CHANGE OF HEART? CARLOS BOOZER MAY STAY IN UTAH

There has never been any question about Carlos Boozer’s talent, but his tenure with the Utah Jazz has been a stormy one.  Acquired as a free agent in 2005, Boozer has suffered through a variety of injuries that many Utah fans felt weren’t serious enough to keep him out of the lineup for as long as they did.  Along the way there have been spats with Jazz management that included trade demands and insistences that he’d be leaving Salt Lake City for a more ‘cosmopolitan’ environment as soon as the opportunity presented itself.  He considered opting out of the final year of his deal with Utah this past summer, but finding a chilly reception in the free agent market place eventually signed to return to the Jazz.  Now, after one of his most productive seasons as a professional, he’s changed his tune considerably and given indication that he’d be interested in staying in Utah.

Although the Jazz entertained some preliminary trade discussions involving Boozer from the Miami Heat as the NBA deadline approached, there was never any serious consideration of moving him.  Much of Utah’s lack of interest in dealing Boozer was due not only to his personal productivity this season but the team’s success—Boozer is averaging 19 points and 11 rebounds a game and the Jazz have the third best record in the Western Conference having won 18 of their last 21 games.
 
So often in sports the best cure for an acrimonious relationship between a player and his team is winning, and with Utah playing exceptional basketball both Boozer and the Jazz appear to have made amends.  For the first time in memory, Boozer has publically indicated that he’d consider extending his stay in Salt Lake City:

"I think it's a great possibility. We'll find out in July. I'm not going to think about that, worry about that. We've still got 20-something games, playoffs and a whole lot of basketball left. I'll worry about that when the time is right. This is my eighth year in the league, man. It's not the first time I've been talked about with trades."

Even Utah’s notoriously gruff head coach Jerry Sloan has softened his stance on Boozer.  In the past, Sloan has always issued a curt ‘no comment’ when asked about potential personnel moves and suggested that his job is to win games with the roster management gives him.  Following the NBA trade deadline, he gave Boozer a rare vote of confidence:

"A lot of people tried to make a big deal out of the fact that he got hurt a couple of times but injuries are something none of us have any control over. He's played extremely well, and I'm proud of him and the way that he's handled the situation he's been in."

Boozer’s solid performance this season has caused a split in opinion among the Jazz’s fanbase.  Some are sold on Boozer for the longterm, to the point that they’d like to see the team move talented young power forward Paul Milsap to free up the money to resign him.  Others are still leery of Boozer’s erratic track record in Utah and consider his current play typical of a money hungry free agent in the final year of his contract.  It’ll be up to Utah’s management to decide which side is right, with the short term fate of the franchise hanging in the balance.