I felt Boozer would finish his contract out, but I knew darn well the Jazz weren't signing him again after that. That's why I was so upset with the Jazz picking Hayward when I knew we needed big guys. If we kept Boozer, we didn't have such a dire need for big guys and picking Hayward would have been okay.I kind of feel a little bad for Salty now. All past years he was thinking that AK would be gone and Boozer was here to stay. But oops..it got reversed. You hope they atleast get something in return from the Bulls.
I kind of feel a little bad for Salty now. All past years he was thinking that AK would be gone and Boozer was here to stay. But oops..it got reversed. You hope they atleast get something in return from the Bulls.
As for AK, he would have been traded several times over if Larry Miller didn't have a personal thing for him. There has to be a real chance he gets traded now though. New Jersey tanked all season trying to get the top pick and fell to 3rd. They also went all out to get cap space and no free agents wanted to go there. So they will without a doubt be looking at trades, and AK is certainly going to be on their radar. The Jazz may very well let him expire at this point, but a trade is not out of the question either.
I agree on all accounts. What can we get from NJ though? If they drafted Cousins, maybe they could give him to us in some kind of trade. As of now, Nets may not offer much. If they gave us next year's pick it would be good , but it's unlikely. Something to explore though.
But yeah, I knew Boozer would not be traded for scrubs before his contract was up. It was a no brainer that the Jazz would let that contract expire and take the savings. Anyone who has been following the Jazz for years should have known that was coming. Either Boozer would agree to a deal way under market value, or he would expire and walk for nothing.
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I am not saying Boozer is or isn't worth $80 mil. I am just curious, who do Jazz fans think is worth $80 mil?
I am seeing pretty much everyone on the board say Boozer isn't worth $80 mil. It's not even being debated by anyone.
Is there a player in the NBA right now that you think will get $80 mil or less that you think is actually worth $80 mil? And I'm not talking about someone on or just coming off his rookie contract (where the max is probably less than $80 mil) so skip that. I am talking about guys like Boozer, who are not coming off the rookie contract.
It's pretty easy to name guys like Wade, Bosh, Amare, and Lebron. But none of them are getting "only" $80 mil either.
Joe Johnson agreed to a $120 contract the other day...
If you think $80 mil is too much to pay an all star caliber player and dream teamer, then you don't understand the NBA.
I am not saying the Jazz should have or should not have matched that offer when they were given the chance. But I am saying it is not a no brainer to let him walk at that price like the board members seem to be saying.
I will also say this- if the Jazz don't get a very good player to replace Boozer within the next year or so, then letting him walk will prove to be a big time mistake. And if/when they do replace Boozer, it will likely cost them the $80 mil Boozer is getting.
Heck, didn't the Jazz originally sign a much younger and unproven Boozer for something like $70 mil? And now we're saying it's such a no brainer to let him walk at $80 mil- now that he's a proven all star caliber player?
If Dirk Nowitzki was the one leaving you can bet the Jazz would have done more to keep him, but Boozer is more easily replaced with our existing assets.
To be clear, I am not saying the Jazz should or shouldn't have signed Boozer for $80 mil. All I am saying is it wasn't a no brainer to let him leave at that price, and the Jazz will have to spend that money on someone else if they want to be a contender and keep D-Will.If Booze gets a 6th year via S&T, is he still worth signing in your book?
It's silly to ask for names whom the Jazz should get for $80 million because Utah didn't have the cap room to sign an $80 million player where they didn't have "rights" (unlike with Boozer), and S&Ts are tough. There are a few $100 million players (Amare, LBJ), and I would have been elated to land Durant ($85M for 5 years), but OKC had his "rights". Utah probably could have Luol Deng, who is a $70 million player already a year into his contract, but I'd rather keep AK than gain Deng's albatross eight-figure contract for longer time.So I am still not seeing any names...
I see a bunch of "Boozer isn't worth it" posts, but I don't see a single post naming a player the Jazz could/should/might get for the $80 mil they saved by letting Boozer walk.
The lack of names in this 4 page thread should tell you, it wasn't such a no brainer to let Boozer walk.
I expect Utah to be a borderline playoff team this year, but I think that they would be a borderline playoff team with Boozer, too...
Its rather impossible to argue Booz is not worth 80 million when Rudy Gay and Joe Johnson just got max deals. If the Jazz didn't sign Milsap they would be doing everything in their power to keep Boozer. It would be nice to keep both, but no sane GM invests that much money into two players who strictly play only one and the same position.