Utah PF Boozer Expects To Be Traded

Carlos Boozer told ESPN Chicago in a recent interview that he expects to be traded "relatively soon or in good time." Furthermore, Boozer expressed interest in playing with the Bulls, and Derrick Rose in particular.An interesting detail of the discussion is that Boozer mentioned that he is close with Dwyane Wade, and that the combination of himself, Wade, and Rose would be "right there at the top of the list" in terms of contenders.As mentioned previously, rumors have surfaced concerning a potential three-way deal that would send Boozer to Chicago, Bulls F Tyrus Thomas to Utah, and Bulls G Kirk Hinrich to Portland. All three teams have interest in the players they would receive, and Utah might be pushed to act soon since Paul Millsap (who they deem as their power forward of the future) signed an offer sheet with Portland. Utah has until Friday to either match the offer, and they will have to pay Boozer soon if they decide to keep him instead.What Portland would give up in the deal is still unclear, but the Bulls would likely want a guard to replace Hinrich. PG Steve Blake would seem like a good option, although the Bulls seem to prefer second-year PG Jerryd Bayless, whom the Blazers are reluctant to move. Utah would probably want to dump more salary from their payroll if they could manage it, so I wouldn't be surprised if they threw in another contract for Portland to absorb.Not including the new contract for Ronnie Price (since hte details have not been disclosed), the Jazz are currently sitting at roughly $73.4 million in terms of payroll, which is about $3.5 million over the luxury tax level. If they decide to bring back Millsap (which appears to be the plan), they will tack on an extra $9 million to the $3.5 million. If Price makes about $2 million next season (and that's just a guess), then the Jazz would need to ditch about $14.5 million in salaries to avoid the luxury tax.If they move Boozer ($12.3 million) and bring in Tyrus ($4.7 million), they would still need to dump about $6.9 million. Kyle Korver and Matt Harpring have expensive expiring contracts that could be included in the deal to make the finances work, and the Blazers would have to throw more into the deal as well. The Bulls would also likely have to cut two guys to stay below the luxury tax level and still have the required 13 players, with Anthony Roberson and Linton Johnson, and DeMarcus Nelson likely being the candidates to go.If the Bulls could make this deal happen, the rotation would likely look like the following:PG: Rose, Blake, Hunter, NelsonSG: Salmons, Pargo, HunterSF: Deng, Salmons, J. JohnsonPF: Boozer, J. Johnson, GibsonC: Noah, Miller, GrayIf they all stayed healthy (and with Deng and Boozer that's no guarantee), that would be a respectable lineup, and if they could add Wade to the mix, we would have ourselves a genuine contender.