CLEVELAND Cavaliers owner Gund places blame for losing Boozer on himself

Gordon Gund said criticism should be directed toward him, not Jim Paxson.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Cleveland Cavaliers owner Gordon Gund took full responsibility Wednesday for a decision making Carlos Boozer a restricted free agent, resulting in Boozer's decision to sign a six-year, $68 million offer sheet from the Utah Jazz.
The Cavaliers have the right to match Utah's offer within 15 days.
"We currently have no intention of matching Utah's offer to Carlos," Gund said in a prepared statement, addressed to Cleveland fans.
Integral component
The 6-foot-9, 260-pound Boozer played college basketball at Duke. He was the Cavs' second-round draft pick (No. 35 overall) in 2002 and is coming off a season in which he emerged as a key part of the team by averaging 15.5 points and 11.4 rebounds.
His performance at power forward blended well with the speed and finesse style of LeBron James, the No. 1 overall pick in last year's NBA draft.
The Cavs had declined to exercise a $695,000 option on Boozer's contract -- thereby making him a restricted free agent -- in the belief he would accept a six-year deal worth about $38.6 million to remain in Cleveland. That was the most Cleveland could offer under a league mandated midlevel exception.
Cleveland would end up about $430,000 under the league's $43.87 million salary cap without Boozer. The team's highest paid player would be 7-3 center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, due to make $14.6 million.
When the Utah offer became known, Cleveland offered a one-year deal at nearly $5 million, which would have enabled Boozer to stay with the Cavaliers and test the free-agent market next year.
"As the team owner, I made the decision not to pick up the option on Carlos' contract. Any criticism should be directed to me, not to [Cavs' general manager] Jim Paxson. I want to be very clear that any fault is mine," Gund said.
Boozer's side
Boozer has said he never had an agreement to a long-term deal with Cleveland and that the Cavaliers' were intentionally attacking his reputation and character by alleging he was going back on a promise. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
"In the final analysis, I decided to trust Carlos and show him the respect he asked for. He did not show that trust and respect in return. That's what happened," Gund said.
To clear enough salary cap space to match Utah's offer to Boozer would require the Cavaliers "to make player personnel moves of such a magnitude that it would have a significant negative impact on our team," Gund said.