With news, via ESPN's Marc Stein, that he is headed to the Los Angeles Lakers, the franchise that the entire planet most loves to loathe, there is little chance those jokes will subside:
Yes, Boozer was terrible last season. So were the Lakers. This is just another comical train wreck that the media will lap up like a thirsty camel on a hot day. Hardy-har-har. Go ahead, get it out of your system.
In all reality, though, this move is much more simple than it will be made out to be. The Lakers aren't signing Boozer in hopes that he returns to being a double-double machine and resurrects the franchise.
And according to Stein, they aren't paying him like that, either:
Last year, at his absolute worst, Boozer averaged 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest. He shot 45.6 percent from the field and finished with a career-low player efficiency rating (PER) of 14.4, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
But for a player with a career PER of 19.7, $3.25 million is a very minimal risk to take in order to see if he can play better than last season. Even if he just slightly improves—say, same per-game numbers, just better efficiency—he will represent a discount.
All in all, the Lakers are getting a veteran role player who costs little and will come off the books next summer. The Los Angeles Times' Eric Pincus put it simply:
The one criticism here concerns the potential logjam it creates in the Lakers frontcourt.
Should Mitch Kupchak re-sign Ryan Kelly, L.A. will have six players at the power forward and center positions on the roster: Boozer, Kelly, rookie Julius Randle, newly signed Ed Davis, Jordan Hi...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
