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fishmike
Posts: 53902
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Joined: 7/19/2002
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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/marty_burns/10/04/curry/1.html
I'm shocked!
Risky business
Impact of Curry deal uncertain for Bulls, Knicks
Posted: Tuesday October 4, 2005 10:52AM; Updated: Tuesday October 4, 2005 1:06PM
Though a sometimes indifferent rebounder and shot-blocker, new Knick Eddy Curry is a career 52 percent shooter from the field.
Steve Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
Say this much for the Bulls. They stuck to their guns.
Chicago warned Eddy Curry that it would not let him suit up if he didn't agree to take a DNA test. The free-agent center refused. So on Monday night they traded him to the Knicks.
Bulls GM John Paxson wouldn't say which players he got in exchange for Curry. According to reports Chicago will receive Tim Thomas, Michael Sweetney and Jermaine Jackson in exchange for Curry and veteran center Antonio Davis. Several draft choices also might have been included. The teams also have an agreement in which Davis may be returned to the Bulls after being waived, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The Bulls said they would announce all the gory details Tuesday morning. But it really doesn't matter which players Chicago gets. The whole bizarre saga -- one with strong cases on both sides -- had to end with Curry in a new uniform.
The Bulls and Curry simply had gone past the point of reconciling their differences. Curry, the homegrown phenom and former No. 4 overall draft pick, felt unwanted and burned by the Bulls' hard-line negotiating tactics. Paxson, no doubt sincere in his concern for Curry's health, felt he had to protect his organization.
As Davis himself said, just moments after finding out about Curry's departure but before learning he'd been included in the deal: "It's a tough situation for John [Paxson] and Eddy. I can see both sides."
After months of haggling, it all came to a rather bizarre conclusion Monday night at the Bulls practice facility in Deerfield, Ill. Just after 7 p.m., Paxson walked onto the practice court and took a seat behind a microphone. He said he had traded Curry to the Knicks.
He didn't say for whom. He just said the Bulls had done all they could to keep Curry but that they weren't going to budge off their demand that he take a DNA test. He spoke for about five minutes or so, then got up abruptly and walked away.
Paxson clearly was upset about the whole situation. Though he said the players he received from the Knicks would all "fit in" with what the Bulls were trying to do, sources say he wanted young New York prospects David Lee or Trevor Ariza thrown into the deal. But Knicks boss Isiah Thomas loves Ariza and was loathe to give up both him and Lee, according to a Knicks source. Paxson apparently wasn't thrilled with Thomas, who makes $14 million and has a reputation as an underachiever, but the 6-foot-9 veteran had to be included to make the salaries match up enough so the trade would be legal.
Paxson also was clearly miffed at suggestions he and the Bulls had been trying to drive down Curry's bargaining power by making public their request he undergo a DNA test. He noted that the Bulls offered Curry "what amounted to a lifetime annuity" of $400,000 a year for the next 50 years even if he flunked the test.
"I have an obligation ... to do the right thing, and I did the right thing," he said before abruptly standing up and walking away.
Of course, Paxson didn't say how Curry taking the test would have proven anything, since a negative result would not have ruled anything out in the first place.
Maybe the Bulls knew more about the Curry situation than Paxson could reveal. Maybe Curry already had taken the test himself and knew the results. Maybe Curry never wanted to re-sign with the Bulls in the first place, and he and his agents used this whole scenario to force his way out of town.
Whatever the story, Curry's departure looks like a major blow to the Bulls' fortunes this season. Without him to work the low post and draw double teams, Chicago's attack will be sorely hampered. Davis, if he does return, can provide some of that dimension. Othella Harrington and Sweetney are also decent low post players, but neither is as consistent or explosive as Curry. Meanwhile, it's hard to see how Thomas will fit in with Luol Deng and Andres Nocioni already holding down the small forward spot.
"Eddy is certainly a unique player," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said, declining to elaborate since the trade was not official yet. "What it means for us basketball-wise, I'm not sure yet."
The good news for the Bulls is that it sets them up to be a major player in next summer's free agent market. With Thomas and Sweetney's contracts set to expire next spring, the Bulls could clear around $20 million in salary cap room to make a run at a marquee player such as Pistons center Ben Wallace or Kings forward Peja Stojakovic. Of course, those star players are more likely to re-sign with their own clubs -- and the rest of the 2006 free agent crop is considered thin.
"It won't do them any good [to have the cap room] if there isn't a player worth spending it on," one Eastern Conference executive said Monday.
As for the Knicks, Curry's arrival probably makes them the favorites in the Atlantic Division. New York hasn't had a legit low-post scorer since Patrick Ewing. With Curry and free-agent signess Jerome James, new coach Larry Brown suddenly has two potentially good big men to protect the lane and take some pressure off Stephon Marbury, Quentin Richardson, Jamal Crawford and (if healthy) Allan Houston.
Of course, it all depends on Curry being healthy. He clearly believes he is, and the Knicks are willing to take the chance. The Bulls were not. Only time will tell which team made the right call.
"winning is more fun... then fun is fun" -Thibs
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