Curry, Paxson Finally Have Sit Down

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Eddy Curry visited with Bulls operations chief John Paxson on Monday, which normally wouldn't be that big a deal, except it was the first time in a while the two had met, and there was plenty to discuss.

Curry, 22, has been lamenting publicly the Bulls' hesitation to sign him to a lucrative multiyear deal. According to a league source, Paxson explained the problem with insuring Curry's heart because of the irregular heartbeat that sidelined him for three months, and the two expressed their desire to secure a new deal.

The Bulls are offering a short-term deal, but Curry might decide to play for the one-year qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next year.

Curry's agent, Leon Rose, said the Atlanta Hawks remain interested in the restricted free-agent center even though they haven't offered a contract. Atlanta is the only place Curry has visited, and Rose broke his silence with the media to put a more positive spin on Curry's sliding market appeal.

''I called [Hawks general manager] Billy Knight on Friday, and he assured me that their extending an offer sheet to [Milwaukee Bucks reserve center] Zaza Pachulia did not mean they no longer have interest in Curry,'' Rose said Sunday night. ''The Hawks still have $13 million worth of salary-cap room left, and they are still interested in Eddy.''</div>
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Bulls Offer Deal, Hawks Still Interested </div>

 

Nice that Paxson and Curry are talking. I hope they can work out a deal. Curry is a big part of our team.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Run BJM:</div><div class="quote_post">Heh, he literally is a big part of your team. I guess no one wanted/could afford Curry except Atlanta and they gave up on him. Its in the Bulls best interest to keep him though, there arent many good post scorers these days.</div>
The article actually states Atlanta is still interested in him despite the reports to the contrary. So I don?t think they gave up on him.

We not only need to get him back for the reasons you stated, but ask anyone a true NBA center these days is rarer then a Darko appearance. He (Curry) is a guy who can anchor the offense, and draw double teams, which is something no one else on the Bulls can do. Chandler is tall, but his size and offensive post skills are not as polished as Curry?s so he can not draw double teams to open the court for Gordon, Hinrich, and Deng.

When everyone was healthy (about a month before the season started) the offense was running better than it had been in the last six or seven years. We need Curry to have it run like that. He has stated if necessary he will play for the qualifying offer to become a unrestricted free agent, but that would be a bad move imo on our part, because after this season he would hold all the bargaining chips.

 

Eddy is the Bulls offense for the first quarter. Whenever he started, he was getting points early in games. And was unstoppable. He often faded out of games, but we had many other players who played well throughout the game even when Curry wasn't playing good. When we lost him, as many saw on national television, we'd get our asses kicked early in games. Then we started to develop a ryhthm, but we were too far behind to get back. When Eddy provided the early offense, our other players were able to put the game away, rather than play from behind. We should make every effort to retain him.