NBA Trade Speculation: The Chicago Bulls Should Trade Carlos Boozer

The Chicago Bulls need to explore trading Carlos Boozer in an effort to improve the team moving forward.

After signing a behemoth five-year contract that pays the power forward $80 million over its tenure, Boozer averaged 17.5 points and 9.6 rebounds in his first year with his new team.

Despite those numbers looking fairly solid on paper, it's obviously not the type of production that the team was hoping from their free-agent prize signing.

Boozer, who turned 29 during the season, averaged some of the lowest numbers in his career, and saw a drop-off from where he had been just one season prior with Utah. Most noticeably, his failure to average double-digit rebounds marked the first time he didn't hit that mark since the 2005-06 season.

In addition to his work on the glass, Boozer also saw a dip in field goal percentage, a decrease from the foul line and had a perfectly mediocre 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio last season.

Although Boozer's shortcomings have been illustrated, the real problem with Boozer last season was his inability to stay on the court, playing in just 59 regular season games. While he's certainly never been a symbol of good health throughout his career as he's never played in all 82 regular season games, the 59 games in 2010-11 marked the fourth lowest amount in his career.

Boozer's contributions really tailed off as the season wore down, and despite his Bulls team progressing deep into the postseason, it wasn't because of what the Boozer brought to the table.

In 16 games, Boozer averaged a meager 12.6 PPG to go along with 9.7 rebounds on 43.3 percent shooting from the field.

Boozer's game relies heavily on his offensive prowess, as he really provides nothing in terms of defensive prowess at the opposite end of the court. Therefore, his value to the team is really diminished when he's not firing on all cylinders as he often showed last season.

With Derrick Rose and Luol Deng clearly leading the charge for the club on the offensive side, Boozer's role is often undefined and he struggled mightily at times without the ball in his hands to remain productive.

However, the team has a very capable player in Taj Gibson sitting on the bench behind Boozer who is a much cheaper alternative, and he could very well be a better complement to how Chicago's team is currently structured.

In 19 games as a starter last season, Gibson flashed incredibly promising potential with 10.2 PPG, 7.0 rebounds and a very solid 1.7 blocks per contest. Unlike Boozer, Gibson makes his living beneath the rim and isn't afraid to do some dirty work in an effort to get the job done.

Rose and Deng combined to average approximately 34 shots per game last season, and with the Bulls rumored to be in the hunt for shooting guard help after perimeter play burned them in the playoffs, Boozer will likely continue to struggle to get into the flow of the offense in an effort to find his shot.

Because of that, the Bulls would be wise to investigate a potential deal to ship Boozer out of town before they are left with a massive contract that no opposing club is willing to entertain undertaking.

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will certainly impose a more strict set of financial limitations for NBA teams, and enormous deals like the one Boozer signed are going to be greatly hamper any conceivable value that he would otherwise have on the market.

Addition by subtraction doesn't often pan out without a suitable backup plan, but Gibson is ready to start along Chicago's front line and Boozer is at an age where players typically tend to decline.

It's time to strike while the iron is hot and deal Boozer to a club with cap space that needs an offensively-oriented big man.

Here is an example of a potential trade:

Carlos Boozer to Detroit for Richard Hamilton, Austin Daye and a lottery-protected first-round pick.

There's certain to be plenty of interest in the talented power forward.