Drink up

by Basketball John on Dec 22, 2008 10:00 AM MST Comment 8 comments

I wish the whole Boozer thing would go away. But it's likely to get worse before it gets better.

The latest of course being that he denied even using the word raise,

"He (the Web site reporter) basically put that in my mouth. Without saying it in so many words," Boozer said. "He used that word (raise). I didn't even use that word. I don't even talk like that."

Of course he's referring to Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com. Throw another one under the Boozer Bus. The problem is that Sheridan has the audio. 1320KFan has it here (mp3).

David Locke spoke with Chris (mp3) about the situation. It was a weird conversation to say the least. Chris acted almost as if Locke was making up the story about Boozer saying that he never said raise.

Then we find out last week that Boozer had asked for a trade last year when his boy Carmani was ill,

Miller said that after now-injured All-Star power forward Carlos Boozer learned his young son Carmani had been diagnosed with life-threatening sickle cell anemia, he requested to be dealt somewhere closer to where the child was being treated in the family's offseason home of Miami — an area much more conducive to recovery than higher-altitude Utah.

But Carmani got better and the trade never materialized.

And now of course Boozer is going to see a specialist on December 29th and get a third MRI.

The bad news with all of this is that should his injury be the worst case and require surgery, is that he's likely to pick up his option for next year. He won't become a free agent after being out most of the year due to injury. Even if he comes back in a month or so, he would have to have monster stats the rest of the way to get the contract that he wants.

If he picks up his option, it could be bye-bye Millsap. The only way around that would be to trade Boozer or trade AK.

I'm not a salary or CBA guru by any means, so please correct me if I'm wrong with this. It could get ugly if Boozer waits to see if he'll pick up his option. I don't know when he has to do that by. Millsap will likely get an offer from another team early in the FA period. The Jazz have 7 or 10 days to match? If Boozer takes his time, the Jazz would have to make a decision on Millsap not knowing what Boozer is going to do. Boozer could potentially stick it to the Jazz either way. He could say that he's going to opt out and then after the Jazz have signed Millsap, Boozer decides he's going to stay. The reverse could be true. He could say he's going to stay, they let Millsap go, and then Boozer opts out anyway.

Like I said, I don't know if that's how it could work out or not. I sure hope not. Pleaes tell me I'm wrong. The best bet may be to trade Boozer regardless and get what you can for him. There's likely a team trying to get under the cap for 2010 that will take on his deal.

So if you prefer to have Millsap over Boozer, you're praying that Boozer heals quickly and puts up great stats.

Don't think that any of this has even scratched the surface of what's really going on.

Other Booze updates,

He's not going to be in Utah next year
Shut up Boozer
Booze a Chicago Piston? (Yes, that was a jab at myself).

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As far as contracts...

I’m pretty sure they CAN sign them both and be fine as far as cap goes. It’s just that LHM doesn’t wanna play luxury tax. Obviously, if Boozer takes his option and doesn’t opt-out (which again would prove him a liar :) ), then the Jazz can still sign ‘Sap long term and be fine under the rules. Just has to do with spending the dough. (unless I’m mistaken)

by rxmike12 on Dec 22, 2008 11:37 AM MST reply actions

Boozer Has to Exercise His Option...

…by July 1, 2009. I’m sure it’s not by coincidence that the 2009-10 free agency period begins the same day.

We would have to make Millsap a qualifying offer by June 30. However, we could withdraw or modify that offer at any point until July 23. After July 23 Millsap would need to grant his permission for that offer to be withdrawn.

Boozer can wait until July 1 to decide if he’s going to opt-out, but we need to make Millsap a qualifying offer by June 30. However, since he’s a restricted free agent we can lowball him with the qualifying offer, and let the market dictate the price. Then we would have 7 days to match whatever offer he receives from another team. If we were to lowball Millsap the minimum amount we could make in a qualifying offer would be $1,794,557. (His 2008-09 salary, plus 125%). Then we would have the right to match any offer given to him by another team. I believe that since Millsap would qualify under the “Larry Bird Exemption” we could go over the salary cap to re-sign him.

One thing to keep in mind is that once Boozer officially decides what to do with his player option, he’s stuck with that choice. He can’t inform the league that he’s opting out on July 1, and then change his mind on July 2. So, no matter what decision he makes, we’ll know by July 1 at the latest.

by kris247 on Dec 22, 2008 12:01 PM MST reply actions

What I Understand

First off, the July 1 date is not a coincidence because Boozer either needs to be a free agent to negotiate a contract with a different team, or he has a contract with the Jazz the keeps him from that. He can’t be in some limbo of maybe he has a contract, maybe he doesn’t.

Second, the same principle applies to Millsap and the qualifying offer (QO). The QO only ensures that if another team offers him a contract, the Jazz have the ability to match that contract and retain Millsap, like they did with CJ over the summer. So Millsap either is a restricted FA with the QO for the free agency period, or he is an unrestricted FA. He can’t be unrestricted then the Jazz suddenly decide he is in fact restricted while he were negotiating with another team.

Finally, the QO will almost certainly be used just to make Millsap a restricted FA, meaning it doesn’t really matter the amount of the QO, only that it’s there. Making Millsap a restricted FA will scare off many teams from trying to sign him knowing that the Jazz will almost certainly match the offer, so that should keep his price from spiraling out of control. So, about the only way the QO is taken by Millsap is if he feels the Jazz are low balling him too much and he takes the QO so he can become an unrestricted FA next summer.

by Demosthenes on Dec 22, 2008 1:18 PM MST up reply actions

correct me if i'm wrong

but teams that have cap sapce that make sap their main offseason target wouldn’t lose anything by making him a QO (since if the jazz match, they haven’t lost anything and if the jazz don’t, they get the player they want). even if re-signing sap has no luxury tax implications (since the jazz can apparently go over the cap to re-sign him), the issue now becomes, imo, how much is too much to pay sap if he is relegated to a bench role because boozer is still around. don’t get me wrong—i’m a huge sap fan as i’m sure all of us are, but if the market decides his price is, say, 8 or 10 mill/yr, is that too much to pay for a backup (again, assuming boozer is still around)?

by moni on Dec 22, 2008 5:04 PM MST up reply actions