Rumor: Boozer To Detroit or New Jersey
June 2nd 2009 01:06
Could Carlos Boozer end up in Motown?
Today, Peter Vescey (not exactly the bastion of accurate rumor reporting) of the New York Post (not exactly the bastion of journalism) reported that soon-to-be free agent power forward Carlos Boozer is all but out of Utah and headed to either Detroit or New Jersey.
"Apparently, rising free agent-of-choice Carlos Boozer is telling confidants he's either going to Detroit or New Jersey -- only way the capsized Nets pull that off is by doing a sign-and-trade. Word has it Jersey will have but three assistants next season and all must take pay cuts."
As Dave Dial of mlive.com so accurately points out, the Nets are already over the salary cap, so how this move makes sense for New Jersey is a bit of a mystery. Obviously one of New Jersey's cap heavy stars (I'm looking at you Vince Carter) would be moving in any sign-and-trade.
Carter is on the hook for big money next year and would be a logical choice to move out west. But making a play for Boozer would slow down any efforts of trying to make a play for any of the big name guys in the 2010 free agent sweepstakes. Would you rather have Carlos Boozer or Chris Bosh? I think the question answers itself.
Now for Detroit, this move would make a lot of sense, but as a Pistons fan, I must say this move concerns me. I don't feel adding Boozer would make the Pistons so much better that they could contend again. Plus, Boozer has a history of injury problems which frightens me. Then again, so did Antonio McDyess before he came to the D. Pistons strength and conditioning coach Arnie Kander has worked miracles (except for Allen Iverson's crippling back "injury") in the past and maybe he could work another with Boozer.
Also, the only bright spot of the terrible Billups-for-Iverson deal was that it freed up a ton of cap space with Iverson and Rasheed Wallace's contracts coming off the books. Now that it looks like Sheed is headed out for greener pastures (Read: Cleveland), the Pistons have quite the conundrum on their hands. Do they make the play for Boozer now while they have some room to maneuver and leave themselves room for one player next year, or does Pistons general manager Joe Dumars keep the checkbook closed and go all in for 2010? These are not easy questions to answer.
Personally, as a fan, I want Chris Bosh. The Pistons should have drafted him in 2003 when they had the chance but they took Darko Milicic (insert image of me pulling my hair out here). That's not to say they couldn't land Bosh in 2010, but Detroit does need someone in the backcourt. Rodney Stuckey is going through his sophomore slump and Rip Hamilton isn't getting any younger. The Pistons are going to have to address it at some point, possibly in the draft this summer.
Dumars is running out of free passes as far as I'm concerned. He did a great job of assembling the 2004 title team and finding steals like McDyess and Jason Maxiell. Not to mention Stuckey and Will Bynum who have both been impressive at times. But you throw in the Darko pick, the hiring of Michael Curry and the Billups trade, and people start to question if you really know what you're doing.
Detroit has plenty of money to throw around, don't mess it up Joe, otherwise the people of the D are going to run you out right past 8 Mile.
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