Carlos Boozer has become somewhat of a joke among NBA fans recently, but that has more to do with things like spray-painting his head, yelling “and-1" after seemingly every touch, and the huge contract he had that overpaid him for his level of production.
But Boozer is a serviceable big man who can still produce. Despite the flaws in his game (like being an inefficient shooter and a below-average defender), he still managed to average 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game for the Bulls last season, while starting in all 76 of his regular season appearances. That ability can be of value to plenty of teams who need reliable production off the bench, especially at a relatively low price.
The Lakers decided Boozer was worth $3.25 million for next season, and they weren’t the only team ready to pay him in the event that he ended up clearing amnesty waivers.
From Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:Had Boozer, who was made an amnesty waiver by Chicago this week, not been claimed, the Rockets would have moved in to land him as a free agent.
The Rockets had reason to be confident they would have been his choice, a person with knowledge of their planning said, though they considered it unlikely he would clear the bid process.
The Rockets did not put in a bid for Boozer because to bid, they would have to have cap room.
Houston has had a rough offseason any way you look at it, after swinging for the fences and missing on big name free agents like Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh, only to end up losing players of value like Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik while getting little to no return on those outgoing assets.
Boozer would have been a nice piece to add under the circumstances, but like everything else this summer for the Rockets, things just didn’t end up working out as planned.