So which one is it? Let’s put it this way…combined with all of your recent rumor-mongering and your admitted fabrication of non-existent trade possibilities, if Wright’s purported confirmation of that Nike contract is indeed 100% true, then your repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated statement is the sports equivalent of Bush’s unwavering bombastic declaration of imaginary non-existent stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

Which one is it, Brian? You can’t both be correct. It’s either one, or it’s the other. If Wright is indeed right, then much like Elvis, your credibility has left the building.

We await your response with bated breath.

With LeBron on the roster, one of the Cavs’ highest priorities when evaluating big men these days should be hands–whether the player can catch a bullet pass in heavy traffic then convert. Boozer is very good in this area while it seemed to me that Gooden rode the bench against the Pistons because he is not.

If Boozer were to come to Cleveland contrite and highly motivated, fans would forgive him quickly, I believe. Not many NBA players admit to mistakes (even after choking coaches or raping hotel clerks), so it would make a pretty good story. It’s really the only way Boozer can fully restore his reputation and could actually be a good move for him.

The current Cavs regime has no axe to grind with Boozer and there aren’t even that many players left from his time here. I’m sure they all understand the temptation of a ludicrous contract anyway.

With Boozer in tow, the Cavs could make a sign and trade involving Gooden, maybe for the Buck’s Magliore, though I think I remember our resident blog host/rumor-monger admitting he pretty much made that one up. In any case, the Cavs should look for a platoon-type center; Varejao needs minutes but shouldn’t start.

The trade would possibly tempt the Jazz. That’s a team intent on keeping oafish white giants around–Ostertag was there forever even though the coach seemed to hate him. And a frontline with Z, Kirilinko and Okur would have to be one of the tallest in the NBA and one of the best at blocking shots. Kirilinko’s quickness might even help mask some of Z’s slow-footed defense.

By the way, league executives very close to this situation tell me this move is very close to happening. I believe AJ Adande’s doing a story as well, with me as his primary source.

But sure enough, the very next morning, the guy HIMSELF (I could tell the writing style, yep, it was him) e-mailed me back asking what the problem was, where I was sitting, tell him more, etc. Evidently he thought I was a season-ticket holder, but still…Why the hell a millionaire/billionaire, or whatever he is, would take any time at all to hack out a few lines to a lowlife nobody like me…well, I thought that was pretty classy. Time is money, and even though it only took him two to three minutes, that’s still his time.

Maybe I’m wrong, but to compare and contrast, I can’t imagine that Gilbert would have personally responded. If anything, he would have forwarded my e-mail and had one of his very junior lackeys write me form BS three weeks later, if at all.

With respect to Gilbert’s business philosophy at Quicken, yes, it’s been highly successful. And I’ll give all the well-deserved credit to Gilbert, but far more aside credit to Gilbert’s keen recognition that 20-somethings are unbelievably naive idiots that will buy into all that corporate rah-rah bullsh*t hook, line and sinker. They’re like children, really. Particularly the virgins straight out of college. Don’t know any better. By the time they realize they’ve been used and duped, they’re in their 30s, cynical and much, much wiser, working for a different company, and Gilbert has parlayed the profits he’s made from naive youngsters into other businesses, such as a deal for the Milwaukee Brewers…uh, I mean the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Nothing against Gilbert, he’s a shrewd guy. 20-somethings are bloody fools. I wish I thought of it before he did.