Wheel and Deal…Or…. The Saga of Carlos Boozer’s Ultimate Outcome…

When I was younger I went through a phase where I wheeled and dealed at big Gunshows all over the West, selling and buying guns, binoculars, riflescopes, stuff like that. All perfectly legal, no funny business, and the money I earned in selling stuff I reinvested in more expensive and higher quality stuff. It was a boatload of fun, and I learned how to sell, how to buy, and more importantly, what was really valuable and worthwhile, and conversely, what was simply fluff.

What does this have to do with the Jazz? Gunshows normally run for two days, Saturday and Sunday, and are normally open from 8 AM to 5 PM. All your goods are displayed on tables, and situated so as to draw attention from prospective buyers roaming the show. At peak hours, there can be thousands of people crowding the aisles, asking questions, finding a jewel they’ve always wanted but never had the opportunity to touch and perhaps buy….

It’s a zoo, and that’s what makes it fun. Guys and girls bring in guns, perfectly legal, and often wheel and deal themselves for something they would really want to have, but can’t quite put the cash on the table.

In a very important way, it’s exactly like the situation surrounding Carlos Boozer. In Jazz time, the show has just opened, and the first greedy guts are casting longing eyes on guns and gear they can’t live without. Quite often, they assume because you’re displaying and selling a gun or riflescope, that you’re desperate for cash and will jump at the first offer. A rifle may have a tag of 500 bucks on it, and the guy who just stared at the rifle for twenty minutes at 8:30 AM, will pretend he’s not hooked, then somehow wander past again, stop and casually ask if you’ll take 300 bucks for it. Ah…No.

Now some sellers inflate their prices as a bargaining chip, putting a 30% cushion on everything to make the chump feel he’s getting a great deal. I thought that was bush. I set a price, a fair price, and it was darn close to what I really wanted out of the stuff. If they had something very interesting, like a rifle or pistol I’d always wanted, I was open to giving them a great deal. Sometimes I’d lose money, but be really happy.

Right now, it’s 9 AM on Saturday morning for the Jazz, and already a few chumps have wandered by the Jazz’s table, and after gloating over what could be a 20-10 double- double machine, casting longing eyes on him, they’ve tried to lowball the Jazz, because they think we’re strapped for cash, player heavy, and need to get rid of one Carlos Boozer. Ah…..No.

I mentioned learning what was really valuable and worthwhile? It’s simple. Quality. Flash and sparkles and doodads can be fun, but what a savvy gun guru knows is that you want to have good quality stuff, in great condition, and slowly and carefully build up the total value of your investment. I liked old Winchester rifles, beautiful custom rifles, Colt Revolvers, Smith and Wesson handguns, side by side shotguns, and was accused of being a snob. If I had one rifle worth a thousand bucks, it was more valuable to me than having ten Saturday night specials that you could sell for 120 bucks. In fact, I refused to even have something like that on my table. I wasn’t there for money, or the quick sale. I was there to have fun, build up my collection, and maybe, just maybe, make a buck or two.

Right now, Kevin O’Connor is being lowballed, on the hope that the Jazz are sinking fast, and losing brain cells left and right in their anguish. It’s not going to happen, sorry about that, Mr. Riley.

I have here a quality NBA ball player, one Carlos Boozer, and to the right team, he’s almost invaluable. He might be the piece that turns the corner for them, the piece that makes the maybe not so small difference that can mean advancing in the playoffs, or even making the playoffs. He’s that important. Yes, there are a few warts on Carlos, we all know what they are. It’s funny how every team assumes that they are the team that will know how to treat and play a player so that he becomes the star he really should be. Carlos is in a very important year for his career, and I could easily see him averaging 22 and 12. To a team like Miami, that could make the difference between homecourt and fighting for their life.

But what always struck me as being very funny and predictable was the way people acted when they really wanted something. They’d keep wandering by, trying to pretend they weren’t lusting after that shotgun, obviously lost in thought about how they were going to come up with the money to buy it. They’d call the wife at home, have her bring a trade piece in the hopes it was good enough. They’d visit the cash machine, and bring back a wad that they hoped was big enough. They did all sorts of funny and touching things that tickled my fancy.

But what they always did if they really wanted that gun, was to come back. It may have been on Sunday at 4 PM just before closing, but they always returned if they really wanted what was on the table. A buddy and I would place bets on whether they’d come back. We rarely lost.

Chicago really wants Carlos Boozer. So does Miami. So does Detroit, though Joe Dumars is really good at the trading game. NewYork desires him, as does Golden State.

There is plenty of interest for one Carlos Boozer, because he’s a quality ball player and there aren’t many better than him. In fact, no one at this time on the free agent market. He’s the best.

If the Jazz are patient, and even though it gets late in the day on Sunday, they will come.

The ONLY mistake the Jazz can make is to take those first lowball offers. Hold your ground, pretend indifference. It drives them crazy.

I think the Jazz should expect a very nice young player and a draft pick, possibly some cap space. I don’t think that’s unreasonable at all. If we’re lucky, we get a GREAT young player, and he’s a difference maker for the years to come.

Be patient. Remember the show just opened.

Build your team by adding quality, a piece at a time.

It can be done