The Curry Drama Has Even Another Twist

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Negotiations between the Bulls and restricted free agent center Eddy Curry are already messy and may only get messier.

The team is exploring what options it has to require Curry to take a DNA test before practice begins Oct. 4, whether Curry eventually accepts the Bulls? contract offer or signs the one-year qualifying offer worth $5.14 million.

?There?s new language in the collective bargaining agreement in terms of what we can do in a physical (exam),? Bulls general manager John Paxson said. ?I can?t say anything beyond that.?

A DNA test was recommended by Minneapolis-based cardiologist Dr. Barry Maron and others as a way to see if Curry is genetically disposed to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a potentially fatal condition when combined with arrhythmia.

Curry sat out the end of last season after experiencing arrhythmia, commonly known as an irregular heartbeat, before a March 30 game at Charlotte. He resumed basketball activity in early July, but the NBA?s insurance carrier declined to cover Curry?s next contract in the event a heart problem forces him to retire.

So far, Curry has refused to submit to a DNA test.

Paxson wasn?t happy that Curry?s agent, Leon Rose, floated a story to certain media outlets over the weekend that the New York Knicks are interested in trading for Curry. The idea is laughable, since the Knicks don?t have any players to trade that would interest the Bulls.

Paxson said he has no idea what New York?s alleged contract offer is worth and he has not spoken to anyone from the Knicks this summer about trading for Curry. Rose has not responded to several phone messages.

The Bulls? contract offer to the fourth-year center is larger than what?s been reported, according to a team source. The deal contains several health and performance qualifiers, but it would guarantee Curry somewhere between $19 million and $26 million.</div>

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