It's too late for the Toronto Raptors to trade T.J. Ford ... THIS season. But, after last night's display of New York Knick-style selfishness, I'd make it the first priority of the off-season.
To Portland for Jarret Jack and Travis Outlaw, perhaps? I'd even take on the contract of Stephon Marbury, if the Knicks would throw in David Lee and Reynaldo Balkman. Pair Ford up with Jason Kapono and see if Utah would be interested in trading Andrei Kirilenko in a three-way with somebody else, the third-team getting Ford. Afterall, Utah has Deron Williams.
Whatever, I've always found Ford's ability to pass comes from as much surprise on the part of opponents as any real passing ability. He's a ball-hog. A play-maker, according to Bosh, but ultimately a shot-taker that would have Kobe Bryant embarrassed. He dribbles and dribbles and then finds a shot to take. ONLY when surrounded by three or more defenders will he dish off.
As a proponent of team basketball, his play is untenable. To compare with Jose Calderon is to show the yin and yang of point guards. One believes in team, one doesn't. And however athletically talented he might be, he's eminently replaceable on this team. He can't play on a championship team. Simple as that. If Toronto dreams of a championship in two to three year's time, he has to be traded.
The Raptors need Bargnani to mature. They'll need two wings, one of whom can play defence. They need a reliable rebounding big man who plays defence and doesn't need a lot of offensive plays run for him. They need a backup guard for Calderon. They need to be out from under Ford's contract about the same time the Nestorovic contract ends. THEN, the team will have the money to see about filling in the last piece of the championship puzzle.
I'd prefer the Kirilenko option above all others. Kirilenko would provide the defence and enough offence to make a front-line of Bargnani, Chris Bosh and Kirilenko awfully hard to defend. Throw in Calderon and Anthony Parker and that team can start in an NBA final. You draft a mini-Ford like Ty Lawson and there's your backup point, with Roko Ukic being the third guard. Carlos Delfino, Jamario Moon and Kris Humphries (or his better replacement), make-up a decent rotation. And that's without using any exception money OR Nestorovic's expiring contract.
The interesting one would be the Knick move. Marbury would start next season as the backup, but his big contract would be great trade material. And even if the team hung on to the contract to get cap space themselves in the season AFTER next, when combined with Nestorovic's contract, it would actually give the Raptors 20 million reasons to lure a superstar north to combine with Bosh. In the meantime, Marbury could give them the same selfish backup play that Ford does. But replace Humphries with David Lee and split Jamario Moon's minutes with Balkman when the other team has a wing that needs stopping, and you upgrade the Raptors immediately.
Portland pursued Calderon at this trade deadline with some vigor. I don't know if they'd be as enthusiastic about Ford, but no hurt in trying. Jack can fill Ford's backup minutes. And if the Raptors could score the athletic Outlaw, then one wing spot would be taken care of. That opens up trading Kapono and/or Moon. Portland might also be willing to offer up Martell Webster instead of Outlaw, and that wouldn't be a bad thing for Toronto.
In any case, the Raptors would benefit immensely from making T.J. Ford an ex-Raptor this summer.
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