Boozer, Jazz face uncertain future together
看板UTAH-JAZZ作者RonnieBrewer (Reverse Layup)時間14年前 (2009/10/04 14:25)推噓5(5推 0噓 3→)留言8則, 6人參與討論串1/6 (看更多)
Boozer, Jazz face uncertain future together
By Marc J. Spears, Yahoo! Sports
Oct 2, 11:32 am EDT
Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer was introduced to cheers during the team's
preseason opener on Thursday – not nearly as many as some of his teammates,
but he wasn't drowning in boos, either. The most prominent display of
displeasure came from two young fans wearing fake Jazz and Chicago Bulls
jerseys with Boozer's and Tyrus Thomas' names.“Trade us,”read the sign they
held.
Such is the awkward relationship between Boozer and the Jazz these days. He's
one of them, for now, at least. But no one's forgotten he spent the summer
saying he'd love to play for the Bulls or Miami Heat. And no one doubts the
Jazz explored trading him and could continue to do so. Here today, gone
tomorrow?
Only less than a week before training camp opened did Boozer become certain
he'd start the preseason in Salt Lake City.
“I wasn't stressed out, man,” Boozer said. “I knew what was going on.
They brought me back, so I'm here and happy to be here.”
Skeptical Jazz fans can be forgiven for questioning Boozer's sincerity.
While he was on the injured list last season, he said he planned to opt out
of his contract and become a free agent this summer.
“No matter what,” Boozer told ESPN.com at the time, “I'm going to get a
raise regardless.”
When the free-agent market didn't appear to be as lucrative as Boozer
envisioned, he decided to play out the final $12.7 million season of his
current contract. Soon after, Boozer announced he and the Jazz had agreed
to work together to find a trade. Jazz officials remained quiet, but Boozer
wasn't a part of the franchise's “Be the X-factor” marketing campaign. His
jerseys also were substantially discounted during the summer.
Now, Boozer finds himself back with the Jazz. He can't be sure of his future
with the team or even his role. The Jazz re-signed 24-year-old Paul Millsap
by matching Portland's four-year, $32.5 million offer, and head coach Jerry
Sloan has said Millsap will compete with Boozer during the preseason for the
starting power-forward job.
“We are starting all over,” Sloan told Yahoo! Sports.”Boozer has one year
on his contract; Millsap is probably going to be here [in the future].
We just have to try to make the best decision to give us a chance to win,
that's all. That's all I'm looking for.”
Boozer, who has started 391 of the 432 regular-season games he has played
in his seven-year career, apparently didn't know of the planned competition
until reporters told him. On Thursday, he started the preseason opener and
played well. Millsap came off the bench and received some minutes alongside
Boozer at small forward.
“I'm just going to go play,” Boozer said. “Do what I do.”
Millsap calls Boozer his “big brother,” and he visited Boozer in Miami in
the offseason. But Millsap also sees an opportunity to increase his minutes.
With Boozer limited to 37 games last season because of a knee injury, Millsap
took advantage of the chance to show his potential.
“I realize that I can really start at this position and make some noise at
my position, at my size,” Millsap said. “…I'm not just saying it. I can
go out there and really do it.”
One reason for the competition: Sloan has prioritized improving the team's
defense after the Jazz allowed more than 100 points a game last season.
Boozer hasn't been a strong defender throughout his career, and his injuries
have made it difficult for the Jazz to depend on him. In three of his five
seasons in Utah, he's missed at least 30 games.
“I've endured a little bit here and there,” Boozer said. “But for the
most part, that's what makes me what I am, makes me stronger. I haven't had
one of those clear paths where everything was given to me.”
Sloan sounds sincere when he says he's glad Boozer remains on the roster.
“I've always liked him,” Sloan said. “I've liked him even though he got
hurt. I've never had a problem with him.
“Everyone, sometime or another, gets hurt. He's always done pretty much
what we've asked him to do, or tried to do it.”
Boozer knows he's lost some supporters in Salt Lake City. To win them back,
he's going to have to prove he's committed to the Jazz as long as he's with
them. After Boozer declared last season that he intended to opt out of his
contract, Larry Miller, the franchise's late owner, ripped him on a local
radio show.
“It's one of the top 10 stupidest things I've heard an NBA player do in 20
years,” Miller said at the time.
When Miller died later in February, team sources say Boozer again raised the
eyebrows of some in the organization by not attending either the funeral or
the wake. Center Mehmet Okur was the only other player absent at the funeral
– he didn't attend because of his Muslim faith, but did go to the wake.
Boozer said he also had a reason.
“Funerals are a tough thing to go through,” Boozer said. “After I saw
[Miller] in the hospital, I wanted to remember him how I just saw him last.
Confident. Happy. Not happy-happy, but happy enough to give us some words of
wisdom for the rest of our season.
“That's how I want to remember him. I didn't want to go to his wake and
see his body lying there. I didn't want to go to his funeral, where it would
be sad. I wanted to remember Larry as Larry, as a fiery competitor – happy,
emotional, a leader.”
Whatever differences the Jazz have with Boozer, league sources say it's
become increasingly clear that team officials don't want to part with him
unless they receive decent value in return – even if Boozer will likely
leave as a free agent next summer. One Jazz source said the Miller family
also is willing to endure a hefty luxury-tax bill for one season if it
improves the team's chances to contend.
Sloan, however, also stopped short of saying he expected Boozer to stay with
the Jazz the whole season. No one knows what the future holds. As for any
lingering bitterness felt by some Jazz fans, Sloan is quick to note that Karl
Malone, too, had his squabbles with the franchise. Nearly everyone forgave
him as long as the Jazz were winning.
“The business of basketball is tricky,” Boozer said. “I’m going to go out
there and bust my tail for my fans, bust my tail for my teammates. … If I
have to win over some fans, I will win them over.”
Unlike last season, Boozer also plans to have his family with him in Salt
Lake City. Since filing for divorce in March, he and his wife have reconciled.
“My wife and I got remarried and we are the happiest we've ever been,”
Boozer said. “The kids are here and doing good, too.
“That means I'm here and I've planted a seed. I'm planted here, so I'm
happy to be here. It means that I'm committed and they are committed also.”
Planting a seed and letting it grow are two different things. For now,
though, Boozer has vowed to play hard and help the Jazz return to the ranks
of the Western Conference's elite. For one night, at least, he heard more
cheers than boos. That's a start.
http://tinyurl.com/ybrvsl9
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