FROM CHICAGO NOW
Two new teams have emerged as potential destinations for free-agent center Erick Dampier.
Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that Dampier has a visit scheduled Wednesday night in Dallas with representatives from the Chicago Bulls, who play the Mavericks in an exhibition game Thursday night at American Airlines Center.
--- update --
Beat writers KC Johnson and Mike McGraw dampen this rumor on twitter:
(remember non twitter users, you can always get bulls beat writer news via twitter here)
McGrawDHBulls Bulls may meet with Erick Dampier in Dallas, but at this point have no plans to sign ex-Mavs center, a source says
KCJHoop Doesn't sound like Dampier to the Bulls is a burning issue. More due diligence. And remember: Dampier has other interest.
Stein specifically mentioned on his twitter that this move was planned even prior to Boozer's injury, but you have to figure there's a greater chance of it happening now than there was prior to the injury.
As for the move, I approve it. I don't trust Omer Asik, and Dampier provides better defense, rebounding, and scoring than Kurt Thomas. It would turn Thomas into a pure emergency reserve player which is fine by me, and we'd probably play Joakim at PF some until Boozer is back.
Will Dampier be interested in the Bulls given that he'll have a limited chance to earn minutes without an injury? I'm not sure, but given that he's at the end of his NBA road, I'd suspect he'll go with the money rather than going with the most minutes.
Do the Bulls value him enough to offer up our remaining cap space? I noted when he was first released that I'd be willing to do so, and I still would. At this point, it's hard to see a Rudy Fernandez trade going down, and if one does we can always match salaries with James Johnson and send cash to cover the cost.
Dampier's the best player left on the board. He can legitimately play 20 minutes a game without degrading the quality on the floor, and the Bulls could definitely use someone to chew up minutes until Boozer comes back. Given the injury histories of our front court collectively, there's a good chance we'll need him again later as well.
Published in Player performance and tagged chicago bulls, erick dampier, free agency, interesting, meeting
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though he's not going to get nearly as much as he got last year, he's still got to be worth more than 2 or 3 million.
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