Utah Jazz: Miller reaches out to Boozer
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2009, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

More than a month after Carlos Boozer returned to Utah, Jazz chief executive Greg Miller took the symbolic step of wearing the former All-Star forward's No. 5 jersey to an interview Sunday night on KSL Channel 5.

"This is just a 'Welcome back Carlos,'" Miller said. "I want to make him feel welcome. I'm glad he's here. I want to let him know that whatever happened over the summer is water under the bridge and it's all about winning going forward."

Miller's relationship with Boozer has been the subject of much speculation following a July conversation between the two. In the weeks afterward, Boozer asserted that he had been told by management he no longer was in the Jazz's future plans.

Boozer went so far as to claim that he and the team had mutually agreed to a trade and named Chicago and Miami as preferred destinations. Throughout the summer, Miller declined requests to clarify what had been said to Boozer.

Although they explored trade possibilities, the Jazz ultimately opted to bring back Boozer for a sixth season in Utah.

"Everything I've seen, the conversations -- short as they are -- that I've had with Carlos have been very favorable," Miller said. "I believe that Carlos has done whatever fence-mending needed to be done.

"I think his teammates have embraced him, I think the coaches have embraced him and I think that his attitude's good and I think he's going to help us win ball games this year."

Although the Jazz matched a four-year, $32 million offer sheet over the summer to keep Paul Millsap, Miller said, "I wouldn't rule it out," with respect to re-signing Boozer.

"There's no personal hard feelings against Carlos," Miller said, "and if we could come to terms economically and Carlos wanted to be here and we felt that Carlos was still in a point in his career where he could help us win, we would absolutely entertain an opportunity to bring him back."

At Monday's pregame shootaround, Boozer said he missed Miller's television appearance -- "I was watching football," he said -- and quickly changed the subject to the Jazz's game against Houston.

Miller also addressed the Jazz's $82 million payroll, pushing the franchise into luxury-tax territory for the first time, saying, "Fortunately, we're in a position where we can handle it economically," adding, "It's not something that we would seek to do going forward."

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