Boozer Creating Off-Season Drama in Utah

The Utah Jazz get a bad rap. This team is a blast to watch, in large part due to the emergence of Deron Williams. And now, like any red-blooded, headline-grabbing NBA franchise, there’s some drama brewing just beneath the surface. It happens to concern Carlos Boozer, who can opt out next summer and only happens to be the Jazz’s second-best player -- one who, about sixty-percent of the time, is something like unstoppable.↵
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↵From the Deseret News:↵↵⇥Much of the opting-out talk has revolved around Boozer. He’s been rumored to be headed to Miami, where he resides in the offseason. He is also good friends with Heat owner Micky Arison. Boozer even fueled some talk about leaving the NBA for Europe with a comment he made while in China. Williams tried his darnedest to convince Boozer to stay in Utah while they were teammates in Beijing this summer, but it’s widely speculated that the power forward will test the free-agent waters next summer. The Jazz could still re-sign him, but he would be an unrestricted free agent, and the price tag would probably be higher than his current $11.6 million salary.↵↵

On a purely symbolic level, that Williams is pleading with Boozer both strengthens and tears at their “Stockton and Malone 2.0” status. It shows that this unit is real, and personal, and wants to stay together. But seriously, would John and Karl have ever even had this discussion? Changes in contracts notwithstanding, all it would’ve taken was one meaningful glance, or those internal radio-wave vibrations of competitive greatness, to know their bond was eternal. Also, it should be said, there are some who consider Boozer a snake for reneging on a verbal agreement with that blind Cavs owner and then suing Prince.↵
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↵The real question, though, is the domino effect this could set off for the Heat. Seems like it doesn’t bode well for Shawn Marion’s long-term future there, or anything resembling the fast-break mayhem that Wade/Beasley/Matrix suggests, or Beasley being anything but a three. Unless it’s on a one-year trial basis; otherwise, Miami might be looking to go ahead and get Marion out of their hair this season. My, how the strong and silent have gotten loud and inconvenient.↵