Do the Jazz keep Boozer or Millsap?
The Jazz seem to be in a bit of a quandry and have limited time to fix the situation. When the Blazers signed Paul Millsap to a 4 year 32 million dollar offer sheet last week it escalated the Jazz need to trade Carlos Boozer or if they can’t do that, let Paul Millsap walk to a division rival.
Millsap proved to be a valuable player last season when he averaged a double double while Boozer was out with his yearly injury. Boozer is a proven NBA player who averages a double double when healthy and is great at finishing around the hoop with either hand. Boozer and Deron Wiliams form a great tandem in Utah but is there time together done?
What do you do if you are the Jazz? Clearly they don’t want to go any more over the luxury tax than they already are. If they resign Millsap but don’t trade Boozer then the team goes 14 million dollars over the luxury cap and no team wants to be in that area in this economy. If they trade Boozer they can match the contract to Millsap. They will still be over the cap because of the players they will take on but Millsap has shown that he can play in this league. But then the question becomes…who will take on Boozer?
Boozer is a very good NBA player who produces. Last week we saw several trade rumors involving the Bulls, Blazers and Jazz. With the Blazers aggressively going after Millsap it forced the Jazz hand and was a great move by the Blazers gm. He knows the Jazz want Millsap but can’t afford to keep both. He knows that by signing Millsap he takes away some of the Jazz gm’s leverage in the deal by forcing action possibly quicker than anticipated. Several teams would love Boozer, including the Bulls who were set to get him last week before the talks reportedly broke down.
I expect Boozer to be dealt this week and his time in Utah will be over. When and if he’s healthy he’ll be a welcome addition to any team in the league.
