Boozer insists he's happy to stay, play in Utah

MADRID — Even all the way over here in Spain, Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer — on the block all summer, and perhaps still — could not dodge trade talk.

Boozer was asked after Utah's preseason win over Spanish League power forward Real Madrid on Thursday, by a Spanish reporter, about the Jazz's concerted efforts to deal him the past season.

"I'm happy to be in Utah," Boozer said during a formal postgame news conference. "Nothing happened this summer. There was a lot of talk, a lot of speculation, of course.

"But it's behind us," he added. "It's behind me, it's behind the organization. I'm very happy to be in Utah, they're very happy to have me, and if we stay together we can have a very good team."

The Jazz have not denied they'll still try to trade the two-time NBA All-Star sometime before this season ends and he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, but Boozer's answer in Madrid was consistent with what he's said to Utah media members since training camp got under way late last month.

e-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com