The Bulls don't have to worry about striking out in free agency. With Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh off to Miami and LeBron James still up for grabs, Chicago has struck by signing Carlos Boozer to a five-year, $80 million deal according to ESPN's Ric Bucher.
The Bulls can still afford a maximum contract under the salary cap and now have a little bit of added ammunition in their hopes of landing LeBron (or do they?). By adding Boozer, Chicago can have a team of him, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and Luol Deng before adding anything else. They can adde LeBron without getting rid of Deng now and if you ask me, adding LeBron makes them the best team (on paper) in the East.
But I wonder if LeBron (ironically enough) would have any ill-will toward Boozer for bolting from the Cavaliers when the two were teammates during James' rookie year. Boozer promised the Cavs he would re-sign with the team if they granted him unrestricted free agency so that he could get more money from the team, then promptly signed with Utah. One cannot help but wonder if LeBron thinks he already would have a championship or two if Boozer hadn't left him in 2004.
For what it's worth, Boozer apparently is going to reach out to LeBron and try to persuade him to come to Chicago. I think it's worth noting that while Boozer has had some injury issues, there's no denying that he has achieved far more team success than Bosh ever has. I have more confidence in Boozer to deliver in a pressure-packed situation than I do in Bosh at this point.
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