Carlos Boozer and NBA Amnesty Candidates Who Must Go
Elton Brand is headed for the waiver wire. So, too, is Brendan Haywood. And now, Darko Milcic and Luis Scola are set to join them.
Yes, the amnesty portion of the NBA offseason is in full swing, with plenty of time left for teams around the league to purge their respective payrolls of one onerous contract.
Well, not all around the league. This week's moves by the Philadelphia 76ers, the Dallas Mavericks, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Houston Rockets leave but 19 of the NBA's 30 franchises with the right to drop the guillotine from here on out.
And no shortage of players worth putting out to pasture.
Carlos Boozer
1 of 7Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf is loath to dig into the luxury tax for the first time in franchise history, but he'll likely have to if he's to retain Omer Asik this summer and Taj Gibson in 2013.
That is, unless he gives GM Gar Forman the go-ahead to cut Carlos Boozer's calamitous contract off the cap. The 30-year-old two-time All-Star is due $47.1 million over the final three years of his contract and, though still pleasantly productive, hasn't exactly been worth his weight in the gold with which the Bulls have paid him since he first arrived in the Windy City in 2010.
If money truly is such an object for Reinsdorf, he'd be wise to have his underlings sever ties with Boozer and move Gibson into a starting role.
Trouble is, the Bulls will need all the help they can get until Derrick Rose has recovered from his knee injury. That likely means keeping Boozer on board in Chicago for the time being, terrible "hair" or no.
Andray Blatche
2 of 7GM Ernie Grunfeld has done a splendid job of retooling the Washington Wizards roster after a disastrous start to the 2011-12 season. He swapped out a pair of knuckleheads (Nick Young and JaVale McGee) for a veteran big man (Nene) at the trade deadline in March and turned Rashard Lewis' "untradeable" contract into Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza prior to the 2012 NBA Draft.
All of which leaves Grunfeld with one last move to make before John Wall can be declared safe from all harm.
That is, amnesty Andray Blatche. The same Andray Blatche who was benched by the Wizards in March on account of poor conditioning. The same guy who's been a nuisance off the court and a disappointing dolt on it.
The Wizards can dwell all they want on his combination of size (6'11", 235 pounds) and supposed skill, but that doesn't change the fact that Blatche's mere presence is poisonous to the new, more professional atmosphere in which Washington is attempting to rebuild. They'd do well to move forward without Blatche (and his $23.3 million contract), inhibiting the whole process like an annoying turtleneck sweater.
Mike Miller
3 of 7The Miami Heat salute you, Mike Miller. You fought your way through crippling back issues to provide the Heat with some clutch three-point baskets off the bench during their run to the title, including a whopping seven treys in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
And now that Ray Allen is in town to essentially take your job, it's time for you to go. That's right, Mike. Take your ring, your ESPY and the $18.6 million and go get yourself a back massage. Your work on South Beach is done, my friend.
Whether you retire or not is up to you, though I'm sure you and Juwan Howard would have a blast. Just understand that the Heat don't mean anything personal by it. All they want is to scrub your salary off the books in anticipation of a huge luxury-tax hit.
Charlie Villanueva
4 of 7Detroit Pistons GM Joe Dumars was smart to swap two terrible years of Ben Gordon for one digestible year of Corey Maggette, albeit at the expense of a future first-round pick.
As a result, Dumars is now free to purge the remaining two years and $16.6 million of Charlie Villanueva's contract from his payroll. With rookie big man Andre Drummond joining Greg Monroe in Detroit's front court, there won't be room or need for Villanueva on the floor anyway.
Heck, the dude couldn't even cut it with the Dominican Republic's national team, reportedly because he was so out of shape.
In any case, Villanueva looks like nothing more than an expensive benchwarmer for the Pistons at this point, and, with the team already over the cap, his removal would free up additional financial flexibility with which Dumars can continue to rebuild the roster.
Josh Childress
5 of 7Remember when Josh Childress used to pour in points off the bench for the Atlanta Hawks?
Yeah, me neither. "Sources" say, though, that those days of his in the ATL were right before the Hawks began their current run of five straight postseason appearances. Interestingly enough, the Phoenix Suns haven't seen the light of the playoffs since they brought Childress back from Greece in 2010.
Coincidence? Probably, though it's clear that the former Stanford star has fallen off the wagon in his last two seasons. Granted, his recent dip in productivity can be attributed (at least in part) to his prodigious drop in playing time in Phoenix.
Nonetheless, Childress is too old (29) and too expensive ($21 million over the next three seasons) to be a part of the Suns' "Extreme Makeover: Post-Steve Nash Edition." His 'fro is formidable, but even that can't and shouldn't keep him on Phoenix's fickle payroll past next week.
Al Harrington
6 of 7Everybody loves wings, including the Denver Nuggets, who currently employ Arron Afflalo, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Jordan Hamilton, rookie Evan Fournier and, of course, Al Harrington.
As beloved a bench scorer as Harrington may be, he's been rendered more or less expendable by Chandler's return from China and Fournier's arrival from France. Frankly, Harrington's 14 points per game would look much better on paper if they didn't cost the nuggets upwards of $21 million over the next three seasons.
The Nuggets will need that money, too, if they're going to lock up restricted free agent JaVale McGee to a long-term deal and sign up-and-coming point guard Ty Lawson to a sizable extension next season.
Drew Gooden
7 of 7Like Al Harrington in Denver, Drew Gooden currently finds himself all but crowded out of a jampacked front court with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Gooden is still a double-double waiting to happen given the right opportunity, though at the age of 30, he will likely have to battle 31-year-old Samuel Dalembert for a spot as the token elder statesman behind young guns like Ersan Ilyasova (25), Luc Mbah a Moute (25), Ekpe Udoh (25), Larry Sanders (23) and John Henson (21).
Surely, the Bucks could do without Gooden's three years and $20 million on their books, even (and especially) if it means redirecting the money to other players who might better fill out the rest of the roster.
