Before the Washington Wizards eliminated the Chicago Bulls from the playoffs in five games on Tuesday night, an injury to Bulls forward Taj Gibson forced Carlos Boozer into action. TNT play-by-play announcer Marv Albert made it clear, multiple times, that fourth-quarter minutes for Boozer was a rare sight for obvious reasons.
Bulls hope to trade Carlos Boozer before looking at amnesty option, according to report
Can the Chicago Bulls swing a trade for Carlos Boozer, or will they have to consider using the amnesty provision on the forward?
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The Bulls aren’t as good when he plays.
That's the stigma hanging over Boozer, and ESPN's Marc Stein reports the 32-year-old is on the trading block. Stein's sources believe Chicago will do whatever it can this summer to trade the veteran forward and his $16.8 million remaining on his contract, which ends after the 2014-15 season. If nothing comes of the trade talks, the Bulls will then consider using the amnesty provision to rid themselves of Boozer's hefty contract.
Boozer is one of few candidates who can be amnestied under the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement. Each NBA team was given the opportunity to cut a player from the salary cap under the normal waiver process, so long as that player was on a contract that began before the new CBA came into effect. The Bulls have yet to use their pass that could unload a bad contract.
Amnestying Boozer would open up the cap space for Chicago to perhaps make a run at New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony.
Trading Boozer anywhere might be difficult, but Stein reports the Bulls will hope to craft a deal before July 15, fitting it within the amnesty window that stretches from July 10-16. And he wonders if the Knicks would be willing to acquire Boozer's contract in a sign-and-trade deal involving Anthony -- the Bulls taking back J.R. Smith might be required, but it would allow Chicago to keep most of its core together while still making the financial figures work out.
The rise of Gibson also has a lot to do with the Bulls’ push to move Boozer.
Though he averaged 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and started all 76 of his games played, Boozer was one of the Bulls’ worst regular rotation players with a minus-0.7 plus-minus score when he was on the court. Off the court, Boozer had a plus-4.8 plus-minus, according to 82games.com. Meanwhile, Gibson’s on-off statistics were impressive. He was in the running for the Sixth Man of the Year award with similar numbers to Boozer’s.
Now it’ll be up to the Bulls to get creative if they want to avoid cutting Boozer’s contract and getting nothing in return.
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