The general opinion around the league has been that the Bulls will use the Amnesty Provision on Carlos Boozer after the season. But during last nights broadcast of the Bulls/Nets game, TNT’s Craig Sager had a different opinion, writes Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders.com. Sager has heard that the team might not Amnesty Boozer after all. Sager stated, “He (Boozer) told me tonight that he has been assured that he will not be traded by next week’s deadline, nor will the team buy out the final year of his contract this summer unless they can land a superstar who is too good to pass up.” If superstar was the word used, writes Brigham, then that could be referring to if the team could somehow lure either LeBron James, or Carmelo Anthony to sign with the Bulls this summer.
More from around the East:
- Several teams have called the Bucks about Luke Ridnour, including Washington and Sacramento, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The Bucks are also fielding calls about their young players, as teams aren’t sold that owner Herb Kohl is serious about going through the pain of a youth movement. But the message from the Bucks has been consistent. They have taken the stance that barring a significant offer, their young assets are staying put, writes Berger.
- Also from the Berger article, he writes that the trade dynamics are much more fluid than at recent deadlines, especially in the East. Several teams are on the borderline between pulling back and positioning for a better draft pick or making a move to push for a playoff spot. For example, with 30 losses each, the Bobcats and Pistons are on the cusp of an almost hopeless postseason venture as the seventh or eighth seed, which would almost certainly mean a first-round sweep at the hands of Indiana or Miami. According to Berger, the quandary is that they’re also only five games out of the fourth spot, which could deliver home-court advantage in a winnable first-round series.
- Lucas Nogueira‘s decision to leave the care of Hawks doctors and rejoin his team in Spain was his and not the Hawks’, notes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription only). Still, there’s no indication that the team is upset with his choice.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.