Rumors: Willis to Toronto, No Curry Here.

[Lascar78]

"Aside from an NBA proven backup point guard, Babcock admitted the Raptors are looking for a veteran big man who can provide some leadership to youngsters Rafael Araujo and Loren Woods, who remain the only two centres under contract. Kevin Willis, at 42 the oldest player in the NBA last season, has expressed interest in returning to Toronto on a one-year contract and would fit the Raptor needs." Toronto Star

The Atlanta Hawks likely will not offer Eddy Curry a contract, league insiders say, partly because of lingering suspicions about his irregular heartbeat.

That all but ensures Curry will return to the Bulls.

None of the Bulls' free agents is expected to sign today, the first day contracts can be consummated.

''There are still issues out there with the insurance,'' Bulls operations chief John Paxson said, regarding Curry. ''First, we must have all the data and understand all the issues involved, then we can proceed on how to go about re-signing Eddy.

''But until that information is in, we can't do it. I know it does not fit into what Eddy would like, but this is the way it has to be if we are going to make a commitment to him.''

The Hawks, the only team to have brought in Curry for a visit, now are pursuing Milwaukee Bucks reserve center Zaza Pachulia.

Paxson remains confident he'll be able to re-sign his other restricted free agents: Tyson Chandler, Chris Duhon and Jannero Pargo. Duhon visited Orlando, but the Magic offered a contract to Miami Heat free agent Keyon Dooling.

''I'm not saying we haven't made any [multiyear] offers to [the Bulls' free agents], but no agreement has been reached,'' Paxson said. ''[Negotiations and signings] will start to pick up now.

''We don't have any timetable as to when we will get guys signed. But I still plan to re-sign my guys, and things will get worked out.''

While Paxson wants to keep his players happy, he intends to make wise business decisions.

''I've said all along that I was going to be patient, and I want very much to be fair to everybody,'' Paxson said. ''But we can't hurt our franchise long-term either by settling something just to settle it. We value all our free agents, but the process can take some time.''

Curry and Chandler might be encouraged by the six-year, $60 million deal that center Samuel Dalembert, 24, will sign with the Philadelphia 76ers and the five-year, $55 million deal that agent Herb Rudoy negotiated with the Cleveland Cavaliers for center Zydrunas llgauskas.

Ilgauskas experienced similar insurance problems to Curry, who can't get his heart insured.

''We could not get his feet insured,'' Rudoy said of Ilgauskas. ''But the Cavaliers are confident enough in his ability to perform that they will guarantee his whole deal.''

So if foot injuries that plagued Ilgauskas early in his career return to end his career, the Cavaliers will eat his contract. It's unlikely that Paxson has a similar scenario in mind with Curry.

Rudoy also negotiated a two-year contract for Toni Kukoc to re-sign with the Bucks.

The NBA's new labor contract calls for a salary cap of $49.5 million for the upcoming season, $5.6 million more than last season. The luxury-tax threshold will be $61.7 million; every dollar spent over that will cost teams a dollar-for-dollar penalty.

Paxson expects to go over the cap after re-signing his free agents but remain millions under the luxury-tax threshold.

''In fact, we will also take advantage of the [Aug. 15] one-time amnesty clause in waiving Eddie Robinson off our payroll,'' Paxson said.

That will be a savings of $5.4 million off a potential luxury-tax bill for the Bulls, who bought out the remaining $14 million of Robinson's contract for $10.5 million last summer.

" There's a possibility Atlanta could trade for Curry if he were willing to accept a modest deal. Or he could take one from the Bulls, though he has said he will not. The Bulls have long liked Atlanta power forward Al Harrington, who is considered expendable with the drafting of North Carolina's Marvin Williams. The Bulls could also throw in guard Chris Duhon, with whom they've been unable to come to terms. " Chicago Tribune

I'm very disappointed that we won't be pursuing Curry, although I understand the reasoning. I'm expecting less than 25 wins if we don't get a real center this year, and I'm not sure where we'll get a center in the future. Hopefully we won't have to trade one of the Joshes or Marvin to get a C in the end. I don't see anybody next year, and we can't wait till 07 to get a real C. I suppose it's either a trade, or getting lucky on a young buck like ZaZa if he turns into a player.

[Spiral]

I'll say this much, if Chicago wanted to throw in a signed Duhon with Curry for Al, I'd take that deal and never look back. I don't think thats very likely though.

[Nicholasp27]

if we could do a snt for curry where we don't pay him more than 6mil/year, i'd be fine with getting him...i just don't wanna pay 10+/year for him (ugh@even 8mil)

it'd be worth giving up al if we can get duhon from it as well and get the cheaper curry who can produce but is just too much of a risk to pay more than 6ish

then get zaza and evans/hunter and run with that...next year bring over andersen plus our own draft pick

duhon/jj/salim/ivey

jj/chill/salim/delk

chill/marvin/smoove/donta

smoove/marvin/evans/zaza

curry/zaza/andersen/evans

duhon/jj/chill/smoove/curry w/marvin and salim 6/7th men

we'd never have to put anybody on the floor but jj/chill/smoove/curry/marvin/salim/duhon/zaza if we didn't want to...so if all of those guys pan out, we'd be deep as hell...if some don't pan out, then maybe andersen/evans/danta/ivey step up or else we can draft/sign some people to fill out the bench

[AHF]

Lets just say that I wouldn't take this as the definitive word on whether Atlanta is interested in Curry.

[Inside_Man]

You can't get Curry unless you can get insurance.

Any smart insurance co is going to insist he take the DNA test before they write a policy. It's that simple.

[Traceman]

I'd STILL be willing to offer Curry a 3 year deal at pretty good money with a team option for years 4 and 5 even if we can't get insurance. It is a risk but it is one that I think we are in position to take.

I wouldn't give Curry a HUGE 5 yr deal w/o insurance but if we offered Chandler near max money and forced CHI to match that and then came back with an offer to Curry with a deal starting around $8M, they MIGHT match but I'm not 100% convinced they will. In a scenario like that, we are basically risking a little less than $27 that Curry will pan out.