The insider on his way out

RealGM has reported that NBA Insider reporter Chad Ford is leaving ESPN.

Ford is a polarizing figure for NBA fans, and I know a few bloggers who don't particularly like his work. Meanwhile the unofficial cap-guru and NBA economist (and now a blogger!)  Dan Rosenbaum gave Ford some accolades before the departure was announced:

 I don't think anyone works harder than he does. He travels all over the country - all over the world - for his stories. I have seen him working and he is constantly talking to people, either in person or on the phone. He understands the collective bargaining agreement as well as any sportswriter (and a lot of front office personnel), and he has started to include advanced statistics from 82games.com and John Hollinger in his articles.

I think we all underappeciate how difficult it would be to be in his shoes - to let the public know what he knows without overstepping. I think he does a very good job at that. In my humble opinion, I think we should thank our lucky stars that it is Chad Ford (and not someone else) that is in the "insider" position at ESPN.com.

The discussion continues over at TrueHoop, and I think a lot what upsets Ford's readers was the idea that he has been used by GMs around the league to drum up false interest or deflect the truth. How much of that is true is debatable, but I am pretty certain nobody could ever know how much garbage information Ford has to sift through every day in his process of providing constant, informative, and entertaining content. As Rosenbaum verifies, it seems like hard work. A lot harder than linking and musing on a blog.

I liked reading Ford and accepted that what he said may not always be the truth, and if you read carefully he always prefaced his columns by establishing what was coming from his sources and what was simply his own ideas. A lot of times readers confused the two.

Additionally, he is one of the few draft analysts who made an effort to scout international and HighSchool players, especially those at ESPN who'd rather have their head up the NCAA's collective rear.

Speaking of the 'worldwide leader' despite what you thought of Ford's body of work or his methods, this is a definite loss for ESPN, which already has its NBA coverage and general product declining in quality. Odd that almost exactly a year ago David Aldridge left. And in a similar way it is fitting that soon after Ford's departure we'll get a half hour of Stephen A. Smith every day on the 4-letter network.

Maybe Ford's rumors didn't always come to fruition, but he put in the work to get the pulse of the league every morning. Maybe ESPN has seen its popularity rise with replacing what Ford provided with the screaming of several uninformed blowhards and contrarian columns written to inspire disingenuous 'controversy'. But I have a feeling this time next year I'll be missing Chad Ford.

 

Deeeeennng!

Hard not to get excited after reading this article in the Trib Tuesday morning:

Bulls officials remarked in passing that the 20-year-old [Luol]Deng has grown an inch in the last year, now measuring 6 feet 9 inches. Deng points out another important attribute: The injury forced him to do drills with his left hand because he couldn't use his right for nearly three months.

"If my right hand were healthy, I wouldn't have my left hand where it is now," Deng said. "I sign autographs with my left hand. I eat with my left hand. I throw a football with my left hand. Using my left hand is a regular thing now." As far as basketball goes, "my left hand is definitely going to be better this year," Deng added.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love Luol Deng. And among the whole Curry/Chandler free agent fiasco, the Ben Gordon heroics, and face of the franchise Captain Kirk, Luol is easily overlooked...

But after this coming season he may be too good to be ignored.

Carnival of the NBA #13

Is up at The City. Go and check out what's happening in the basketblogosphere.

If you insist on keeping it Bulls-centric, check out recent posts from Bulls Report (on Jay Williams) and Running with the Bulls (on Eddy's heart).

Guest Post - Jay Williams as the Terminator

The following post is from Nels, of Give Me The Rock. His blog is usually focused on fantasy basketball, but as a Bulls fan he is welcome here to spread his blogging wings...

Nuno over at NBA FAN BLOG has a post up about Jay Williams (aka the Comeback Kid? aka The Terminator ["I'll be back"]). I also saw an article on CNNSI about him. Here's what I want to talk about:

Ironically the Bulls may no longer have any use for Williams. Kirk Hinrich, Chris Duhon, Ben Gordon and Jannero Pargo are all more than capable of playing the point guard position and if Williams comes back, I'm sure he's eager to get playing time. Other teams like Toronto, Houston and Miami are all reportedly interested in Williams' services. Once Williams is ready to play in the league, it shouldn't be difficult for him to find a roster spot.

How's about let's put Hinrich and Gordon back at the 2-spot where they belong, send Duhon packing and keep Pargo as the back-up Bobcat killer. If Williams is anything like his former self he's probably better than Duhon. And, no offense to Captain Kirk and Ben "Jordan" but they're not at their best at the PG position. I'm not the only one though... The poll over at JayWill.com says that 44.8% of people (I'm sure it's statistically significant) want JW to play for the Bulls. And if the Bulls are smart, they'll take him. Yes, this would leave Chicago dramatically undersized in the backcourt, but we know that Jordan Gordon can shoot over most bigger guys, and Hinrich is pretty good at finding open shots himself. I ain't worried. Okay, maybe a little... only on the defensive end, though. But! It's not going to be any worse than if the Bulls put Gordon and Duhon or Hinrich and Duhon out there at the same time, right? Right. They already have an undersized backcourt, so why not upgrade a little? If Williams returns to the Bulls, I'll bestow upon him the nickname Double-Deuce (in addition to Comback Kid and the Terminator). If he goes to another team, he will forfeit the rights to all of those nicknames.

Guest Post - Eastern Conference preview in July

Commenter 'REB' sent this in to me, and although I don't like the exercise of making far-to-early predictions, with no real news around what's wrong with speculating a bit:

Just because it's Mid July and the NBA season doesn't start for more than 3 months is no reason not to predict the East playoff picture. So here's one reader's fearless prognostication.

Definitely in the playoffs (3):

Miami (57-25), Indiana (56-28), Detroit (53 -27)

These three are definitely the cream of the East and anyone of them could end up the 1st seed. I'm going to go with Miami despite my concern about how often Shaq will actually play before the playoffs. I expect Miami will find another role player to improve the current roster. I'll put Indiana ahead of Detroit because they have more depth and are less likely to suffer from a significant injury than Detroit. The Pistons may be the better team head to head but Indiana is likely to do a better job of beating up on the weaker teams. Of course all bets are off if Steven Jackson grabs a pipe and actually does try to beat up some team.

Absolutely not in the playoffs (3):

Atlanta (23-59), Charlotte (22-60), Toronto (27-55)

These are awful teams and not worth talking about. Atlanta does have some young potential (Smith, Williams and Harrington) and chance to develop into a decent team in a couple of years if they use this years cap room wisely, but nothing is going to get the Hawks into the playoffs this year.

Most likely out (3):

Milwaukee - A new coach and lots of new players and major ifs with Bogut and Ford. They may be playing well enough in April to get the cheese heads excited for 2006-7 but they should be no better than (36-46) for the season.

New York (36-46) - If Brown can turn this mismatch of players into a playoff team he's the Second Coming. More likely to be seen is Brown with a gun to his head while watching Crawford and Marbury pretend to run plays and play defense.

Orlando(34-48) - I don't see, except for Dwight Howard's development, where this team has gotten any better. Grant is a shadow of what he once was and Stevie Franchise can't seem to recognize his teammates. I will be surprised if they match last year's record.



That leaves 6 teams fighting for 5 playoff slots

3rd seed New Jersey (50-32) - 42 wins last year and coming fast once Carter arrived and Kidd got healthy. Now Jefferson is back. There weak up front and I'm not a fan of Abdur Rahim but if Kidd holds up, they should have a 50 win season. They may have a major trade of Jefferson or Carter before they get too far into the season.

5th seed Chicago (46-36) - Last year only 5 wins separated Chicago at 3rd best record and Cleveland at 9th. This year I expect much the same look to the playoff race. I'm giving the Bulls this spot because they will be a year more experienced and will have no major players to break in. Of course if Curry can't play they could drop out of the playoffs because Davis is only good for 10-12 minutes a game. I expect Chandler and especially Deng to be the most improved, but I'm concerned that Gordon won't always be able to duplicate those 4th quarter heroics of last season. One less win than last year.

6th seed Cleveland(46-36)- Adding Hughes, Marshall and a competent point guard (still to be named) makes the Cavs a solid playoff team, and a threat to pull an upset in the first round of the playoffs. Getting rid of an inept coaching staff and Jeff McInnis is also a plus.

7th Seed Philadelphia (44 - 38) - This is a definite reach but I expect Philly's experience and a new coaching staff to get these guys one last playoff spot. I also expect this to be Chris Webber's last decent season. This will be the 76ers last trip to the playoff for a few years as there saddled with Webbers and Iverson's contracts. I like Iguodala a lot and I think he is the player Paxson was hoping to draft at #7 last year, but Deng being still on the board was a happy surprise.

8th Seed Washington (42 -40)- The loss of Hughes hurts but Daniels will play well for them. Arenas and Jamison will make them a respectable team. They still have needs but they will be just good enough to beat out Boston.

Just Miss

Boston(41-41) - This is a team on the come but they have a mismatched roster. Ainge is going to want to play a style that gets the most out of his young players and that isn't what suits Pierce and Walker's talents. I'm not a Doc Rivers fan and I think he will not be very successful getting his veterans to play the way he wants to play with all the young talent. I expect them to be up and down all season. Here's a team that may undergo major changes by mid-season.