Five reasons why the Pistons should not go after free agent Carlos Boozer

Boozer likes to yell, but he's completely wrong for Detroit

Let me first start things off with an introduction of sorts as your new Detroit Pistons Examiner. Some of you may have noticed my work previously on Examiner.com as our National College Basketball Examiner, a job which I will continue to hold alongside this one.

I've been a Metro-Detroiter my entire life, and nothing gets in the way of rooting endlessly for my Detroit sports teams. I have extensive amounts of experience covering basketball at all levels, and hopefully I can share as much of my knowledge with all of you as possible. If you have any questions for me feel free to send me an e-mail or leave your comments.

Now onto five reasons why Boozer isn't such a great idea for the Pistons...

1. Are we really getting the player that we think?

Do you remember those Nike (I think) commercials back in the day that featured Boozer and a host of other players being transitioned to ferocious animals during on court action shots? Boozer himself was morphed into a lion after one of his patented on-court yells (see picture), and that image has stood out firmly in my mind even until this day. You see, I have more or less conditioned myself to think of Boozer as being a tough, physical and ferocious player, basically like a lion on a basketball court. I bet you aren't any different if you happened to catch that commercial.

But as I've been watching him more closely knowing that Detroit might make a run at him this summer, I'm predictably not blown away by what I've seen. On the surface everything looks fine, a 20-10 guy who is in good shape and has plenty of experience. But instead, the tough guy image that Boozer gives off is nothing but a front. His yelling and screaming are usually still what ends up making the highlight reels, not his blown assignments on defense or his mindless fouls and turnovers. For an inside presence who doesn't have a reliable jumper outside 18 feet you'd expect Boozer to get to the foul line often for all the banging around in the post he supposedly does. And yet Boozer, despite being 6' 9" and 260 lbs. and a 70% foul shooter, went to the charity stripe less per game than New York's 5' 9" Nate Robinson did this past season. Strike one.

2. Injuries

Injury histories are always going to be brought up when it comes to throwing tens of millions of dollars at a prospective free agent, and Boozer's case is no different. So then why is everyone talking about this guy like he's some sort of prized signing who can turn a franchise around? Boozer has never even played 82 games in his entire career. Heck, since screwing over Cleveland for Utah's big contract back in 2004, Boozer only suited up 67% of the time for the Jazz. That's like 55 games per season.

Knowing that he turns 28 years old this November, is there really anyone confident that Boozer can be a 20-10 guy for five more seasons? Don't forget, bringing Boozer to Detroit means that we've got at least five years of him under contract, so we need to look at things over that large of a span. I see maybe two such years of solid numbers myself, with declining stats across the board starting around year three. I'm not even confident that Boozer can come to Detroit and be a 20-10 guy in the first place, but let's just assume that he's capable of such just for the hell of it. And still, how logical is it for an NBA team to pay a guy $12-15 million just to play 50 games or so each and every season, even if he's a 20-10 guy? Here's the answer: it isn't. Common sense points towards Boozer's body breaking down more and more, and there's no guarantee that he'd even be remotely healthy enough to even have a chance to earn his contract. Strike two.

3. Why settle when the real treasure is so close?

Whatever the ulterior motive truly was for the Billups to Denver trade last year, it's impossible to argue with Detroit's logic when it comes to opening up cap space for 2010. After all, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh among others all come off the books next summer, making 2010 look more like the proper year to spend ridiculous money in free agency. If the Pistons want a cornerstone player at power forward, then Bosh needs to be who they focus on. After all, he's three years younger, more athletic, more versatile, and also has a much more complete offensive arsenal than Boozer does. Wade and King James still seem like long shots, but Bosh really doesn't. He wants out of Toronto immediately, and Raptors GM Brian Colangelo is going to be actively shopping him from now until the 2010 trade deadline. If the Pistons were smart they would be putting a package together on a weekly basis until Bosh is off the market.

For all the Pistons fans who applauded the Iverson/Billups deal in hopes that James, Wade or Bosh could be in the works down the line, Carlos Boozer represents the worst-case scenario. This is like a 10-year-old boy saving his allowance for weeks to eventually buy an expensive video game, only to blow his entire savings on a bunch of candy a week before he presumably would've had enough to get what he originally wanted. It's a strange analogy without a doubt, but it's accurate. By signing Boozer, we will have effectively taken away one of our most promising assets heading into the summer of 2010, our money. I know I'd be willing to sit through another .500 regular season in order to ensure a guy like Chris Bosh later that year, wouldn't you? Strike three.

4. Paul Millsap anyone?

When you combine expected salary, age and overall potential, Boozer might not even be the most attractive free agent on his own team. In my opinion that distinction goes to Paul Millsap, Utah's third-year forward who stepped in while Boozer was injured this past year and made a name for himself. Much like his teammate, Millsap is also a free agent this summer. Despite threats that the Jazz will match any and all offers to keep him around, it seems that everybody always has a price (Boozer obviously does). So if the Pistons really want Millsap and think he's their guy, then they certainly have the money to make a move.

Even at the age of 24, Millsap is a better rebounder than Boozer is. So then why is Boozer prepared to see a monster contract, while Millsap is looking at a lesser, but still fairly respectable deal instead? If I had five years and $50-$60 million to dole out, I'd give it to Millsap every single time. I don't care if some people don't think he's worth it. That's the whole point I'm making here. If we are somehow fooling ourselves into thinking Boozer is the right guy to target, then we're completely ignoring the cheaper, younger, more athletic alternative that's sitting right next to him. Strike four.

5. Blocked shots

If I had to pick out one somewhat minor, yet still important, gripe that I have against Boozer as a player, it's his inability to block shots. It seems odd to have a knock like this against a legit NBA power forward, but I consider this to be a serious red flag that everybody needs to take note of. How can we legitimately take the next step as a defensive-minded basketball team with a big man who can't even block anywhere close to a shot per game? Over the 37 games Boozer actually played in 08-09, he blocked a mere seven shots. That's utterly pathetic. To have Boozer in our starting lineup to open the '09 season would be laughable compared the shot-blocking frontline that we won a title with in 2004 (Ben Wallace/Rasheed Wallace). Talk about coming full-circle in such a short amount of time.

With Boozer's athleticism clearly on the decline due to injuries and age, it's almost impossible to fathom him improving his already poor shot-blocking numbers over the rest of his career. Dwight Howard and LeBron James would be salivating at the thought of Boozer trying to stop them from scoring 40+ points on the inside. In this current NBA if you don't have a power forward who can jump out of the gym then you're already at a slight disadvantage. Boozer fits under this category, and his declining block totals only help to reinforce my thought that he's never, ever going to be the type of big man you can win a title with. Strike five.

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