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Maybe they'll go after Kenyon Martin...who knows what the fuck they'll do...
trashy thing for a player to do to get out of his contract...
and a stupid thing for the Cavs to do...here the guy tells them he'll resign...and bam...what a bitch...
figures...he's from Duke...
here's a report on the matter...dead on...:
remember talking with Boozer in January about his long-term plans. He acknowledged there was a chance he could leave the Cavs in the off-season, but the possibility seemed remote. All the Cavs had to do was pick up the team option it held on Boozer for next season at less than $700,000, then sign Boozer to a long-term deal in 2005. It seemed Boozer would be teamed with guard LeBron James for a long time in Cleveland. "In the future, that is going to be the program for the Cavs," Boozer said. "LeBron is establishing himself as one of the best young guys in the league, and I am trying to do the same thing — establish myself as one of the best young power forwards.:
Essentially, Boozer had to choose which was more important — his word or his bank account. He chose bank account.
Boozer did that with his breakout performance last season. Then, this summer, Boozer and the Cavs explored a different possibility — they could toss out the team option for 2004-05 altogether, make Boozer a restricted free agent, then re-sign him to a six-year deal in the $40 million range. That way, Boozer could start collecting on a big contract earlier, and the Cavs would have one of their rising stars locked up. Boozer, according to a statement from Cavs owner Gordon Gund and general manager Jim Paxson, verbally agreed to this.
So, when the Cavaliers had the opportunity to exercise their one-year, $700,000 option on Boozer's deal early last week, they declined, making Boozer a restricted free agent. That was not a problem, because he had agreed to re-sign with the team.
Until this weekend, that is.
With Boozer a free agent, Denver began to show interest. Utah, sensing an opportunity and sensing pressure to finally spend some of its cap money, came up with the extremely generous offer of just under $70 million. Boozer had made a verbal commitment to the Cavs, but the Jazz were bettering Cleveland's offer by almost $30 million. Essentially, Boozer had to choose which was more important — his word or his bank account. He chose bank account.
To be fair, the Cavs would have gotten a bargain by signing Boozer for $40 million, and Boozer did nothing wrong by NBA rules. He got the most money he could, which is something most employees would do. But the fact is, he lied to the Cavs, the team that gave him a shot in the second round of the draft, the team that inserted him in the starting lineup and allowed him to shine, the team that was trying to do the right thing by him. Boozer and his agent, Rob Pelinka, double-crossed the Cavs by getting them to allow him out of his contract, then bolting for bigger money when the Cavs could have had him another year for minimum-contract money.
Paxson bungled this, and could get fired. But he shouldn't, not for this (there may be other reasons to fire Paxson, but that's another column). As far as Boozer goes, Paxson's only fault was that he trusted a guy who turned out to be a liar. According to the statement, Gund seemed to trust Boozer as much as Paxson did — if the owner was gullible enough to be duped by Boozer, then he probably won't fire his GM because he was duped, too. "Our actions," the joint statement read, "have been based on what Carlos told us he wanted."
But, if the Cavaliers are to be believed, Carlos is a liar, which is what makes this a really crummy story. The Cavaliers look bad for flubbing the situation. Pelinka and Boozer — Benedict Boozer, as folks in Cleveland will come to know him — come out with an air of scum around them. And fans … well, I would not blame fans for being a little less enthusiastic about the NBA next year because of this.
The Jazz, of course, are the only entity to come out of all this with its reputation intact, having landed a top-notch power forward, adding to a huge off-season for the team. It now has Boozer to go with its frontcourt of center Mehmet Okur (assuming Detroit allows him to leave) and forward Andrei Kirilenko. Utah, which drafted Kris Humphries and Kirk Snyder, could now look to deal Matt Harpring.
For Utah, then, this is good. For everyone else, this is just bad.
fuckin' piece of shit...
trashy thing for a player to do to get out of his contract...
and a stupid thing for the Cavs to do...here the guy tells them he'll resign...and bam...what a bitch...
figures...he's from Duke...
here's a report on the matter...dead on...:
remember talking with Boozer in January about his long-term plans. He acknowledged there was a chance he could leave the Cavs in the off-season, but the possibility seemed remote. All the Cavs had to do was pick up the team option it held on Boozer for next season at less than $700,000, then sign Boozer to a long-term deal in 2005. It seemed Boozer would be teamed with guard LeBron James for a long time in Cleveland. "In the future, that is going to be the program for the Cavs," Boozer said. "LeBron is establishing himself as one of the best young guys in the league, and I am trying to do the same thing — establish myself as one of the best young power forwards.:
Essentially, Boozer had to choose which was more important — his word or his bank account. He chose bank account.
Boozer did that with his breakout performance last season. Then, this summer, Boozer and the Cavs explored a different possibility — they could toss out the team option for 2004-05 altogether, make Boozer a restricted free agent, then re-sign him to a six-year deal in the $40 million range. That way, Boozer could start collecting on a big contract earlier, and the Cavs would have one of their rising stars locked up. Boozer, according to a statement from Cavs owner Gordon Gund and general manager Jim Paxson, verbally agreed to this.
So, when the Cavaliers had the opportunity to exercise their one-year, $700,000 option on Boozer's deal early last week, they declined, making Boozer a restricted free agent. That was not a problem, because he had agreed to re-sign with the team.
Until this weekend, that is.
With Boozer a free agent, Denver began to show interest. Utah, sensing an opportunity and sensing pressure to finally spend some of its cap money, came up with the extremely generous offer of just under $70 million. Boozer had made a verbal commitment to the Cavs, but the Jazz were bettering Cleveland's offer by almost $30 million. Essentially, Boozer had to choose which was more important — his word or his bank account. He chose bank account.
To be fair, the Cavs would have gotten a bargain by signing Boozer for $40 million, and Boozer did nothing wrong by NBA rules. He got the most money he could, which is something most employees would do. But the fact is, he lied to the Cavs, the team that gave him a shot in the second round of the draft, the team that inserted him in the starting lineup and allowed him to shine, the team that was trying to do the right thing by him. Boozer and his agent, Rob Pelinka, double-crossed the Cavs by getting them to allow him out of his contract, then bolting for bigger money when the Cavs could have had him another year for minimum-contract money.
Paxson bungled this, and could get fired. But he shouldn't, not for this (there may be other reasons to fire Paxson, but that's another column). As far as Boozer goes, Paxson's only fault was that he trusted a guy who turned out to be a liar. According to the statement, Gund seemed to trust Boozer as much as Paxson did — if the owner was gullible enough to be duped by Boozer, then he probably won't fire his GM because he was duped, too. "Our actions," the joint statement read, "have been based on what Carlos told us he wanted."
But, if the Cavaliers are to be believed, Carlos is a liar, which is what makes this a really crummy story. The Cavaliers look bad for flubbing the situation. Pelinka and Boozer — Benedict Boozer, as folks in Cleveland will come to know him — come out with an air of scum around them. And fans … well, I would not blame fans for being a little less enthusiastic about the NBA next year because of this.
The Jazz, of course, are the only entity to come out of all this with its reputation intact, having landed a top-notch power forward, adding to a huge off-season for the team. It now has Boozer to go with its frontcourt of center Mehmet Okur (assuming Detroit allows him to leave) and forward Andrei Kirilenko. Utah, which drafted Kris Humphries and Kirk Snyder, could now look to deal Matt Harpring.
For Utah, then, this is good. For everyone else, this is just bad.
fuckin' piece of shit...
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