Paxson meets with Curry + some Chandler stuff

http://www.suntimes.com/output/bulls/cst-spt-bull311.html
some interesting bits of info:

As for contract negotiations with Chandler, Paxson wouldn't confirm specifics. He did say, however, that the gap between him and agent Jeffrey Schwartz was not as large as a reported $12 million.

''We're closer than that,'' Paxson said. ''I've tried to look at this all along and say, 'We obviously value Tyson.' We acknowledge a lot of things out there and that because of his size and athletic ability he's a valuable player. So I've approached the negotiations that way.''

It is thought that the Bulls' current offer to Chandler is similar to the six-year, $64 million deal the Philadelphia 76ers recently agreed to with center Samuel Dalembert.

i'm starting to think that curry will get offered a 2-3yr contract, with only the 1st year being guaranteed, which will probably 'overpay' him slightly in the 1st year

if it is true that chandler is being offered $64 million, his signing will be a formality, give or take a few million being added. chandler really has no leverage in the negotiation. no team has offered him a bigger contract and he's not significantly better then dalembert

GM paxson has done a good job on this offseason. he played it smart and waited it out with both chandler & curry, which has resulted in him not outbidding himself/outrageously overpaying to resign the 2 C's

Agreed, if and when Curry is re-signed it will have been a quiet yet successful offseason for the Bulls. I like the idea of a multi-year contract for Curry with only the first year guaranteed. That should give the Bulls enough time to evaluate his health and offer a larger extension down the road, while it shows some commitment to Curry as well as giving him a bit of a payday. Much better route than the QO if they can agree to a deal.

Hopefully, Curry remains motivatived if/once he gets his contract from the Bulls. I hope for the Bulls and his sake he doesn't turn into a Olowokandi or Erick Dampier or someone.

erick dampier isn't that bad... he can play if he wants to unlike olowakandi who is the worst no.1 draft pick ever.... funny how fast things turn, it seems like yesterday that whoever signed him after his rookie contract was getting a up and coming center

Erick Dampier played hard in his final year in Golden State to get a big deal (which he got from Dallas) and now he's just packing it in until his next contract year.

You can say the same thing about Darius Miles. He tried hard to get a big deal from the Blazers and when he got it he gave up and didn't try to get better. It happens all the time in the NBA.

That is true , I think NBA contracts should be like NFL contrats . Only a certain amount of many guarenteed . Maybe that may help contol the amount of slackers in the NBA.

it's inaccurate to compare curry to dampier. dampier was a disappointment up until his contract year. curry showed improvement/didn't have injury problems (not counting the heart problem) leading to his contract year

Curry has been known to have a lousy work ethic (his weight issue mostly, in the offseason).