Eddy Curry has got to be kidding. When asked by the New York Post if he would take a buyout on his contract for 2010-2011 he replied, “definitely not”. Curry wants to be paid the entire $11.2 million owed to him or be waived if the Knicks no longer have a use for him and allowed to play for another team.
It’s the standard blather offered by a player who is trying to negotiate, but it ignores a vital fact- Curry’s contract includes a PLAYER’s option for 2010-11, meaning he can simply not exercise the option and become a free agent if he wants to leave the Knicks. Of course he would never do that because no team in it’s right mind is going to pay Curry anything more than the league minimum now that Isiah Thomas is out of the NBA.
So if Curry insists on exercising his option, he is a Knick in 2010-11, unless the team can trade him or get him to accept a buyout. Would it really hurt Eddy Curry to accept a buyout for “only” $10 million of the $11.2 he is owed? Of course not, he has already earned over $57 million in his career, but Eddy isn’t going to do that. He is going to take every cent he is contractually entitled to and that is his right. But, the Knicks are not without rights here either; they can simply leave Curry at the end of the bench to rot. That’s a position they should get ready to reluctantly assume.
