Boozer reveals he's all about the money
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Sean Deveney /
Posted: 5 hours ago

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/2566204

This is bad.

This is one of those stories that gets decent folks fired, that makes the general population less trustful, that tarnishes athletes with a scarlet G for greed, that makes the average fan think of sports agents the way they think of, say, debt collectors or Lyme disease.
At first, it does not sound so bad: Carlos Boozer agreed to a deal with the Jazz, and, a source says, it's for six years and nearly $70 million, somewhat front-loaded to make it a tougher contract to match. Boozer has earned a big contract, with averages of 15.5 points and 11.7 rebounds in his second season.

But this ... this is bad.

I 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.


Sean Deveney is a staff writer for Sporting News. Email him at sdeveney@sportingnews.com.

THe cavs were 30 million lower. If boozer waited a year he could have left unrestricted! So he got it a year earlier. 30mil MORE is a lot of money, and Cleveland can match it.

Teams will fry a player in a heartbeat. This kid got lowballed into the second round and worked his ass off.

Cleveland had lots of time to extend the kid and perhaps could have handled it better. It takes two.

A mil or 5, yeah you maybe stay loyal. 70mil vs 40? Sorry, thats freaking huge. And getting a chunk upfront makes it even more valuable.

Posted by Nalod:

THe cavs were 30 million lower. If boozer waited a year he could have left unrestricted! So he got it a year earlier.

One yr after, they'd have had his bird rights and could have offered him more than any other team.

Maybe they tried to pay him cheap instead of seeing his value sky rocket next yr... that would also be abd. yet I can't praise a guy who betrayed his own word even for millions $$$.

The Cavs were trying to lowball him long term and got caught. I don't fault Boozer. He gave his acknowledgement on an extension--ANYONE wouldve done it, BUT if the CAVS had a legitimate gripe--if they werent trying to lowball him--they could've told Boozer they would give him a fair extension before the season starts. They knew about the high$$$$ cap room out there and probably went with this plan trying to save$. Doesn't it make just a tad of sense to wait 12 weeks to make sure you protect any possibility of what happened and sign him in good faith to a contract that was fair?

I don't put any blame on Boozer. The Cavs did this.

this is all so stupid...players are always out for #1, themselves...to be shocked or appalled that a player would actually take $20 mil more & reneg on his word to his current team is ridiculous...what the hell would any of us do in the same situation? please...it's not even worth talking about...the Cavs dropped the ball & they know it...end of story.

Also, Paxson should take some Risk Management classes. This happens everyday in the business world.

after the goverment takes away like the third of that money with taxes, it will make a very big difference lol.

If Booze made a promise and reneged, he has to be called out. The facts that there was a LOT of money at stake or that people do similar things all the time don't excuse him. It's wrong, plain and simple. If I were in his shoes, would I do the same thing? I hope not. I'd like to think I wouldn't sell out my word, even for more $$ than I've ever contemplated having. And if I did, I'd expect to be called out.

Cav's mistake is worse in a way. Not unethical, of course, just stupid and naive. Looks like they misjudged him and took an unnecessary risk to save a few bucks. Now, a team that looked capable of winning it all sometime over the next 5 years, has an uncertain future. They're still a playoff team, IMO, unless Ilgauskis gets hurt again.

I'm trying to buy a house and you know what people make promises and before you know it someone else ups the offer and its so long to you. This is the reality of the world why should Boozer be any different. You got to get yours baby and if someone leaves the door open for anyone to make more money I guarantee you 9-10 will take the more money. I love what Boozer did the Cavs are fools to do what they did. Words don't mean Jack until the contract is signed.

Paxson got really screwed and does not dserve to be fired. Anyone would have done the same as him. If Boozer comes to you and says that if you don't pick up his option that he will sign for the MLE, who doesn't do it? Boozer and his agent had this plan for a long time. Boozer deserves to be booed at every city. Fo one year insurance, Boozer was willing to get his GM fired, ruin the Cavs future, and destroy the Cavs fans. How can you ruin the life of the GM who gave you the chance to succed? How can you hurt your fans so bad; the fans who supported you for years and pay your contract? Boozer is a disgrace.