The Miami Heat are progressing toward signing center Eddy Curry for the playoffs, front office sources told Yahoo! Sports.
After Heat president Pat Riley watched Curry work out in Chicago in recent days, he’s made plans to bring the 7-footer to Miami early next week for another workout and a medical physical with the ultimate objective to sign him, sources said.
Curry’s weight and personal problems have derailed what had been a productive career, and yet Riley has been hopeful Curry could somehow give the Heat a limited inside presence in the postseason. It is believed Curry still weighs more than 350 pounds.
One league source listed the probability of Miami signing Curry at “better than 50-50.” The Heat would need to cut a player for the playoffs, with rookie Dexter Pittman as a likely candidate to be waived.
After the Minnesota Timberwolves bought out Curry’s contract in February following the three-way Carmelo Anthony trade with the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets, Curry started to work again with trainer Tim Grover in Chicago. It’s unclear how much weight Curry lost, but NBA executives say he hovered around 375 pounds when he arrived in Chicago several weeks ago.
Curry has played a total of 10 games in the past three seasons – including three in 2009-10 and seven in 2008-09 – for the Knicks. New York never activated him this season. In his best season, Curry averaged 19.5 points and 7.1 rebounds for the Knicks in 2006-07.