The Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers are among the teams tracking veteran forward Carlos Boozer in China, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein:
Carlos Boozer, meanwhile, remains in China but has also played his way back onto the NBA’s radar, having helped the Guangdong Southern Tigers, along with veteran guard Donald Sloan, advance to within one game of the Chinese Basketball Association finals.
After a bumpy adjustment period to the Chinese game, Boozer has joined Fredette as one of the CBA’s most influential imports over the past two months. One source plugged firmly into the Chinese scene says that the Miami Heat and the aforementioned Clippers are among the teams tracking the 34-year-old’s progress with Guangdong.
One potential problem for Boozer: If Guangdong indeed reaches the championship series in China, he might run out of time to make it back to the States in time to hook up with a playoff team. Boozer is eligible to play in the NBA postseason for anyone who signs him, since he hasn’t been on a roster all season, but the one requirement is that he’d have to be signed back home before the NBA regular season ends April 12.
Boozer, a 13-year NBA vet who most recently played for the Los Angeles Lakers, exited the league in the summer of 2015 and eventually decided to sign with the Guangdong Southern Tigers in 2016.
The Miami Heat, a team Boozer has torched throughout his career, have long been interested in adding him to their roster. They expressed a serious interest in signing him before last season started, a source said at the time. They also tried trading for him on two separate occasions in the years prior, including before the infamous “big three” idea came into play in 2010, the source said.
Boozer, who has spent significant time in Miami during several off-seasons in recent years, could be interested in signing with the Heat to finish his NBA career.
The Clippers have also long been interested in Boozer. They reportedly held hopes of signing him in the summer of 2015, and have expressed interest in adding a frontcourt piece in recent weeks.
Boozer, 35, came into the Chinese season with intentions of returning to the NBA at some point this year, although it’s unclear what his thinking is in the present day.
