Alaska's Carlos Boozer is leaving the Chicago Bulls. His destination? The team that wins a secret bid for his services.
The Bulls waived the former Juneau-Douglas star Tuesday, one year before the end of Boozer's five-year, $75 million contract.
Boozer, a 6-foot-9 forward, will still get the $16.8 million owed to him this season, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Because the Bulls waived Boozer using the NBA's amnesty clause, Boozer enters what is known as "amnesty bidding." Teams will make secret bids for him for the 2014-15 season; if the winning bid is less than $16.8 million, the Bulls will make up the difference, the Tribune said.
If no one bids on him, Boozer will become an unrestricted free agent and can enter negotiations with any team.
"Wanna Say Thank You To The Bulls Organization!!! Thank You For The Last Four Years!!!" Boozer said in a Twitter message Tuesday.
Boozer, 32, is in search of his fourth NBA team. After turning pro at the end of his junior season at Duke, he played two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, six seasons with the Utah Jazz and four with the Bulls.
The amnesty clause is a piece of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that allows each team to release one player during the length of the current CBA and be free of financial obligations to that player. Often, amnesty is invoked in order to get rid of a player whose performance isn't considered worth the price of his contract.
Boozer is coming off his lowest-scoring and lowest-rebounding season since his rookie season in 2002-03. He averaged 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds, numbers that rank below his career averages (16.6 points, 9.8 rebounds) and his Bulls averages (15.5 point, 9 rebounds).
Boozer is one of two Alaskans playing in the NBA. Earlier this week, Anchorage point guard Mario Chalmers agreed to a two-year contract with the Miami Heat.