While everyone is feeling the aftershocks from the Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams trades, here's an interesting tidbit from
Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld in which you may feel aftershocks of a different sort should a former Knicks player take his, uh, big talents to South Beach:
As other outlets have reported, the Minnesota Timberwolves will buyout the remaining $11,276,863 on Eddy Curry's contract. Curry, who was acquired in their three-team deal with New York and Denver, will not report to Minnesota, but rather straight to Chicago to work out with legendary trainer Tim Grover. Curry will remain in Chicago until his release, and then will look to join a contending team for the prorated veteran's minimum. Sources close to the situation say that the Miami HEAT top Curry's wish list.
It's the kind of low risk gambit that a player like Pat Riley may not be able to resist because of his size and talent. But what about his motivation and will to be a professional athlete? The Heat under Riley's command have revived plenty of players' careers and proved they can get big mens' weight under control and get in shape (Chris Gatling, Anthony Mason, Isaac Austin, Udonis Haslem, Dexter Pittman, etc.)
Making this all the more curious is that you might remember that Curry met with LeBron James last summer before the MVP's decision to go to Miami.
From the
New York Daily News:
Jun 29 2010, New York — Tom Izzo was never granted an audience with LeBron James, but Eddy Curry scored a sit-down with the self-proclaimed King last month.
According to a source close to Curry, the Knicks' veteran center met with James in Ohio to discuss Curry's future, which may or may not include having LeBron as a teammate. The conversation, the source said, "had nothing to do with Eddy trying to recruit LeBron to New York."
In fact, Curry may have been recruiting himself to join James either in Cleveland or Chicago. Curry is entering the final year of his contract and has told close friends he'd welcome a buyout from the Knicks in order to become a free agent.
Curry has talked about returning to his hometown of Chicago to restart his career. The Bulls are one of several teams with salary cap room to sign James, who is expected to visit New York, New Jersey and Chicago when he becomes a free agent on July 1.
If it means cutting Jamaal Magloire to make room then I suppose it could be worth a shot provided that the Heat struck out for Troy Murphy's services. If the Bobcats can squeeze something out of Kwame Brown then perhaps anything is possible. But huge question marks remain not only if Curry can just stay healthy but also be on the floor at all and keep up with the NBA game.
