Carlos Boozer
|
|
Carlos Austin Boozer, Jr. (born November 20, 1981 in Juneau, Alaska) currently plays professional basketball for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association. He played collegiately for Duke University, helping the team win the 2001 NCAA basketball tournament. He declared for the 2002 NBA Draft, relinquishing his final year of NCAA eligibility. Boozer was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the NBA draft. He signed with the Utah Jazz in 2004 as a restricted free agent for roughly 6 years and a total of $70 million. Boozer's signing with the Jazz was highly controversial because he was allowed to become a restricted free agent by the Cavaliers, who could have kept him under contract for only $695,000. The Cavaliers took a gamble by not re-signing Boozer in order to negotiate a longer contract; the Cavs and Boozer had already come to a "verbal agreement". Had the Cavaliers kept him for the said amount, Boozer would have become an unrestricted free agent after the 2004-2005 season. When the Jazz offered him a contract, which the Cavaliers could have matched, the Cavaliers decided not to offer the same contract to Boozer, and Boozer signed with the Jazz.
Boozer was selected as a member of the 2004 USA Olympics basketball team.