I don't mind giving Boozer what he needs at PF right now honestly. Who cares? We're going to lose anyway and Kelly is under contract for next season already. He's been terrible lately, but we know he's got some talent. Letting a veteran do what he needs to do will help our position as a "player's destination" team.
I think it is asinine and short sighted for people to say let's not play Boozer and sit him completely on the bench. That is not man management. If we sign a veteran with certain expectations of playing time, then we are obligated to honor them. We have bumped him from being a starter already and when he realized he could still showcase himself he was ok with that. Boozer has done all that could be expected of him on this team and at times has looked pretty good (thus the Lee-Boozer comparisons being considered if not agreed upon). MDA totally did the dirty on Kaman. We need to use Boozer as a model of what the Lakers can still do for a player. Come to L.A even if you play on the bench you can get noticed and possibly get a fat contract with a contender if you do well on this rebuilding team. These are the actions of a healthy franchise, which is why though I am tired of LIn I thought benching him for a whole game was ill-advised. Boozer deserves reasonable playing time, and I understand the need to develop exciting youth like Black and Kelly. Convincing vets to come to us is valuable and at the moment playing time and exposure is our only asset in doing so. Vets complain, that is what they do. If Boozer starts to be a consistent 5-10 minute player then I completely understand him complaining. Self promoting for a new contract is part of what every one year player wants on a team.
My thoughts aren't asinine or short sighted. Sitting Boozer does nothing to help/hinder the organization. We will have no problem getting veterans to come here with a contending team, rings chasers go to crappy organizations if they are contending. Hello Cleveland. And if we lose out on veterans when we are rebuilding, who really cares? We are rebuilding, not a 1 year spring board for them to leave when they get enough publicity. This era of basketball isn't about loyalty and doing what you are supposed to do. No one cares about what you did in the past, as long as you are contending.
Boozer might come back cheap. He might not. Losing out on him for no reason isn't a good idea. Pissing him off isn't a good idea for future FAs.
Kelly posted the kind of line we'd all expect: 8-18 on FGs 3-9 3PT 11-12 FT +13 (game high) 4 reb 2 ast 5 PF 3 TO 1 Block 30 Pts (game high) Maybe that will get him feeling confident, trusting his shot. BTW, this is why when a player scores 20 ppg in the D-League it has to be understood that even mere rotation players can often show up and immediately be the best player on the team.
^ Nah he said he wants to play them together. Kelly/Black at the 4/5 is my plan for the bench next season. Hopefully it looks alright on the court for 5-10 games.
Hit a wet spot. That said, even though his hammys have been healthy for awhile now hasn't seemed to play at the level he did last year after the all star break. Maybe it's the system, hopefully he's going to get better.
