more compensation. Now that Cleveland has been burned, it not only screwed Clevelan but it also every other player (and his agent) who had the opportunity to do one of these deals later on. So great job Boozer, you got your cash. But not only will he be hated in Cleveland but I'm sure he'll be despised by alot of other NBA personnel and players.
In a way, could he have done the league a favor? It's obvious that David Stern doesn't like these wink-wink deals at all, based on how he handled the Minny situation. And it can certainly frustrate fans. Personally I was pretty annoyed when the Rockets signed Anderson and Taylor to their respective bloated contracts, as in a way the Rockets were commiting to some really long term contracts on average players. In a way, I'd almost feel better if the management deal with the players more openly.
The guy is STILL lying. Reportedly Coach K. has tried to contact him and Boozer won't return his phone calls. For a guy who thinks people are wrongly ripping his character he sure did go into hiding fast. And a week or so after Coach K. turned down all of that money Boozer does this. Amazing.
The Minnesota deal was different in so much as it was written out. It was not a verbal deal or a "wink-wink" deal.
An agent dropping a client before the contract is signed, before he gets his cut, tells you everything you need to know. I can already see it. In the next CBA agreement there will be a new rule called the Boozer Rule. Don't know what it will be but something to try and remedy this from happening again.
They were apparently operating very much UNLIKE Minnesota. The Wolves were burned becuase they wrote everything out in contract form in the Joe Smith debacle. There was no verbal agreement in the Wolves situation.
