Memo To Carlos Boozer: Don't Tease, Please

Carlos Boozer's teases aren't pleasing this Bulls fan.

It was just last week when disgruntled Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer charmed Bulls fans on the Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN Radio 1000. He loved the idea of playing in a big market, with a budding superstar and a franchise regaining the buzz it lost when Michael Jordan retired the second time.

The truth is Boozer just wants to get out of Utah, as his latest interview, a piece in the Miami Herald, which confirmed something I didn't need Sherlock Holmes to tell me to validate its truth.

"We first came here for tax reasons and fell in love with it,'' Boozer said, taking a break from his campers. ``We love the palm trees, the laid-back attitude, the sun, quality of life. It's like paradise here, and I would love to be part of the Heat. They're a very good team, and I'm real close to some of the guys. Dwyane and I started to get close at the Athens Olympics in 2004, and I'd love to play on his team. Plus, I already live here. I'm just waiting to see what happens.''

The 6-foot-9-inch forward is exactly what the Bulls need in a sidekick for defending NBA Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose. Not only would Boozer be an inside presence to balance the Bulls' outside marksmanship, he would be the the sign from Chicago management signifying The House That Jordan Built is open for serious business.

But when it comes to Boozer, it seems to be a classic case of buyer beware. Part of it is because of his injury-riddled past that caused him to play in only 37 regular season games last season. Or his bait-and-switch tactics that were the reason he ended up with the Jazz in the first place.

Boozer's desperate pleas for a team to save him from Utah are eerily similar to nearly every Disney movie damsel in distress who is searching for her Prince Charming and her happily ever after storybook ending. But in Boozer's case, "happily ever after" entails an alternate ending in which he holds Utah's management for ransom before parting ways.

He's like the runaway bride on 'roids. He'll tease you with the possibility of a 20-10 low-post presence. He'll please you with such a performance ... if he ever gets on the court. And eventually, he'll bolt at a moments notice if he sees a whiter horse with a shinier chariot.

I'm not saying I don't want Carlos Boozer in Chicago. I just would prefer he not bring his baggage to the Bulls

The Carlos Boozer Rumors: Will The Bulls Bring Booze To The Party?

The Bulls need Booze. And fast.

The Chicago Bulls, Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz have apparently hit several snags in a trade that would send Carlos Boozer to the Bulls, Kirk Hinrich to the Trail Blazers and Tyrus Thomas to the Jazz.

Even though the deal seems to be dead for now, at one point, a deal seemed nearly certain. But in a situation which reeked of June's Amare Stoudemire-to-Golden State deal, it happened to be a lot of smoke without much fire.

There is no dispute that the Bulls need to make something happen, especially after a pair of lackluster draft choices and losing their leading scorer to the Detroit Pistons, their arch division rivals. And that "something" would be acquiring a big man, whether it be Carlos Boozer or Chris Bosh.

In his three years in Utah, Boozer has averaged 19.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game at a position Chicago has been desperately looking to fill since it inexplicably traded the ultimate 20-10 guy (Elton Brand) for an unproven, untested commodity (Tyson Chandler).

Adding a premier post presence such as Boozer or Bosh would be significant on so many levels, beyond being that guy the Bulls have searched high, low, far and wide for. It would ease the pressure on star point guard Derrick Rose, who is coming off a dazzling freshman campaign in which he earned Rookie of the Year honors and an eye-opening seven-game playoff series against the Boston Celtics, in which the Bulls dropped fell short in Game 7 in one of the most well-played playoff series in NBA history.

Rose averaged 19.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists in the series, and the Bulls need to capitalize on that kind of talent by adding building blocks around him. As of now, Chicago is banking on Luol Deng to return to his 2007 form in which he averaged 18.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game while shooting 51.7 percent from the field. John Salmons is in the fold too, and will likely be starting alongside Rose in the backcourt. He averaged 18.3 points per game last season, but is not the explosive scorer Gordon was as a Bull, but he could counter that burden by being a better defensive presence as he stands 6-foot-7.

Personally, I would rather have Chris Bosh don the red, white and black of the Chicago Bulls. The three-time All-Star is younger, taller, less prone to injury and statistically better. But he might be harder to pry away from Toronto now that Hedo Turkoglu is on his way north of the border.

Opening tip is months away, and the summer of 2010 is even more off in the distance. The Bulls need to better themselves quickly, not only to secure better playoff positioning, but to also make itself look like a contender to make themselves look like one of basketball's premier landing spots as a free agent.

If not, the Bulls will be bouncing around mediocrity.

Uh, Houston. We have a problem.

I hate to say it, but 'Sheed could help Houston. For the right price, this should be the Rockets next move.

By now, I am sure every NBA fan has read at least one story about Yao Ming's foot. 

Yes, the sports world recently acquired foot fetish has created quite the buzz (or buzz kill if you are a Rockets fan). Yao Ming will miss all of next season with a broken left foot. But the story doesn't end there, Ming could be done playing basketball entirely. 

Many have claimed the story is being blown out of proportion and this will serve as wake-up call for Yao Ming that his body cant handle the stress of playing in the NBA and for China's national team. I am no doctor, but I am sorry to say this story is not blown out of proportion. Yao Ming could have played his last NBA game. 

Being 7-foot-6 comes with a price, and unfortunately Yao is now paying that price. Having superhuman size is a health concern in itself and normally leads to a much shorter life. But when a man that size has a serious break in his foot, it's like a horse that breaks its leg. There is a good chance there is no coming back from it. 

It would be a huge loss to the NBA to lose the most gifted player over 7-foot-3 in the history of the league. Yao's gargantuan predecessors George Muresan and Manute Bol played like giants. Both were very uncoordinated and slow. But Yao is quick with a soft touch and can run down the floor like a power forward. While once-in-a-lifetime player gets thrown out a lot, Yao really is an oddity. 

My concern for Yao now is that the problems stop at his feet. Gigantism is a pituitary disorder and as stated earlier, can cause not just career-threatening, but life-threatening problems. Former professional wrestlers Andre the Giant and Giant Gonzalez both suffered from gigantism and Andre died in his 50s, while Gonzalez is having serious health issues at 43.

I'm not ready to jump to that severe of a conclusion, but while the selfish part of me wants Yao to get back on the court, I just hope he can get healthy and stay healthy for a long time to come. 

But for now Houston has a problem, and it needs to be addressed. Yao Ming is out and Tracy McGrady is out for most of the season. Ron Artest is a free agent. Houston has done a great job managing their cap the last few years and now is time to be even more careful. 

Yao! That hurts the bank account

Prior to this foot debacle, Yao having a player option at the end of next season was no problem for Houston. They wanted him to pick up that option and probably would have offered an extension. But now he has an option he will definitely pick up, because after a season on the sidelines, that backloaded deal is a lot better than any sort of money he would get from another team. 

So that money is accounted for. Now the Rockets have two realistic options. Artest is a free agent, but with Yao hurt, they should let him walk. Artest is not the cornerstone of a franchise, he is a nice third man. If they signed him, he would be the star and it would never work. 

The Rockets would also like to dump McGrady, but they will have to wait until the end of this season when his contract is up. I doubt any team will want to pick up that contract on a perennial injured player. 

So now the Rockets either have to use the money they save by letting Artest walk to sign a free agent center this season, or they trade some of the top-notch young players on their bench that have made them so good the last two seasons for a quick fix with Chris Bosh or Amar'e Stoudemire. 

It's a tough call. Picking up Bosh or Stoudemire would keep them in contention, but they would lose players that could help them for years to come. The team would struggle to stay in competition by signing one of the free agent centers and it would also tie them up financially more than a quick fix. 

My best advice: Sign Rasheed Wallace. I know, Rasheed Wallace scares me too. He comes overpriced sometimes and you don't know if he will always show up. But when he does, his post defense is still top-notch and his versatility makes him hard to defend. 

The Rockets could make a play for a real pricey big man like Carlos Boozer, but he would be too expensive and is not any sort of answer to replacing a center. Or they could go cheap and sign Marcin Gortat, but Carl Landry would work just as well in that case. 

Wallace would be a good move if they could sign him to a 2-year deal with a club option in the third. It would keep the team afloat without crippling them too much financially since McGrady is sure to be gone by the end of the season. 

The Rockets front office has the toughest job this offseason. Their next move could make or break this franchise for the next three years.