Carlos Boozer Has More Pressure on Him than ever To Produce for Chicago Bulls

There’s no question that when you win 62 games and make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, you’re doing something right. However, the Chicago Bulls don’t care about doing something right, they care about winning a title—multiple titles to be exact. 

That’s why Carlos Boozer will be in the hot seat this year.

He should have the pressure on him. When a team pays you $13.5 million, you’re expected to make a rather large impact while on the court.

Just as the Bulls needed him most during the playoffs, Boozer came up a little short. In the game in which the Bulls were eliminated by the Miami Heat, Boozer had just five points.

That simply won’t cut it.

What many fans don’t realize is just how much pressure will be on Boozer as he heads into this year. Under the new CBA, teams will have to be very smart with their money. That means having to identify which players are being overpaid and subsequently shipping them out.

I’m not ready to say that Boozer wont ever earn his keep, but pretty soon the Bulls are going to be forced to make decisions in the name of the future of the organization.

This is essentially the last season in which the Bulls will be able to build their team with the cap freedom that comes from having your franchise player earn six million dollars a year. After this season, Rose will make max contract dollars, sending the Bulls well over the cap.

Get used to this team Bulls fans, because after this year it will get harder and harder to bring in new talent.

For a guy like Boozer, this is particularly important as he eats up the most cap space on the team. If the Boozer experiment doesn’t begin to pay major dividends, the Bulls wont wait long to pull the trigger on a trade that allows them to get better in the long run.

If Boozer wants to stay in Chicago, he must understand just how much he needs to produce in order to keep his spot. Not only will he have to perform well in the regular season, he must show veteran leadership in the playoffs as they make another run for the title.

The truth is: Anything short of a championship will be considered a failure for the fans in Chicago, and the blame won't be falling on the young core made up of Noah, Rose, Deng and Gibson.

No, the fault will be Boozer’s—whether he likes it or not.

Who knows if he’ll do what it takes to please management and the Chicago faithful. What we do know is that this season might be the most important one of his career.