Trevor Booker, before teams could legally contact him or his agent about him, said he’d received a lot of free-agent interest.
That, after a small snag, foretold his free agency.
Booker received a larger contract than most expected, and logically, that was driven by competition.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
The Wizards declined to give Trevor Booker his $4,677,708 qualifying offer – a one-year offer necessary to make him a restricted free agent. Still, the Jazz gave him an even larger salary on a longer contract.Maybe Utah just that much smarter than Washington, but it should be telling that the team that knows Booker best didn’t value him at $4,677,708 for one year. The Jazz should make their own evaluations, but they should consider outside factors – including Washington not extending a qualifying offer – as part of the equation.All said, Booker is a solid backup big man. He averaged 6.8 points on 55.4 percent shooting and 5.3 rebounds in 21.6 minutes game. At 26, he’s experience enough to help the Jazz if they’re surprisingly good next season and young enough to contribute down the road should their rebuild expectedly take multiple years.The Wizards should be OK. Nene and the recently signed Marcin Gortat are back, and Kris Humphries slides in to replace Booker. Restricted free agent Kevin Seraphin, whom Washington extended a qualifying offer, could also return.
