The reports say that Boozer and his agent asked for the Cavs to opt out and sign that deal. Boozer is a liar, and now he's covering up his greed and lies with more lies.
30 million dollar difference, that isn't greed, that's just pure common sense! Nobody would be dumb enough to pass on 30 million bucks just because you gave a hand shake deal, that has no real weight in this deal anyway, the Cavs screwed up, all Boozer did was use common sense.
Please! Is honor worth 30 million bucks to you? To anyone? Would your loved ones forgive you for taking honor and 40 million over a few boos and 70 million? Hell no they wouldn't!
and dream must be just as greedy, sacrificing his last years in houston to go north of the border and steal money from that toronto team. there are no innocent parties in business, boozers side wanted the green, and did whatever it took to get it, gunds side wanted to lock boozer up longterm for chump change, and it didnt work out. boohoo.
Eric Williams can shoot better tahn Adrian Griffin.. he's taller too. Tony Battie would be nice to have on the Rockets. For some reason..I think Mo would look good on the Cavs like he did on the Clippers..lol. But I want to keep Mo because of his scoring abilities..hopefully his defensive abilities improve.
Y'all want a Cavs deal? Y'all want Daniels? Seems clear to me -- Ollie was wanted in seattle, Daniels in Houston, and Pike (predraft) in Cavsland. Pretty straight forward three team deal. Ollie - Daniels - Pike.
A trade with the Cavs would be the best deal we can make now. We could pick up some of their also-ran spare parts, sure, but the real prize would be big Z., and us getting rid of Mo T. Here's a breakdown : trade 1 : Houston trades Mo T, Pike Cavs trade Z Cavs get an extra 2 mil cap room. Cavs get a powerforward that can run and score, and a shooter opposite LBJ. Cavs exit a plodding center who feuded with Silas. Houston gets : a 14 mil dollar expiring contract. Houston gets a functional backup center for a few months, then, in trade with say, Atlanta - we get another new Trade Exception, for big money. OR we trade Z to a team that needs a center like him - Toronto, for D. Marshall, Milwaukee,New Jersey, New York, whatever. trade part 2 : Houston helps Cavs get Booze back so they can trade him by sending the full TE for Cavs spare parts (Wagner, Battie, Williams, whatever they can or will unload.) These guys don't matter. Bottom line : Houston gets rid of MoT and gets a big new max contract trade asset. Right now, we don't have much we can trade for. But with Z's expiring max contract, suddenly we have something other teams want. We could even possibly land a star, if that possibility was there. Ray Allen's not happy, Vince Carter's not happy, and then, down several notches, there's guys like SAR and Webber teams want to move and there are other talents teams want to exit like Rashard because they don't fit. It might make a move to get a Kirk Hinrich possible - if we could offer them a way to exit AD's contract right now and possible resign Z for less money. An expiring max is a blank check we can use to make something happen and get a real talent to complete the core starting unit. We can grab two scrubby scrubs from the nbdl to fill out the rest.
Interesting..I wish that happened. I am sorta worried about Big Z's playing time. Lockerroom conflicts him and Yao. There are many things the Rockets can do..I hope they do something and don't screw up. Patience! Go Rockets!
Exhibit A makes a promise to management he'll come back, so they don't exercise a cheap option year and take him at his word. Exhibit B is a free agent. Period. Hakeem MIGHT have tarnished his legacy/career in going to Toronto, but he didn't break his word. 6 years, 41 million isn't exactly chump change. I'm sure they would've discussed other possibilities like opt outs. Fact is, Cleveland could have had him playing for less than 800K next year- they mutually (or so they thought) decided to let him out so they could pay him more. One interesting note- Spoon actually played for Cleveland a few years back and put up rock solid numbers- 11-10, over a block and steal a game, 50% FG%. That's what got him his current contract.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/211350p-182056c.html Actually, it IS more like they're letting Boozer walk in my opinion and just looking for options to fill the hole.
It is chump change when you're paying a guy an average of 6.8 million a season for a double double and 110% effort every night. How many players in the NBA are capable of getting 30 and 20 in a game? Boozer did it 3 times last season, one of those games was against the Jazz so they know he's worth a lot more than 6.8 million a year. Cleveland could of payed him 800k next season, and then they would have to compete with max type offers for him next offseason, the way they planned it they'd have him for a MLE instead. They wanted to underpay him for 6 more seasons, that's the bottome line.
What would be nice is if Stern found Cavs and Boozer had entered into an illegal pre-July 1st deal. Then void the new deal with the Jazz (a la the Joe Smith contract with the Twolves that was voided after the wink wink deal), hold Boozer to his one year remaining with the Cavs (at 600K), and fine the Cavs something whopping like a second round pick for their part in the dastardly deed. Now that would be poetic justice! If that doesn't happen, how about MoT for McInnis and Battie?!
Did we not do the same thing with Cuttino? Next year, he still would've been a restricted free agent, and Cleveland would have had full bird rights. Boozer deceived them, intentional or not. If he says, "If you don't take the option, I'm going to look around" then Cleveland probably takes the option, knowing there are tons of teams that have the cap space to outbid them. Then, next offseason, they can match any offers. This is a funny league. One 6 year contract buys financial security. One serious injury or bad season, and Boozer severely hurts his worth. That's why these types of deals are made- Boozer gets security, the Cavs get value. The Cavs thought that was what they agreed upon (because it was). It's not like the Cavs can pay him more- they were willing to give him the maximum allowable by the CBA. Boozer is probably going to make 11 million dollars next season, when if he acknowledged he was going to look at the market, he would be making 800K. Cleveland did 2 things wrong- a.) misjudged the market b.) trusted a player/agent that wasn't truthful If Okur doesn't get $50m, Foyle $40m, this probably doesn't happen.
Does honor have a price? I should try and withhold judgement, because it is always tougher when you are in the situation, but I would like to think I would choose the honor route. I can honestly say my loved ones would be disappointed in me if I took money over honor.
What about Boumtje-Boumtje? He is a free agent from the Cavs, 7-footer that can block some shots. He is not a great backup, but he is a BIG body that go out there to clog the lane for some minutes or when yao is in foul trouble. Wouldn't be any worse than Bateer, which alot of people liked to have join the team. He is real young too, which leave the possibility, with playing time, to get much better.
Again: MoT and Pike for Z TE for Wagner, McInnis (or Ollie)! Frees about 8 mio. cap room for the Cavs, they can re-sign Boozer. They don't really lose anything they would not have lost after next year anyway. Gives us a backup C/cap room next year, and a backup PG/SG. Done
Boozer should just come out and say it was about the money. Why make things worse by bad mouthing the coach when he clearly lied to the organization and clearly had no intention of resigning for the MLE? It should be interesting to see how Boozer plays against the big boys in the WC.
