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Bench Warmer
Pacers point guard T.J. Ford is on the trading block, which is and isn't news.
It might be news to those of you hanging onto him in fantasy leagues clinging to the hope that he'll soon get his starting job back from Earl Watson, but it isn't news to anyone in an NBA front office.
Indiana has been trying to trade Ford for "years," an NBA source told ESPN.com on Sunday night as Ford sat out the entire 48 minutes and Indiana was steamrolled 132-89 by the New York Knicks. "Not weeks. Not months. Years," the source said.
Ford, the eighth overall pick of the 2003 draft, was demoted from starter to third-stringer prior to Indiana's victory on Saturday over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ford's pecking-order status has dropped to just above the doghouse level that was occupied by Jamaal Tinsley all last season in Indiana.
It is a far, far fall for a player who started 25 of Indiana's first 30 games this season, a fall that appears will remain permanent barring an injury to Watson or Price. The source cited above said Indiana has practically given up hope of trying to trade Ford, who is making $8.5 million and has a player option worth another $8.5 million for next season. He is so certain to exercise that option, we'll go ahead at this early date and name him to the starting five on the 2010-11 dead money team.
Chances are, it'll be money that will still be on Indiana's cap a year from now, when "expiring contract" will be required to always appear in the same sentence with the words "T.J." and "Ford."
Because unlike two weeks ago when O'Brien switched Ford for Watson as the starter but then changed his mind a few games later, this time the move sounds permanent.
"He responded like the man I know he is," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said of Ford, who has now lost jobs or been given up on by Milwaukee, Toronto and Indiana over the five-plus seasons since he was named Naismith Player of the Year at Texas in 2003. "He said, 'Coach, I'll do whatever. You've got to make the decision, and I'll do whatever I need to do to make this a better basketball team.' I have the ultimate respect for him, and I really like T.J. a lot, but sometimes you have to make decisions that impact people you like."
Watson played well Saturday but certainly didn't bring much Sunday on the tail end of Indiana's back-to-back, committing three turnovers in the first three minutes of the game and finishing with just a single assist. The Pacers fell behind by as many as 48 in their 43-point drubbing by the Knicks.
So as much as this move seems to be about Watson's being a more solid performer than Ford has been this season, it's also about seeing what they can get out of the rookie from Connecticut who was a part of the epic six-overtime classic between UConn and Johnny Flynn's Syracuse team at Madison Square Garden two seasons ago.
Price played 22 minutes, shot 5-for-11, scored 11 points and committed only one turnover. The biggest move for Ford was removing his headband midway through the game, most of which he spent conversing on the end of the bench with teammate Troy Murphy.
"T.J is struggling in some areas," O'Brien said. "We're not spacing the court with him, he's only made one 3-pointer [in 28 attempts], and Earl, just in my mind, is the best option at the starting position. My job is to win basketball games now and build young guys, and I can't build a young guy like A.J. Price having him sit on the bench and watch. It's not like we're a .500 basketball team. We have some key guys hurt, Earl is on a one-year contract, and it's a time to see what A.J. can give us because we have to know by the end of the season exactly who A.J. Price is, how solid he is as an NBA guard."
So for the remainder of this season -- unless Indiana can find the taker for Ford they've been seeking for years -- A.J. is going to be a more valuable commodity for Indiana than T.J. will be.
Chris Sheridan
ESPN.com
It might be news to those of you hanging onto him in fantasy leagues clinging to the hope that he'll soon get his starting job back from Earl Watson, but it isn't news to anyone in an NBA front office.
Indiana has been trying to trade Ford for "years," an NBA source told ESPN.com on Sunday night as Ford sat out the entire 48 minutes and Indiana was steamrolled 132-89 by the New York Knicks. "Not weeks. Not months. Years," the source said.
Ford, the eighth overall pick of the 2003 draft, was demoted from starter to third-stringer prior to Indiana's victory on Saturday over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ford's pecking-order status has dropped to just above the doghouse level that was occupied by Jamaal Tinsley all last season in Indiana.
It is a far, far fall for a player who started 25 of Indiana's first 30 games this season, a fall that appears will remain permanent barring an injury to Watson or Price. The source cited above said Indiana has practically given up hope of trying to trade Ford, who is making $8.5 million and has a player option worth another $8.5 million for next season. He is so certain to exercise that option, we'll go ahead at this early date and name him to the starting five on the 2010-11 dead money team.
Chances are, it'll be money that will still be on Indiana's cap a year from now, when "expiring contract" will be required to always appear in the same sentence with the words "T.J." and "Ford."
Because unlike two weeks ago when O'Brien switched Ford for Watson as the starter but then changed his mind a few games later, this time the move sounds permanent.
"He responded like the man I know he is," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said of Ford, who has now lost jobs or been given up on by Milwaukee, Toronto and Indiana over the five-plus seasons since he was named Naismith Player of the Year at Texas in 2003. "He said, 'Coach, I'll do whatever. You've got to make the decision, and I'll do whatever I need to do to make this a better basketball team.' I have the ultimate respect for him, and I really like T.J. a lot, but sometimes you have to make decisions that impact people you like."
Watson played well Saturday but certainly didn't bring much Sunday on the tail end of Indiana's back-to-back, committing three turnovers in the first three minutes of the game and finishing with just a single assist. The Pacers fell behind by as many as 48 in their 43-point drubbing by the Knicks.
So as much as this move seems to be about Watson's being a more solid performer than Ford has been this season, it's also about seeing what they can get out of the rookie from Connecticut who was a part of the epic six-overtime classic between UConn and Johnny Flynn's Syracuse team at Madison Square Garden two seasons ago.
Price played 22 minutes, shot 5-for-11, scored 11 points and committed only one turnover. The biggest move for Ford was removing his headband midway through the game, most of which he spent conversing on the end of the bench with teammate Troy Murphy.
"T.J is struggling in some areas," O'Brien said. "We're not spacing the court with him, he's only made one 3-pointer [in 28 attempts], and Earl, just in my mind, is the best option at the starting position. My job is to win basketball games now and build young guys, and I can't build a young guy like A.J. Price having him sit on the bench and watch. It's not like we're a .500 basketball team. We have some key guys hurt, Earl is on a one-year contract, and it's a time to see what A.J. can give us because we have to know by the end of the season exactly who A.J. Price is, how solid he is as an NBA guard."
So for the remainder of this season -- unless Indiana can find the taker for Ford they've been seeking for years -- A.J. is going to be a more valuable commodity for Indiana than T.J. will be.
Chris Sheridan
ESPN.com
