where is eddy curry going?

to take a DNA test

 

The Bench.

 

Eddy Curry is a chump. As soon as he signs an extended contract, he will revert to his usual form of not being in shape and playing soft. He is Olawokandi waiting to happen again. It is really pathetic how some players show no dedication at all to being in shape until their contract year.

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...e=1&coll=cs-home-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true

Curry, Bulls charging toward split

Fallout over DNA test may signal end of center's career here, writes Sam Smith

The extraordinary events surrounding the Bulls' contract negotiations with center Eddy Curry are fast-breaking to what figures to be an ugly standoff within the next week, one that now seems almost certain to end the Bulls' career of the Thornwood High product.

It's a scenario perhaps unprecedented in the NBA: an arbitration ruling in favor of Curry may be the only way he will play again for the Bulls and even then it would be just for this season and at the discretion of a team Curry says he doesn't care to play for anymore. A peaceful resolution, considering recent comments from both sides, seems unlikely. Instead, here are the most likely scenarios: Curry is traded in the next week, he is barred from playing this season or he is sitting restively on the Bulls' bench.

Yes, welcome to the opening of the 2005-06 NBA season in Chicago.

It should be a competitive one, not unlike the Bulls' spunky effort of 2004-05. But hanging over the team once again, as it seems to have been for the last four years and with darker consequences now, is the fate of Curry.

As the so-called Baby Bulls, Curry and Tyson Chandler were once the foundation for the team's future, a pair of 7-footers who arrived in 2001 to be a rare inside-outside combination. Now having signed a long-term contract extension with the Bulls, Chandler appears to be the key ingredient of a different kind of team—hustling, opportunistic and heady.

Just a few months ago it appeared the pair would be what drafting midwife Jerry Krause envisioned.

But a heart arrhythmia last spring that sidelined Curry just before he became a restricted free agent has produced a series of unanticipated consequences that now apparently will have to be sorted out by physicians and attorneys.

The losers are Curry and the Bulls in a Hollywood-style take that even creative scriptwriters would find far-fetched.

The plot will pick up speed Saturday when Curry is eligible to sign the Bulls' so-called qualifying offer of about $5 million, which would make him an unrestricted free agent after this season. Curry's attorney has contended if that occurs, Curry would look to leave the Bulls.

The problem for Curry is there are expected to be few teams with salary-cap room after this season, and Curry would need to demonstrate good health, conditioning and excellent play to warrant the big contract—estimated at $70 million over six years—that he has been reported to be seeking. Curry would seem unlikely to put himself in that position if he were to return to the Bulls under the current cloud.

One resolution rejected

The Bulls are believed to have told Curry they'd sign him to a contract that could guarantee him as much as $20 million even if he cannot play because of health reasons. The condition is he take a DNA test along with his NBA physical to give further evidence he does not have a potentially fatal heart condition. If Curry passes the test, the contract ostensibly would be for considerably more, at least $50 million, with opportunities and incentives that could make it worth nearly the $70 million Curry is seeking. Curry declined.

That $60 million to $70 million range, to some, smacks of the sense of entitlement NBA players feel has alienated many from the fan community. There's also some conspiracy thinking about the DNA test.

Lawyers say you never ask a question in trial unless you know the answer. So shouldn't Curry have taken the DNA test already on his own, just to get more information on what the Bulls believe is a potentially fatal condition? Wouldn't you?

There is no evidence he did and his representatives deny he took it. If Curry did take the test and passed, would he submit to the test for the Bulls or would he still hold out on the philosophy of an invasion of privacy?

Curry's attorneys say the DNA test could allow the Bulls, in effect, a fishing expedition to find other potential ailments that perhaps would justify a contract rejection or hurt Curry's value. The Bulls supposedly countered they'd only ask for the heart results. One heart specialist, from whom Curry acquired a positive report, told the Tribune this week that Curry doesn't need to take the test. The Bulls' medical expert has suggested the test. Again, like in court, each side has its paid specialist.

The Bulls believe they have the right, once players report Monday, to require the DNA test considering Curry's previous heart episode. Curry's attorney says they do not. It is an issue likely to reach arbitration.

So what happens next?

Various scenarios

The Bulls could extend the qualifying offer in hopes of working out a trade because once Curry signs the qualifying offer, the rules make a trade unlikely. Curry would not be under contract until he signs the qualifying offer, so he could not participate in training camp or play.

If the offer is not extended, Curry would take the Bulls/NBA physical and presumably would pass since a DNA test is not involved. The Bulls likely then would seek the DNA test and Curry apparently would demur. That would lead to arbitration. But since DNA test results take several weeks, if the Bulls remain consistent it seems unlikely they would allow Curry to play or be involved in training camp to any significant level until the DNA test or arbitration.

If Curry wins the arbitration, he could play for the Bulls this season at the approximately $5 million salary. Imagine the internal feelings if that occurs as Curry has been telling friends he believes the Bulls are taking this hard-line tact to reduce his value.


If Curry were to lose and the test is ordered, his lawyer said he'd refuse it. That would lead to suspension, and uncharted waters. Curry couldn't play in the NBA again unless the Bulls gave him his release.

Which probably would lead to a trade, with the Knicks, Grizzlies, Nuggets, Warriors and perhaps the Lakers or Spurs the most likely partners.

There is a major complication in a potential sign-and-trade deal because Curry falls under the arcane NBA base-year compensation rules. It applies to teams over the salary cap and means a player cannot be traded for another player for equal salaries. Any deal involving Curry would have to include more players and salaries to get it close enough that it would fit within the 25 percent "fudge factor" on trades.

So the Bulls would have to take back multiple players, meaning they would endanger expected major salary-cap space and flexibility while also having to include players, most likely Eric Piatkowski and Othella Harrington.

A Bull market?

Another issue is demand. No team made an offer to Curry this summer as a free agent. They have the same concerns the Bulls do, about health and now conditioning given the unlikelihood Curry has worked out much this summer without a contract. Regulars at the West Side gym favored by the NBA players say they haven't seen Curry scrimmage this summer, though Curry insists he has been scrimmaging.

Any team getting Curry would be taking a risk, so it's not likely they'd want to commit to a long-term deal or trade valuable players not knowing if Curry can play. Curry's representatives have been telling teams Curry has medical clearance to play. But would he accept a waiver of liability if he does have a debilitating heart episode or illness?

Curry also has been unable to get insurance liability coverage for his heart condition in any new contract, which helped lead to the impasse with the Bulls. Yet Curry did average 16.1 points and shoot 53.8 percent in fewer than 30 minutes per game, which are All-Star level figures for a low-post center.

Nine months ago, with the Bulls the surprise team in the NBA, management was privately considering the parameters of a long-term, maximum contract deal for Curry.

That all changed in the beat, or skipped beat, of a heart. Now, it's just a gut-wrenching scenario for both sides that is about to begin.

sasmith@tribune.com

 

EC is a d-o-g. With talent, yes, but worth fewer than 10 'appearances' per year.

He needs to play for Isaih, not like The Candy Man or Benoit.

 

It's really starting to look like he'll take a one-year tender. Curry and Rose are trying hard to paint the Bulls as villains* trying to cheat him out of his due, but the entire league** has been frightened off. No one** wants to be on the hook for $50 million+ if something goes wrong with his uninsurable heart - even the Hawks broke off talks with him. It doesn't help matters in the slightest that Curry's earned a rep for a poor work ethic - you're staring down a less-talented Derrick Coleman*** situation.

* - telling, since the Bulls paid Jay Williams despite his contract-voiding motorcycle wreck.
** - does not include Isiah Thomas, but does he count?
*** - you read that right.

Evan

 

He probably already knows the Truth, which is why he won't take the test. He has it. The real question now is who wants to take that chance long term. Not many. Who will take chance short term. A lot of teams. It's a no win situation for Curry at this point. He'll be taking short term contracts till he's done.

 

I will defend him slightly on this point. Taking the test is a "no win" situation for him. If it indicates he is predisposed to the heart condition, his career is done. Simple as that.

If the test does not indicate he is predisposed, it doesn't completely clear him. The question will still be there. I completely understand why he doesn't want to take the test. (Now, if he's had one secretly done and already knows the answer, that's another story).

The Bulls should trade him to the Knicks for something in return, either draft picks or players. As soon as the ink is dry on a contract of 3 years or more, Curry will revert to his normal sluggish, out of shape self. People like him, Moochie, Olawokandi, Dampier, etc. give all NBA players a bad name.

 

Man I'd love for Curry to end up in the West. That's two more times that Yao can brutalize him. This kid just doesn't care about anything but scoring.