Join Anthony Stalter and John Paulsen at 4 PM ET as they discuss the week in sports and look ahead to the action this weekend.
Author: John Paulsen (Page 712 of 937)
Even though GM John Paxson has said that no deal has been reached, a source told the Chicago Sun-Times that a deal bringing Doug Collins to Chicago is imminent.
Collins hasn’t coached since the 2002-03 season when he guided the Washington Wizards in the second of back-to-back 37-45 seasons. He has compiled a career record of 332-287 (.536), which includes two 50+ win seasons – the 1987-88 Bulls and the 1996-97 Pistons.
I wonder if Mike D’Antoni is regretting his decision to choose the Knicks over the Bulls…
In a recent post about Mike D’Antoni’s decision to take the Knicks job, I mentioned that the first order of business is to find a quick guard to push the ball up court and to make good decisions. T.J. Ford, the odd man out in Toronto with the emergence of Jose Calderon, would be a great guy for the Knicks to target. Now that Toronto is actually pursuing a trade, it made me wonder – other than the Knicks, which teams should be interested in Ford?
The answer is all about pace, which is a team’s average number of possessions per game. Ford is a great player in the open court where he can use his incredible speed and wonderful ball handling to make positive plays for his team. When the tempo slows, Ford’s weaknesses – size, lack of a consistent jumper – rise to the surface. His shot is a work in progress, but he is a good on-the-ball defender.
So, besides the Knicks, who should be interested?
Denver Nuggets
If the Nuggets find a taker for Allen Iverson, Ford would be a nice fit with Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith (or Linas Kleiza) on the wings. It might take Smith or Kleiza to get the Raptors to bite, though they might do the deal for the Nuggets #20 pick.
Indiana Pacers
Did you know that Indiana played at the third highest pace this season? It’s a shame that their point guard (Jamaal Tinsley) isn’t suited for an up tempo style. I like the idea of Ford feeding Mike Dunleavy and Danny Granger on the wings. The Raptors might have interest in Shawne Williams, who played well in his first season, but the Pacers would have to add some salary to make a deal work. Other than maybe Marquis Daniels, they just don’t have any favorable contracts to move right now.
Miami Heat
I’m sure there are those that are wondering why the Heat are on this list, but we need to get out of the mindset that Miami has to be a grind-it-out team. Shaq is gone and the much more athletic Shawn Marion has taken his place. I’m hearing that the Bulls are going to take Michael Beasley, which would leave Derrick Rose for the Heat, but if it goes the other way, how nice would a core of Ford, Wade, Marion and Beasley look? It might take Dorrell Wright or Daequan Cook to make it happen.
Golden State Warriors
Sure, the Warriors already have two good point guards in Baron Davis and Monta Ellis, but Davis is looking for a big, long-term contract and the Warriors may not bite. If he opts-out of the final year of his deal, then the Warriors could work out a three-way trade involving Davis that would bring in Ford as their main ball handler. A Ford/Ellis backcourt would be small, but devastatingly quick. Who would the Raptors want in return? Brandan Wright seems like a big price to pay, but it might be worth it. Mickael Pietrus or Kelenna Azuibuike are also options.
Phoenix Suns
Nash is getting on in years and the Suns will need someone to take over once he’s gone. Why not acquire Ford to be Nash’s backup? It would allow the former MVP to rest more which should extend his career. This is all fine in theory, but with D’Antoni gone, the team will probably slow its pace, so it won’t need Ford.
Los Angeles Clippers
Apparently, Shaun Livingston is almost ready for contact drills, but the Clippers need stability at the point guard position and Ford would be great insurance if Livingston isn’t ready to go. The main problem with this move is that the Clippers aren’t built for an up tempo style. I’m guessing that Elton Brand will play out his final year to prove to teams that he’s ready to go. Brand and Chris Kaman aren’t built for an up tempo attack.
Atlanta Hawks
I’d love to see the Hawks acquire Ford. Mike Bibby helped them get to the playoffs, but he’s on the decline and is quite pricey for what he brings to the table. Imagine Ford pushing the ball up to Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams (or Josh Childress) and Josh Smith on the wings. That would be scary. The Raptors might be willing to trade Ford for Williams or Childress.
Man, I love The Onion.
CHICAGO—Just days after beating long odds in the NBA Draft Lottery by winning the 2008 draft’s first pick, the Chicago Bulls shocked the basketball world by announcing that they would trade their prize in on yet more NBA lottery tickets.
“This is pretty good, this No. 1 pick, it’s true,” Bulls general manager John Paxson told reporters while watching pre-draft workouts at the United Center. “We could probably get a pretty good player. But you see, if we cash it in and play the NBA Draft Lottery some more, we have a chance to win, like, the whole draft. Our team can’t afford to pass up a chance like that.”
“I hear these people second-guessing our decision to re-invest the top pick,” team owner Jerry Reinsdorf said Monday, “and it reminds me of 1984, when everyone wanted Hakeem Olajuwon or Sam Bowie and we wound up with a player you might have heard of named Michael Jordan. Well, just think of the entire 2008 Draft as the second coming of Michael Jordan.”
The Bulls front office was immediately inundated with phone calls, letters, and e-mails from fans insisting that the entire 2008 class, though certainly good, was no Michael Jordan.
As long as there have been barstools, there have been men on those barstools debating the most important topics in sports. In this week’s Barstool Debate, Anthony Stalter and John Paulsen discuss the pros and cons of the NBA’s current lottery system and what can be done to fix it.
John: The current NBA lottery system just isn’t working. It was designed to give the worst teams in the league the best draft picks while eliminating (or at least limiting) teams tanking in order to get a better pick. But every March, we start to see teams that are out of the playoff hunt shutting down their “injured” stars while “developing” their younger players. To be fair, these teams aren’t intentionally losing games, but they are intentionally not giving themselves the best chance to win. One way to eliminate this would be to give each lottery team an equal chance at the top (let’s say seven) picks, and go by record after that. Sure, decent teams will occasionally get the top pick (like in 1993, when the 41-41 Orlando Magic landed the #1 pick), but it will eliminate most of the tanking and put a better product on the floor later in the season.
Anthony: I agree that having a system in place that would give all lottery teams a fair shot at the No. 1 pick would eliminate tanking even more, but is it really fair that the fourth- or fifth-worst team gets a shot at the best player in the draft? Look the Spurs the year they drafted Tim Duncan. The only reason they were a lottery team that year was because David Robinson got hurt and missed most of the season. Now they’re a dynasty thanks to that draft. Isn’t there even a better way than giving all lottery teams a shot at the No. 1 pick? I understand that the NBA can’t adopt the NFL’s draft approach and pick just based on win-loss records, but it just doesn’t seem right that a decent team can become great just because they finished in the lottery one year.
John: I guess it depends on whether or not it’s right to reward failure. The idea is for the worst teams to have a shot at the best players so they can improve their teams and increase parity in the league. But look at the lottery this year. The Bulls overcame 1.7% odds to get the overall pick. Chicago was a playoff team two years ago and now it gets to add Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley to its talented roster. Meanwhile, the Heat are picking #2. Of all the teams in the lottery, Miami is the only one with a true superstar to build around and now they get to add whomever the Bulls pass on to a talented core that includes Wade and Shawn Marion. So even without an equal chance, decent teams are still getting the top picks, so why not make all the odds even so that we can at least eliminate tanking at the end of each season? I know that fans that fork out big money for seats want to see the stars play, but if they’re going to a game that features two non-playoff teams in March, chances are they will only get to see the scrubs in action. The most important thing is the product that is put out on the court, and tanking undermines that product.
Anthony: The overall goal in having a lottery is twofold. One, the NBA wants to encourage parity and two, it wants to avoid teams tanking at the end of the year. Unfortunately, it appears that there’s no way to accomplish both. If you want parity, you have to give teams with poor records a shot at the best prospects. But to avoid several teams “resting” their starters at the end of the year in order to get a better pick, you have to have a lottery. And in a lottery, you run the risk of decent teams like the Bulls and Heat coming away with some of the best talent. It seems like a no-win situation.
John: I say that the product that the league puts on the floor should be the priority. Therefore, it is most important to eliminate tanking, so the league should give each team even odds at winning the top seven picks. Then picks #8-#14 should be based on record. That, or devise a win-or-go-home playoff system that would keep some or all of the lottery teams involved until the very end. Maybe seed the top 14 teams in the playoffs and then take the other 16 teams and have a single-elimination tournament that would yield the final two playoff teams. Not only would that be exciting, but it would discourage tanking for most teams as they would still be playing their stars in an attempt to make the playoffs. Whatever the direction, the league should do something. Right now, tanking is running rampant and some good (or at least decent) teams are getting the top picks.
FOLLOW US!
CATEGORIES
© 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑