Report: Bulls, Nets, Cavaliers Pursuing Carlos Boozer In Hopes Of Also Getting LeBron James

With Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade joining forces in Miami, all the teams in the LeBron James sweepstakes are trying their hardest to find him a running mate. The best guy on the market to be that right now is Utah's Carlos Boozer, so it's no surprise that he's suddenly become a hot commodity.

According to ESPN's Chad Ford, the Bulls, Nets and Cavaliers are trying their hardest to convince Boozer to join their team, hoping that LeBron will follow. The Bulls and Nets can sign Boozer outright, though not for a maximum contract. The Cavaliers have to acquire Boozer via a sign and trade.

Cleveland's main sign-and-trade assets are young power forward J.J. Hickson and guard Delonte West, who has a non-guaranteed contract that keeps teams on the hook for just $500,000 of his $4.5 million salary if he's cut before August 3. They will need to throw in more salary to make the trade work, but they don't exactly have a ton of good contracts on their team to include. 

(Of course, there's also the matter of Boozer returning to the same Cleveland franchise he left unfavorably several years ago, but hey, money talks).

UPDATE: And the Bulls win the Boozer battle, but all indications are that it won't be enough to lure LeBron to Chicago.