A New Brand of Booze?

Posted by J R Stewart on December 14, 2008

There has been a lot of talk about Boozer opting out of his contract for his Miami home or some other team. Much discussion has been made about the Jazz having to let Carlos go, because his new, higher salary would put the Jazz in the luxury tax bracket, where they have vowed not to go.

The 76ers season has not gone as expected. There are rumblings of trades and they just fired their coach (that’s what happens when you overachieve in the prior year).

The 76ers have been a favorite trade partner with the Jazz and their former employee, Kevin O’Connor.

December 15th is the day when recently signed players can be traded.

It’s kind of like re-gifting that bright shiny toy you overpaid for just before Christmas, because it isn’t as wonderful as you expected.

The Jazz could use an inside presence on defense and a low post scorer.

Carlos Boozer for Elton Brand?

Comparison        Boozer        Brand
Age                        27             28
Height                  6-9            6-9
Weight                  266            254
Years Pro                6               9
School                 Duke          Duke
Points per Game   20.5           15.9
Rebounds             11.7           10.0
Assists                  2.7             1.5
Efficiency           +26.0         +17.9
Blocks                   .5                1.4
Salary              11.3 million    13.8 million

Why would the Jazz consider the trade? Returning after a year off for surgery, on a new team/system, Brand is below his higher career numbers. Brand brings a much greater defensive presence. Both players have had injuries and Brand is a year older. Deron and the Jazz system, should be a nice fit for Brand. He runs the floor better than Boozer. He has a 5 year contract while Boozer will almost certainly opt out. Philly has an extra roster spot, and might accept Collins’ and Almond’s expiring contracts too. The numbers work, even with a 3 for 1 trade. The Jazz only get a roster spot and salary space, if Boozer walks. If they trade they get a player who is almost as good offensively and MUCH better defensively. They get stable salary numbers to work from with Millsap, Memo and Korver.

Why would the 76ers consider the trade? They just fired their coach and haven’t been overly impressed with Brands numbers, so far. Would they make another major change, after firing their coach? It could be a time for one more change. They would get an expiring contract, or two. They could get into the King James Derby in 2010, if they want. Boozer’s offense looks better and he fits their system. They have worked with the Jazz in the past.

I have always liked Brand, when he played for the Clippers, in the past. I have not seen him play this year. Has he lost a step or is he just trying to adapt with a new team/system and not totally back from his surgery/year off yet?

Not looking at career numbers or defense, the 76ers gain 4.6 ppg, 1.5 ppg and 1.2apg, plus they gain $2.5 million and 3-4 years of salary cap flexibility. Looks like a no brainer for a struggling team.

So, why might the Jazz even look at this? Defense! The Jazz have good offensive players, but they need some defense.

Why it will never fly:

This is too big a trade for the Jazz, who usually do smaller trades, to tweak the roster, rather than remake the team. Unless they can slip in another salary or two into the trade, they will still have problems staying under the luxury tax.

It’s probably too soon after the 76ers fired their coach. They probably won’t want to do anything else, until they see how the team responds to a new coach.

Jazzaholic

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2 Comments

justalars on December 15, 2008 said:

They need to trade Boozer to the clippers for Kaman and swap first round draft picks next year. It would make our team much tougher I think and we would get an awesome draft pick. The problem is they just got Randolph.

Larry on December 21, 2008 said:

FTI………Brand is not only under performing, He just went down to a shouler injury and is scheduled to be out longer than Boozer!……Still wanna do the deal?

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