Chicago Bulls Should Be Interested In Eddy Curry

Eddy Curry is no stranger to the Chicago Bulls. He played with them from 2001 to 2005 after being selected fourth overall in the 2001 NBA Draft. So 11 years later, is it a possibility that he may play for them again?

After being waived by the Dallas Mavericks to make room for Troy Murphy, the veteran power forward once again landed in free agency. But this time he has drawn interest from around the league. Teams looking for a solid defending power forwardcenter are in talks with Curry over a possible deal. The front runner is the Boston Celtics, who are looking for a power forward to fill the role of Darko Milicic after he left the team indefinitely to tend to his ill mother. But besides Boston, no other names have been revealed. Do the Bulls need Curry? The answer is yes, believe it or not.

The Bulls roster seems to be loaded with forwards: Taj Gibson, Carlos Boozer, Nazr Mohammed and Joakim Noah. But this list of names is misleading. Boozer and Gibson split time at power forward while Noah plays center for seemingly the entire game (he is averaging 38.8 minutes per game). Coach Tom Thibodeau has made it clear in his lack of confidence that he has in Mohammed  and that only serves to increase the workload on Noah. Enter Curry, a seasoned veteran in the league who can bring virtually the same type of play and characteristics that Coach Thibodeau is looking for. If Coach Thibodeau can’t put his trust into Mohammed, maybe he can put it into Curry.

The Bulls have room for one more player on their roster and Curry could be a good investment for the team. With Mohammed not playing and Noah playing so much, it raises the question of what would happen to the team if Noah got injured? Who steps up? If Mohammed isn’t playing, could he be relied upon to stabilize the team? The answers to these questions are unknown because we haven’t seen or heard from him this season. Curry offers the size (seven-foot, 295 pounds) and ability to contribute to this team. He can play both the center and power forward position–although he would most likely be playing center–and can offer not just another option for Coach Thibodeau to play to rest Noah, but a decent shooter that can add another dimension to the offense.

Yes, Curry’s numbers have declined every season since the 2007 season, but his role wouldn’t be to average 15 points a game. His role would be to collect easy boards, cover other star centers (Dwight Howard, Roy Hibbert, Al Horford) and, most importantly, to give Noah a break so the team’s starting center doesn’t over work himself this early on. Curry is capable of contributing to the offense, but either way he may be someone for Chicago to look into, especially if Mohammed isn’t going to get any game time action.