FanHouse T.J. Ford

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On Wednesday, we looked at the most compelling storylines in the Central, but what does it all mean? How will it all come together? Let's make some educated guesses, shall we?

First up, I'm going out on a limb playing it completely safe by saying Detroit wins the division. No, Joe Dumars didn't shake up the roster like he said he'd try to do, but let's not ignore that this is essentially the same team that won 59 games last season, second-most in the league and fourth-most in franchise history. To suggest they no longer have the firepower to win at least one more game than the Cavs, who won just 45 games last year, is ludicrous.

The Bobcats, needless to say, had a curious draft. Everyone expected Brook Lopez' name to get called at nine; after all, what need does Charlotte have with D.J. Augustin if Raymond Felton is the future at point guard? (Answer: exactly.) But Charlotte reaffirmed today that Felton is going to keep starting and that Augustin was merely drafted as a backup.

"We don't think D.J. is going to come in right now and be the starting point guard," [GM Rod] Higgins said.

While Higgins dismissed talk of a Felton-to-Knicks trade, it's clear the Bobcats were in various trade discussions leading up to the draft.

Managing partner Michael Jordan confirmed Thursday that the team talked to the Toronto Raptors about a deal that could have swapped forward Gerald Wallace for point guard T.J. Ford.

Apparently, talks stalled because the Raptors wanted a draft pick included as well, which seems like a nice thing to let Wallace know (You alone, sir, are worth one T.J. Ford, but you and a draft pick? We think not.) heading into the offseason.

With Tom Ziller's blessing, I bring you the story of a fan base that had its draft night hopes raised to the highest of heights, only to have them come crashing to the ground moments later. The Sacramento Kings had the 12th pick in the draft, and as things were shaking out, it appeared one of the best guards in the draft -- Jerryd Bayless -- might just fall into their laps at that spot. Through the first 10 picks, Bayless had been passed over. All that was left was for the Pacers to draft someone else at 11, which appeared likely considering they had just traded for T.J. Ford. But then ... well, Blazer's Edge (via TrueHoop) explains better than I ever could.

There's a show on National Geographic called "Seconds from Disaster" where they chronicle, minute by minute, the events that led up to a famous, tragic event like an airline crash or a gas pipe explosion. This feels like one of those shows ...

Obligatory warning: This thread is SOOOOO not safe for work because of the language. Well, maybe if you work in a porno shop with drunken sailors who have gone off of their Tourette's meds. No...even they would blush. But in this context all of that seems vaguely appropriate.

An absolutely hilarious account, and a pretty accurate one too. Now, Kings fans weren't lining up to jump off of the Tower Bridge because the team selected Jason Thompson. It was because of the cruel way in which the Draft Gods had toyed with them, and did so for the second straight year. Ziller mentioned that this year's Draft felt a little too much like last year's, when the Kings hoped to get Brandan Wright or Joakim Noah before they disappeared from the draft board in the two picks before it was Sacramento's turn.

Hopefully Thompson turns out to be more than a serviceable big man for the Kings. Because after the way the last two draft nights have gone down in Sacramento, the fans of the team seem to deserve it.

One of the most awkward moments of last night's draft not involving Brook Lopez being mic'd up and Darrell Arthur stuck in the green room was Larry Bird being interviewed. He was stiff as a board and absolutely refused to comment on the "Jermaine O'Neal for T.J. Ford" deal, writing it off as pure "speculation."

As I watched it, I couldn't figure out why Bird would continue to play things so close to the vest. I mean, everyone knows it's going to go down, right? What's the harm in confirming what everyone already knows? In hindsight, he wasn't allowed to comment, and was under strict orders from David Stern to keep quiet. Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star (via TrueHoop) explains:

The craziest thing, though, was that team president Larry Bird couldn't even talk about his moves because both the Toronto and Portland trades involved "base year compensation'' players, which means the deals can't be completed until July 9. The Pacers lobbied the league to tell its fans about the new players, but the NBA shot them down, threatening any mention of players in proposed deals with a fine.

Dumb, really dumb.

After telling the local media he couldn't talk about the moves, Bird shrugged and said, "I don't know what the hell you're gonna ask me.''

I'm sure there's a legitimate reason written in the fine print of the league's CBA with the players association that explains why Bird couldn't talk, but c'mon, this is ridiculous. Forcing Bird to play dumb insults everyone's intelligence, including his, and preventing him from providing a good sound bite to explain his moves and build goodwill among fans is just bad business.

The buzz out of Charlotte is all about D.J. Augustin. And how could it not be? The Bobcats passed over Brook Lopez, a.k.a. the scoring big man they need to move Emeka Okafor to the four, in favor of Texas' point guard. And they did this when, in theory, they already have the point guard of the future, Raymond Felton.

But obviously, Larry Brown does not care for Felton. I am making that conclusion based on a) the drafting of Augustin, b) Brown getting on national television and saying (paraphrase) that a strong connection to your point guard is absolutely necessary for success and c) my amazing ability to connect dots.

Now, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer is saying that, with very few exceptions, anyone on the roster is fair game to be moved around.

The Bobcats were in serious discussions with the Toronto Raptors about a deal that could have swapped [Gerald] Wallace for T.J. Ford. It didn't happen, but that's the clearest indication yet how active the Bobcats are in seeing what their players might bring in trade.

I assure you Wallace isn't alone. Raymond Felton could be moved, and so could just about anyone else with perhaps the exception of Jason Richardson.

That shouldn't be surprising, and Richardson is only off limits because of his contract. What is shocking is how quickly Michael Jordan, Brown and Co have given up on Felton (all three Carolina grads) given they spent a high lottery pick on him just a few years ago.

Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the on-again, off-again deal that would send Jermaine O'Neal to Toronto for T.J. Ford is officially on, and has been agreed to in principle by both clubs. The Raptors will also send Rasho Nesterovic and another player to Indiana to match O'Neal's huge salary that he's owed, about $44 million over the next two seasons.

Both O'Neal and Ford have a history of medical issues, so the obligatory team physicals may yet have something to do with this deal actually being completed. But if all goes well, the Raptors can have Jose Calderon running the team without any drama, and the Pacers can begin rebuilding with a solid point guard in place, along with the 11th and 17th picks in the first round of Thursday night's draft.

Tom Ziller called the T.J. Ford part of this deal back in April, as Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo all but guaranteed that Calderon would be staying in Toronto, and also mentioned that he wasn't sure if the two point guards could happily co-exist. This seems to be a good deal for both sides, and is probably just the first trade of many that we'll see between now and the end of tomorrow evening's Draft festivities.

It's fairly disappointing to look back at the 2007-08 season and realize I didn't make a single post relating to Jose Calderon's blog. It's been mentioned before, of course, in the relevance of cultural importance, but it doesn't necessarily get a lot of media attention. Or at least not enough media attention. But I bet that will change with Jose's most recent and a little picante entry, posted May 7 and relating to his contract status.

As of today, the Raptors would like me to continue, however until the 1st of July we will not know anything about the possible renewal or other offers from teams interested in me for next season. What is clear is the fact that if I have to choose between a sports offer versus an economic offer, I will opt for the first. I want to be a starter and to be in a team that aspires for everything. Of course I will not be on a team in which I cannot be an important contributor nor if there is not a solid structure or if there are not options to be in the "Playoffs".

Okay, first of all, the fact that the is willing to give up money in order to start for a contender is just superb. It's something that you obviously don't hear much anymore. You do hear people frequently say that they would like to start though, but I feel like JMC's case is a bit of an exception. Clearly, Bryan Colangelo prefers him to T.J. Ford.

He does so with good reason; Calderon is a better point guard. Calderon probably should have been an All Star this season, and he is also clearly the future at the point for Toronto. And if he gets his wish, he'll be the only future. Honestly, too, that doesn't seem like something Jose would fire out publicly if he didn't believe the team was ready to move Ford either.

A look at the losers as they get bounced from the playoffs.

After winning 47 games in 2006-07, the Raptors regressed to an even .500 record this year, in part because of injuries to Jorge Garbajosa, Chris Bosh and T.J. Ford. That said, no matter how well they played, there was no catching the Boston Celtics, who won the division by 25 games.

How They Got to the Dance: By being in the Eastern Conference. A 41-41 record would have left the Raps on the outside looking in were they in the West, but it was good enough to result in a No. 6 seed in the East. That said, there's no doubt that there's enough talent on this team to make the playoffs every year, but they need their key guys to stay durable, and it wouldn't hurt if Andrea Bargnani would finally live up to his No. 1 pick status.

How They Got Bounced: Dwight Howard is without a doubt the most dominant center in the NBA today. There aren't a lot of teams who can slow him down, let alone the Raptors, who are used to playing a more of a finesse game. Howard put up three 20-20 games in the series, helping the Magic dominate the boards while a crew of sharpshooters fired away from three-point land.

Every single night of the playoffs there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the L. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

Everyone likes to blame Tracy McGrady when the Rockets. I know it, you know, he knows it. So in light of Houston's series-saving victory on Thursday (going down 0-3 isn't technically the same as being eliminated, but it's close enough), let's allow McGrady to soak in a little bit of the credit for this one: he scored 27 points with five boards, seven assists and a block, playing 43 minutes in Houston's slim 94-92 win. Yes, it took a last-second block by Carl Landry to seal the deal, but the Rockets would be lost without T-Mac.

Also Receiving Votes:
It's borderline criminal how much point guard talent the Raptors are hoarding this year. Check out the combined production of Jose Calderon and T.J. Ford on Thursday: 39 points (13-22 FG), 12 boards, 16 assists, two steals and four turnovers in 46 minutes. How'd the Magic fare?

Umm ... not as well. Jameer Neson and Keyon Dooling mustered just 14 points (5-13 FG) and seven assists in 46 minutes. Not surprisingly, the Raps won going away.

Hey, so remember that play at the end of Toronto's loss in Atlanta, where the clock appeared to start early, thus negating T.J. Ford's game winner? Of course you do. Well, the feeling at the time was that this was simply another scorer's table screw-up by the crew in Atlanta, of which there have been many.

But wait: I've got information man! New [stuff] has come to light! If you believe Atlanta's Al Horford, the crew may have actually gotten this one right.

Horford insists that any clock-related controversy surrounding T.J. Ford's potential game-winning layup at the end of regulation is much ado about nothing.

"I was trying to time it and I was so caught up in the moment that it didn't register until this morning, but I touched that ball," Horford told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday. "I reached out and tried to swat [the inbounds pass] away, but it was a great pass and I was only able to get my fingertips on the ball."

"The referee made a judgment that the ball was tipped by Al Horford on the inbounds pass, and that's why he started the clock," [NBA spokesman] Frank said.

So there you have it: the ball was tipped, the clock was started, and the basket was negated, as it should have been. Case closed. And if by chance you're a Raptors fan that's feeling that Horford may not be the most credible source in this situation, here are a few really good reasons that you should just let it go, man.