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Fat chance Curry will get the deal he wants: it it's September in Chicago, then that must be big of Eddy Curry over there in the muumuu

Sporting News, The, Sept 23, 2005 by Sean Deveney

Every year, the same rumor pervades the whispers of Chicago's sports media-entsia.

Did you hear Eddy Curry is so big, he's wearing parachute pants? Literally, he's wearing parachutes for pants.

I heard he takes showers by paying neighbors to hose him down.

Yeah, well, I heard someone saw him at Gibson's--he read the whole menu, looked at the waiter and said, "Yes."

Such gossip. Those who have seen Curry around town or at the West Loop Athletic Club report that he is not that chubby. You won't see him on the cover of Ripped Abs Monthly, but we safely can say Curry is able to get himself off his own sofa.

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Still, he is a 22-year-old free agent, a center coming off his most productive season (16.1 points per game). The fact training camp is weeks away and the most gripping news about Curry is whether he has done a pushup in the past 12 weeks speaks volumes about the state of the young man's career. He brought this on himself.

Curry has been chronically unwilling to work, and now he is paying for it.

His quest for a new contract has been hindered by the revelation in late March that he has an enlarged heart and an irregular heartbeat. Multiple insurance companies have passed on covering his contract. It doesn't help that the Bulls have been excessively cautious in the process, scaring off suitors. When the Hawks looked into signing Curry in July, they were given dire warnings by the Bulls. But the doctor the Hawks asked to look at Curry's records gave him a clean bill of health.

To blame the Bulls or the heart arrhythmia for Curry's lack of a contract is to give Curry too much absolution. This is his mess. The Hawks were serious about signing Curry--they had jerseys and specially edited videos made for a two-day visit to Atlanta. But Curry left Atlanta after one day, and his agent, Leon Rose, blamed the early departure on a mix-up.

A mix-up? Children have mix-ups about what time they will be picked up from school. Adults do not have mix-ups when eight-figure salaries are at stake. The Hawks had massive salary cap room, didn't care about the heart problem and were willing to gamble on young talent (remember Joe Johnson?). Curry should have done everything possible to impress them.

The early departure did not hurt Curry's chances with Atlanta, though. The fact that be showed up overweight and looking for a better contract than 76ers center Samuel Dalembert (six years, around $60 million) did.

Curry's Michelin Man physique is a symptom of a man with an allergy to work. Curry has an embarrassing career rebounding average (4.9). His defense is awful, and foul trouble is his constant companion. His hook shot is nice, but he needs a better countermove.

"I don't think things would be different if there were no heart issue," says an Eastern Conference general manager. "Everyone wonders, 'If this guy didn't work all that hard when he was playing for a contract, how hard would he work after you give him a big guaranteed deal?'"

Last week, Rose reportedly asked the Bulls to explore sign-and-trade options. G.M. John Paxson told reporters, "I've not been contacted by any team."

Translation: "Trade? Uh, who wants this guy?"

speed read

Phil Jackson, a bargain? Hard to believe, but Jackson is a rarity in the NBA--he is likely to finish out the contract he is under. Most coaches won't. If a coach with a $30 million, five-year contract is gone after three years, it's not much different than Jackson getting all of his $30 million in three years.

INSIDE DISH

The trade that was supposed to send PG Dan Dickau from the Hornets to the Celtics has not yet gone through. The deal first was held up by front office vacation time; then there was some question about what the Celtics would send the Hornets. Now, with the Hornets displaced because of Hurricane Katrina, the trade is in limbo. Is it going to happen? "Eventually," says Mark Bartelstein, Dickau's agent. "It's hard to say when with everything that is going on. We know the Celtics want him, and he's going to end up there." * One problem with trading Bulls C Eddy Curry is a complicated rule called base-year compensation, which makes it difficult to sign a player at a big raise, then trade him. The Bulls got around that last summer with G Jamal Crawford because they had a big contract handy--that of PF Jerome Williams--to add into the deal. The only big contract the Bulls have is PF Antonio Davis', but the team wants to keep him for his leadership and the cap space his contract will create when it expires next summer. * Cleveland had all but given up on signing PG Damon Jones before Jones decided to take the Cavaliers' four-year, $16 million offer (more than the Heat offered). Now, Cavs G.M. Danny Ferry has nicely addressed the team's biggest concerns: perimeter defense (SG Larry Hughes), perimeter shooting (Jones and SF Donyell Marshall), and center depth (Jahidi White is expected to sign). * Trade rumors involving Raptors SG Jalen Rose are premature. Toronto is likely to move Rose--one rumor had him going to the T-wolves, another to the Lakers--but it won't happen this summer. Expect the Raptors to deal him at the February trading deadline.

Fat chance Curry will get the deal he wants: it it's September in Chicago, then that must be big of Eddy Curry over there in the muumuu

Sporting News, The, Sept 23, 2005 by Sean Deveney

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