There was some scattered word over the last couple of weeks that Eddy Curry was getting close to returning to the court with the Knicks. His various ailments were healing nicely, he was starting to work out and Mike D'Antoni was saying positive things about having him back in the fold.
Alas, like a cartoon frying pan, reality has struck the Knicks across the face. Curry is still weeks away from returning to the court and fears are that he suffers from arthritis in his right knee. He's getting cortisone shots to deal with that and would need to get fully back to health before he'd even start practicing again. That means he'll be out until February and won't have played a meaningful second of basketball all year.
All of which means he isn't going to help the Knicks at all. The idea that he could actually contribute on the court is a hard one to understand. His game fits into D'Antoni's system about as well as he'd fit into the cast of "Friends," and his health history makes it hard to count on him for anything more than an amusing story about stolen clothes.
Curry's only value, no matter what D'Antoni says, is as a trading chip to help them get even further under the cap before 2010. The trade deadline is in February, however, and if he isn't proving himself healthy and able well before the deadline, no one is going to trade for him. That means the Knicks will have to cross their fingers, hopes he gets into shape over the summer and dupes someone into bidding for him sometime in the 2009-10 season.
Together with Stephon Marbury, Curry represents the worst excesses of the Isiah Thomas era. It appears they will continue to only be of value to the current team doing karaoke versions of Naked Eyes' "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me."
