curry may only get one year deal

[ducks]

Paxson's next priority is to re-sign center Eddy Curry, also a restricted free agent. Paxson met with agent Leon Rose on Tuesday to begin talks in earnest on a new contract. The deal likely would be for only one guaranteed year because of difficulties finding insurance for Curry, who was sidelined by an irregular heartbeat late last season.

"We talked about if there was a way to do something,'' Paxson said Tuesday. "Again, we're just in the beginning stages of this thing. You look at how long this thing with Tyson [had] gone on, and Leon and I have just started on Eddy. There are a lot of issues to work through with Eddy.''

[ducks]

It's time to trade Curry
The Bulls are better than you think, and the 7-foot problem could bring someone useful

In four seasons in the NBA, Bulls forward Tyson Chandler never has averaged double figures in scoring or rebounding. He has shot higher than 50 percent from the field once and never better than 67 percent from the free-throw line. He has averaged fewer than one assist per game, and he has missed an average of 17 games per season, mostly because of serious back problems in 2003 and 2004.

He had been balking for weeks at the average annual salary of more than $10 million the Bulls were offering.


You've missed these guys, haven't you?

Yes, the NBA is on its way back with training camps opening in a month. Chandler will be among those present after agreeing Thursday to an estimated $63 million, six-year deal with the Bulls that starts at more than $8 million annually and makes the 22-year-old forward/center one of the principal figures in the team's West Side redevelopment plans.

And though it sounds like a lot of money for a player who's hardly a superstar, $10 million per season is the NBA's going rate for athletic 7-footers.

Those without heart problems, anyway.

Perhaps the Bulls aren't thrilled about writing that eight-figure annual check, but even if the U.S. stock market stalls, the economics of pro basketball continue to be a bull market … if not a Bulls market.

Shooting guard is generally regarded as one of the least important positions, unless you have Michael Jordan, of course. The Cavaliers (Larry Hughes) and the Hawks (Joe Johnson) paid eight-figure annual deals for shooting guards this summer. Better to spend the money on someone closer to the basket.

That's why the Bulls' negotiations with Chandler and agent Jeff Schwartz were low key and professional.

As for Chandler's draft mate, Eddy Curry, consider this the latest installment in an occasional series of Trade Eddy pieces, a series that seems to have been running longer than "Seinfeld."

Curry and the Bulls are so far apart in talks and philosophy they seem to need a translator. The Bulls are talking about incentives with limited but generous guarantees—generous for a player who may have a heart condition and cannot get his contract insured.

Curry is talking about being among the highest-paid players in the NBA with full guarantees. It's like they're talking in different languages.

They cannot even agree on whether Curry has a heart problem, though a trip back through Tribune files reveals an item from Feb. 21, 2003, reporting Curry's mother, Gayle, suffering a "minor" heart attack on Feb. 19. As a result, Curry missed a practice, the story said. Had we heard about family history before? This, surely, is a complicated issue.

A sign-and-trade is one possibility, assuming some team is willing to take a risk the Bulls apparently will not or cannot. Who is desperate for a center who may have medical issues? Ask the Nets about that. Hello and goodbye, Alonzo Mourning.

Minnesota? The Bulls need a big shooting guard with range … do you like Wally Szczerbiak? Perhaps Memphis, another team heading backward. Shane Battier can fill several roles, even if he's not a classic shooting guard. The Knicks, of course, take all risks and supposedly would do so for Curry, but good luck if you can find someone on that roster you'd really want for a hard-working, defensive-oriented Bulls team. Larry Brown figures to find that out soon.

It's difficult to imagine the Bulls and Curry reaching an agreement before the season. A clause in the new labor agreement changes the rules and allows trades of fifth-year players on rookie contracts with their permission. But it is so restrictive as to be unlikely. So Curry probably will sign the one-year qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent after next season.

That might make for an ugly 2005-06 season for Curry here. Some who have seen him say he has let his weight and conditioning return to poor, pre-2004 levels. Bulls coach Scott Skiles, we know, is not a big fan of Curry's. And that was when Curry was in the best shape of his life.

So get something now while you can? Or take a shot at another good season with Chandler and Curry, who didn't get any offers in free agency? And if Curry proves healthy, no other team can pay him anywhere near what the Bulls can after this season.

If you ask me—and no one has yet—I'm taking something that can help the Bulls now.

Not that they really need that much help. Really. They're better than you think.
While Miami (Antoine Walker and Jason Williams), San Antonio (Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel), Sacramento (Shareef Abdur-Rahim) and Cleveland (Hughes and Donyell Marshall) have garnered the free-agency summer headlines, the Bulls have quietly done an excellent job of improving their team while leaving salary-cap flexibility for next summer when they can be the main player in free agency.

Yes, we heard that one before, from Jerry Krause in 2000. And that year's free-agency winner, Orlando, didn't do so well. But don't discount the Bulls for this season. In fact, they should be in the thick of the playoff chase in the East with one of the league's deepest rosters.


You haven't heard of Darius Songalia, you say. You think you stopped there once on a cruise through the French Antilles? The 6-foot-9-inch Lithuanian who played college ball at Wake Forest was a solid reserve for the Kings last season, an excellent shooter and a physical player who primarily plays outside. Although the deal is not finalized, he'll be with the Bulls this season.

He'll join 6-10 Malik Allen from Charlotte, another good-shooting big man who plays outside and is a bit lumbering. He doesn't rebound particularly well, but he can defend.

Rookie free agent Eddie Basden could supply some big-guard defense, and the Bulls have retained Othella Harrington, who provided nice post offense.

Second-round pick Chris Duhon was the only Bulls free agent to get an offer, three years and $9 million from Toronto, which the Bulls matched. I was not as big a fan of that deal as the Duhon family was.

Nothing against Duhon, who had a fine season despite not even being in the Bulls' early plans. But for the team to grow and develop, the Bulls need to play Kirk Hinrich at point guard. Hinrich is not a shooting guard, and the fact that he has yet to shoot 40 percent in his two-year pro career should provide a hint. Also, Ben Gordon needs to play. A lot more.

No one has been more dedicated this summer to improving. Gordon has done his own two-a-days virtually all summer, even hiring friends to chart his shots in practice. Friends say he's developing a left-handed floater to rival that amazing right-handed floater that was the team's best offense last season.

Yes, we hear he's small, he doesn't defend well, he gets in foul trouble, blah, blah, blah. The best players have to play the most minutes.

Duhon averaged more than 30 minutes per game after the All-Star break last season. Coaches fall into comfort zones. Skiles likes the way Duhon runs the team, and Duhon does it well. And Skiles' job is to win the next game, which he did well last season. But for the Bulls to become a serious contender, Hinrich and Gordon need to begin to excel and develop in their positions.

The Bulls still have shooter Eric Piatkowski and may still bring back hustling Adrian Griffin.

With Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni and Antonio Davis, they have perhaps a dozen players who could be effective in more than 20 minutes per game. It's a nice problem to have, and managing the roster will be one of Skiles' most difficult tasks this season.

The consensus was the Bulls would take a step back this season, that teams won't take them for granted anymore, that they didn't add a star-type player or a scorer, that the East got better with players like Walker, Hughes, Marshall, Jason Williams, James Posey, Bobby Simmons, Caron Butler, Antonio Daniels and Dale Davis going to Eastern contenders.

Don't be surprised if the Bulls continue to do some high-stepping of their own … though it would help if they can figure out what to do with Curry.

Serenity now. Serenity now.

[ducks]

if he only signs one year deal

that means him and nazr(if he does not sign an extention) would be avaible


more bigs might be better news for spurs

[exstatic]

Curry is a scrub.