Were I a Cavs fan, I'd be extremely pissed, too. Heck, I am pretty pissed at Boozer, despite the fact that the Cavs are in my own division. Someone who can do what Carlos allegedly did is just... dispicable. Hey, Carlos... I hope that all the money you got from selling out was worth it. Maybe you can use it to buy a good enough disguise so that you can go into a sports bar in Cleveland. (But I doubt it.)
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Turns out he also stiffed his landlord in Cleveland. After the initial reaction, this may be addition by subtraction.. Bring back World B Free, Nate Thurman, and Luke Witte.
You think the FANS are pissed? Did you see the open letter (nba.com) from Gordon Gund to Cavs fans on it's website? Talk about airing your dirty laundry.
And Bill Simmons made a very good point in a chat last week:
Originally posted by Bill SimmonsWhy isn't anyone mentioning that Boozer didn't just stab the Cavs in the back, he did it to Gordon Gund, one of the nicest owners in any sport. The guy is BLIND for God's sake! He stabbed a blind guy in the back! And yes, it's easy to make the "Well, that's easy for you to say - you're not the one who would have passed up $28 million" argument. I just feel like the Karma Gods catch up with you for decisions like that.
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why isnt anyone mad at the caviliers management? i mean they were the ones who let boozer out of his contract after nearly an all-star season and then wanted to sign him to the mid-level exception... nba is a business, and shit like this happens in the business world every day.
They let Boozer out of his short-term contract so he could resign with them under a new long-term contract, which is not only what he agreed to, it's what him & his wife told the Cavs they were looking for!
Originally posted by avonhunnba is a business, and shit like this happens in the business world every day.
None of that makes it any less despicable when it happens.
Originally posted by avonhunwhy isnt anyone mad at the caviliers management? i mean they were the ones who let boozer out of his contract after nearly an all-star season and then wanted to sign him to the mid-level exception... nba is a business, and shit like this happens in the business world every day.
You're right. How dare they accept a professional athlete's word. How dare they not stick it to him like they could have done. How dare they think they could all act like gentlemen.
When business operates like this, it usually ends up failing. As stated previously, the Karma gods will find him.
Originally posted by avonhunwhy isnt anyone mad at the caviliers management? i mean they were the ones who let boozer out of his contract after nearly an all-star season and then wanted to sign him to the mid-level exception... nba is a business, and shit like this happens in the business world every day.
Funny thing is, Gund truly is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. It is stand-up of him to take the fall for this. Carlos has certainly ruined things for ANY and EVERY player to ever, *ever* be trusted in that fashion again. Sad part is, I thought Carlos had integrity too. Yeah, that's all image 'cause I don't actually know the guy, but here's someone who graduated from Duke, who was a hard worker at his job. At least on the surface he seemed like a decent guy.
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It certainly has me interested as to why they wouldn't just enforce the initial contract and then resign him to a better contract after they had him stitched up. Can you not do that in the NBA?
Originally posted by MercIt certainly has me interested as to why they wouldn't just enforce the initial contract and then resign him to a better contract after they had him stitched up. Can you not do that in the NBA?
The Cavs were trying to two things here. First, they were going to be able to get Boozer at a bargain if had resigned for their offer this year. Boozer said he wanted the security now, and was willing to take a long term financial hit in order to get it. Second, they were apparently also trying to do right by the guy. He's a guy about to play for the US in the Olympics who'd have been earning 700gr for the coming season - or, in other words, far less than he's worth.
What options the Cavs would have had as far as paying him after this coming season I don't know; the NBA salary cap is a tricky thing to follow at times. Perhaps someone a little more familiar with the specific workings of the NBA than I can elaborate on that point.
I believe that Boozer would have been a restricted free agent, meaning the Cavs could have gone over the salary cap to pay him.
The BIG problem for the Cavaliers (and this is kind of ironic, actually) is that since Boozer's draft stock slipped for whatever reason (likely the D-U-K-E on his college jersey) to the SECOND round, he didn't get the guaranteed three-year deal a first-year player would've received. The Cavaliers actually gave him a better-than-average two-year contract for a second-round pick, with the option for year three.
Where the Cavs got burned is that a team doesn't get a player's "Larry Bird" rights (allowing them to go over the salary cap to retain one of its own players) until the END OF YEAR THREE, so the most the Cavaliers could pay Boozer since they were up against the cap was their full mid-level exception, which would've been $41 million/six years.
The second thing that burned the Cavs was the fact that the NBA has that "dead period" from June 30 to July 14. It sounds like if they COULD have signed the contract they would have drawn it up right then and wrapped the whole thing up. Unfortunately for Cleveland, they had to sort of-but not really-agree to it since it would have been a violation of league rules to come to an agreement before July 14, but they had to NOT pick up the option July 1, making Boozer a free agent.
The ONLY thing I fault the Cavs for is not anticipating that some team would go to Boozer and offer him a whopper of a deal that the Cavs wouldn't be able to match. Who wouldn't want a guy who went 18/11 last year and just seems to be improving every year? There were teams with cap space to burn, especially Utah, who has to overpay for free agents anyway, so why didn't the Cavs just tell Boozer they couldn't let him get tempted by another offer and they were going to make him play that third year?
Originally posted by BigVitoMarkWhat options the Cavs would have had as far as paying him after this coming season I don't know; the NBA salary cap is a tricky thing to follow at times. Perhaps someone a little more familiar with the specific workings of the NBA than I can elaborate on that point.
The KEY point is if they would have waited until next year (or if, hypothetically, he was at the end of his third year now instead of his second) Cleveland could have matched Utah's offer, even if it would have taken them over the cap, due to Cleveland owning Boozer's "Bird rights". Because Boozer was a second-year guy, they had to stay under the cap while resigning him if they wanted to pay him more than the mid-level exception, so they would have had to cut some key guys loose to get far enough under the cap to pay Boozer the same contract that Utah offered.
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Well, they just keep trying. The Cavs acquired Drew Gooden today from the Orlando Magic for Tony Battie and two second-round draft picks. Cavs also got Anderson Varejao and Steven Hunter from the Magic.
I don't see what the big deal is. So he left Cleveland to play somewhere else for more money. It happens all the time, even if he did tell them he was going to re-sign, there are plenty of people who seem like they are team players and then leave for more money. THey should've seen it coming.
Acquiring Drew Gooden, I think, was a good move by the Cavs. I actually hope it pays off for them, because I kinda like the Cavs. (As long as it doesn't pay off too well, that is... heh.)
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Originally posted by QuezzyI don't see what the big deal is. So he left Cleveland to play somewhere else for more money. It happens all the time, even if he did tell them he was going to re-sign, there are plenty of people who seem like they are team players and then leave for more money. THey should've seen it coming.
Again, the whole thing is that if he hadn't said anything, the Cavs pick up his option for this year, then next year he is a free-agent and Cavs have matching rights. At that point, whatever happens, happens. But he specifically went to them and requested that they do this favor for him and then he proceeded to screw them over. The Cavs did him a huge favor, and he screwed them hard.
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Originally posted by whateverWell, they just keep trying. The Cavs acquired Drew Gooden today from the Orlando Magic for Tony Battie and two second-round draft picks. Cavs also got Anderson Varejao and Steven Hunter from the Magic.
Originally posted by BOSsportsfan34I think that was a great trade for the Cavs. The only red flag seems to be that Gooden is on his 3rd team in 3 years.
That may be the case, but you have to ask why it is. It doesn't necessarily mean he's a bad guy, it may just mean he's a bad fit. I don't think Orlando did him any favours by going out and signing Howard to take his spot. Between that and playing Swap the Gooden with Memphis, he hasn't had time to get to know his role. Despite all that he's put up decent numbers in average minutes. Give him minutes and his second half this season could be quite good.
Originally posted by BOSsportsfan34I think that was a great trade for the Cavs. The only red flag seems to be that Gooden is on his 3rd team in 3 years.
That may be the case, but you have to ask why it is. It doesn't necessarily mean he's a bad guy, it may just mean he's a bad fit. I don't think Orlando did him any favours by going out and signing Howard to take his spot. Between that and playing Swap the Gooden with Memphis, he hasn't had time to get to know his role. Despite all that he's put up decent numbers in average minutes. Give him minutes and his second half this season could be quite good.
Plus if you look at the optimistic side, maybe he's not on his third team because the two teams that got him didn't want him, maybe he's on his third team because the teams that got him REALLY wanted him.
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From that thread, by BlacknGoldn: "DP needs to sit on the thrown and let some out, he's clearly too full of crap. Maybe taking too many hits from Fudge Packer.:eek Two words: Iowa Hawkeye Pride!" 1. That's three words. As in 3.