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Boozer, a second-round pick in June's NBA Draft, missed Cleveland's first two games in the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City, Utah, because of a sore left Achilles tendon. The injury still affected him in Cleveland's third game, when Boozer made his summer-league debut and struggled with his shooting.

But Boozer rounded into shape as the tournament progressed and led Cleveland in its final three games, finishing the six-game tournament fourth overall in scoring with 17.5 points a game and tops in rebounds with 10.3 boards a game (based on playing four of the six games).

"He could be a steal for us," Cleveland coach John Lucas told the Akron Beacon Journal after Boozer scored 20 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and made three steals in the Cavs' final game, a 90-65 loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday night. "I told him he needed to use not going in the first round as motivation. He ran the floor well and had a nice perimeter jumper."

The Beacon Journal said Boozer is considered a near-lock to make the Cavs, as is first-round draft pick Dajuan Wagner, who led Cleveland (1-5 in summer-league play) and the Rocky Mountain Revue in scoring with 20.0 points a game before a foot blister forced him to miss Cleveland's last two games.

The Carlos Boozer Archive

Boozer is a 1999 JDHS graduate who was a third-team all-America center at Duke University this season. When Cleveland picked him with the 35th overall draft pick, Boozer became just the third former Alaska high school player ever to be selected. But during hiss first workouts with the team two weeks ago, Boozer tweaked his left Achilles tendon.

Boozer was playing with a summer-league-only NBA contract and he said two weeks ago he hoped a strong performance in the summer league might result in a guaranteed salary for one or two years when the Cavs finally made his official NBA contract offer.

While first-round picks are given three-year guaranteed contracts based on a set scale, second-round draft picks usually receive a one- or two-year contract for the NBA's minimum salary (about $350,000) that's not only not guaranteed but is also contingent on the player making the team.

When the Cavs headed to the Rocky Mountain Revue summer league, Boozer didn't even suit up as the Cavs lost 82-72 to the Phoenix Suns on July 19 and fell 91-73 to the Toronto Raptors on July 20.

He struggled a little bit early in Tuesday's 75-72 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in a game televised nationally on ESPN, but Boozer worked through his troubles and wound up leading the Cavs with 18 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocked shots. Wagner, the Cavs' top scorer in the team's first three games, saw limited action Tuesday and only scored two points in 10 minutes.

"We missed him," Boozer told the Cleveland Plain Dealer after Tuesday's game. "He's dominated the summer league. He's been very impressive."

In Tuesday's game, Boozer was matched up against Memphis' top draft pick Drew Gooden and Gooden was too quick for Boozer in the early part of the game. Boozer, who was listed at 280 pounds when forced to play center last season for Duke, has dropped to 255 pounds in his conversion to power forward, a drop the 6-foot-8 Boozer said he expects will improve his speed and explosive power. But it took until the second half for Boozer to make the adjustment. Gooden had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis, but also made four turnovers to Boozer's two.

"I didn't expect him (Gooden) to be that quick," Boozer told the Plain Dealer. "I had to adjust. My Achilles is doing better. It's still a little tender and I couldn't get busy like I wanted to."

"Once he got over the initial shock of going against Gooden, Carlos settled down and was aggressive," Cavs coach John Lucas told the Akron Beacon Journal on Tuesday. "I was pleased."

After a day off on Wednesday, Boozer scored 24 points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out four assists and blocked two shots on Thursday as Cleveland recorded its only victory of the week, an 84-82 decision over the Dallas Mavericks. Boozer had his struggles - he had eight turnovers and committed seven fouls - but still played a key role in Cleveland's victory.

Cleveland's other Alaskan on the summer-league roster, undrafted free agent guard Andre Laws who attended East Anchorage High School and the University of San Diego, had mixed results in Utah. Laws is one of seven free agents on Cleveland's roster and he hoped a strong performance earns him an invitation to an NBA training camp in October.

Laws earned four starts during the summer-league's six games, with his best two performances coming in the last two. In Thursday's victory over Dallas, Laws scored 13 points, grabbed three rebounds and had two assists. In Friday's finale, Laws scored five points and grabbed three rebounds.

Laws was the only non-Cavalier draftee to start on Tuesday, but scored just one point, grabbed two rebounds and made one assist in 16 minutes. On Monday, Laws started and had two points and three assists in 21 minutes. Laws came off the bench on July 20, but didn't score and had one rebound in 12 minutes. In Cleveland's opener, Laws had two points and two assists in 14 minutes off the bench.

The Cavs open training camp in early October and open their NBA season Oct. 29 in Sacramento.