The Pacers Can’t Get Rid of T.J. Ford

He’s like that irremovable stain from the couch: “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 (behind Watson and rookie A.J. Price) 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.”