Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 What If’s that could’ve redefined LeBron Jame’s first stint
By Chad Porto
What If? – Carlos Boozer re-signed in 2004
Did we mention Jim Paxson was bad at his job?
Carlos Boozer screwed the Cavaliers. There’s no denying that. After his first two years with the team, Boozer was becoming a dominant force and wanted a big payday. One he and the team both agreed he deserved. The only problem is, the Cavaliers would have to decline his third-year option in order to give him that raise. So they declined it and technically made him a free agent. The Jazz came in with an offer and his agent Rob Pelinka took the deal.
Since the deal was for a restricted free agent, the Cavs had a right to match but couldn’t afford to, as it was well over $20 million more than what the Cavs had agreed to previously with Boozer. You see, Boozer’s option was for another year, meaning the Cavs didn’t have to re-negotiate. They did, and they claimed they had a hand-shake agreement with Boozer and Pelinka. Something Boozer denied ever happening.
Yet, Boozer’s agent, Pelinka, was fired from his firm after the deal was made. Essentially fueling the theory that Pelinka, Boozer and the Cavs had a deal in place allowing Boozer to hit the open market. Pelinka has never really rebounded and is considered one of the more distrustful people in the NBA even to this day and Boozer’s reputation never healed.
The Cavs, for their part, didn’t just lose Boozer but were still dealing with losing Andre Miller and watching as Darius Miles flamed out because he actually had no basketball talent to speak of. The only thing Miles could do was put back shots and fast-break scoring. With his knees now shot before he was even 24, the Miller deal and the Boozer debacle set back a franchise that would’ve been Eastern Conference contenders had things just bounced a different way.
Sure the team acquired Drew Gooden but he was nothing more than a Boozer-light replacement.
Boozer being on the Cavs would’ve hurt James numbers, but those two, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas were all future All-Stars. Had Boozer stayed, the Cavs would’ve been in a great position for years to come to compete. Especially at a time in the NBA when inside scoring was still king.