Chad Ford: Thanks for coming everyone. Let's jump right in to the deep end.
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Mo (DC): Are the 'Zards shopping Kwame Brown? We hear Elton Brand, but do the Clippers make that trade?

Chad Ford: I don't think they're "shopping" Kwame, but they're definately listening to offers. They won't give him away. What they would do, however, is trade him for another young, more accomplished low post player -- like Elton Brand. There's a tension between winning now (Michael isn't playing to win lottery balls) and building for the future. They won't do anything to damage that, but they wouldn't mind upgrading either.


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Jeff (Cold Spring Harbor): Chad- Where do o think Marcus Camby will end up? Will he give the Lakers more athleticism? Will he return to the Knicks to give them more height?

Chad Ford: I definately think Camby is a guy to watch as the trade deadline gets nearer. He doesn't have an outrageous contract and, if he's healthy (a big if) he could really help a team like the Lakers or Sonics. As far as the Knicks go, they don't have anything to offer the Nuggets. Kiki Vandeweghe is looking for draft picks or players in the last year of their contracts.


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Matt(Chicago):: Will the Bulls finally trade some of their young players? Who do you think they will deal, and who might they get in return? Keep up the great work.

Chad Ford: It's coming. Jamal Crawford and Marcus Fizer are the trade bait. Both have been playing well, which should increase their value. Krause won't give them away, but with so many teams in need of a point guard or low post help, I think someone will make him a reasonable offer. I still believe that a Darius Miles and Bimbo Coles for Crawford and Fizer makes a lot of sense for both teams, but that Cavs insist they aren't trading Miles.


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Josh Meyer (Palmer) IA: What are the chances of Payton landing in Minny this summer? The Wolves have been enamored with him for some time and him and KG are close.

Chad Ford: It's possible. The Sonics maintain that they want Payton to retire a Sonic. And Payton still insists that he wants to be in Seattle, so you've got to believe they can get something done. With that said, there has been a lot of tension in Seattle lately. If Payton bolts, I think Minnesota, Milwaukee and Golden State may be the best fits.


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Fox (chicago): Could something be worked out between the Bulls and the Hawks to bring Shareef Abdur-Rahim to Chicago for a combination of Rose and some of the Bulls young guns like Crawford, Fizer, or Curry. It fills needs on both teams and both are in a major need for a change.

Chad Ford: The Hawks are another team that's clearly looking to make a change. I'm sure Jerry Krause would love to get his hands on Abdur Rahim, but I doubt Pete Babcock is ready to blow up his team. I think, instead, they are looking to make one more impact move so that this team gets into the playoffs. Remember, they guranteed their season ticket holders that they'd be in the playoffs.


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Robbie (Portland, OR): The Clippers made the mistake of neither re-signing nor trading Olowokandi last summer (or before). As a result, he's set to become an unrestricted free agent, he's going to sign with somebody else, and the Clippers get NO COMPENSATION AT ALL. Shouldn't they not make this mistake again? Shouldn't they trade away whichever restricted free agents-to-be they DO NOT plan on re-signing? Say, Andre Miller and Corey Maggette? I mean, they are 13-22, they have no shot at making the playoffs this year. Corey Maggette for Rodney White? Andre Miller for Mike Dunleavy?

Chad Ford: Right. Olowokandi is gone. He reiterated that Wednesday night prompting GM Elgin Baylor to rip the Kandi man. I think they're mulling this over as we speak. With a normal owner, that's exactly what you do . . . but with Donald Sterling, he's more unpredictable. I think they'd like to keep Brand, Odom and Maggette if possible. Miller has played well, but he's more expendable. Given Miller's value, he should be able to get them something very good in return . . . a lot more than Mike Dunleavy.


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Matt (Vero Beach, Fl): Do you think the Denver Nuggets will be able to attract any big name free agents with all that cap room? I've heard a lot of things about the Kandi man in San Antonio or Orlando. Would he play for the Nugs??

Chad Ford: They will for this simple reason . . . they don't have much competition. There are only a handful of teams (San Antonio, Utah, Denver) who can offer max deals. The Nuggets may have to overpay a little bit, but if they're willing to pay them, they will come. I think the targets right now are Olowkandi, Andre Miller and Gilbert Arenas. Maggette also makes a lot of sense.


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Tony (Glendale, CA): Hi Chad - Do you forsee the Lakers doing anything before the trade deadline? With all the trade rumors involving Horry, Spree, Camby, etc. Are any of these even possible? The Lakers seem to be playing better, do you see Mitch making any moves?

Chad Ford: The Lakers usually drag their feet, but they have a bit more to work with this season. Robert Horry is essentially in the last year of his deal (he has a team option) and if you combine him with Samaki Walker and Tracy Murray, the Lakers have about $11.3 million in expiring contracts to deal. That could certainly land you the likes of Brian Grant, Marcus Camby or even a combo of Lorenzen Wright and Stromile Swift. Teams want the cap room right now, the Lakers should take advatage of it. The big obstacle though is Jerry Buss, who is pretty tight with the purse strings and Phil Jackson, who doesn't like to mess with adding players mid season.


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Gonzo(Detroit): Detroit is a solid team, but many people say that the Pistons need a "superstar" to make them contenders? How does Joe Dumars get that star? Trade, free agency or maybe they'll get lucky and draft a star with the Memphis pick they got this year. What do you think Joe D should do?

Chad Ford: Do they really need one? They're playing awesome right now. The long term plan is to get the next superstar via the draft. As long as Memphis doesn't get the No. 1 pick overall, the Pistons will get their pick. They have their eye on Darko Milicic but . . . speaking of Darko.


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Joshua Margolis, Boston: I know the Players Association was supposed to decide, on Monday I believe, whether to pursue the eligibility of Darko Milicic and Sofoklis Schortsianitis for the 2003 NBA Draft. I have not heard anything yet about the decision and was wondering if you knew anything. While on the subject, what is your opinion on their eliginility? And would you take Darko over LeBron?

Chad Ford: Billy Hunter had some travel problems and the conference call with the executive committee was canceled. No word yet on when it will take place, but things aren't looking so great for Darko anymore. I think many of the NBA's veterans (who make up the committee) wonder why they should make the effort to get 17 year old international players in the league. In the end, Darko and Co. will be taking their jobs.

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Bruno (São Paulo, Brazil): Hey, Chad, what's up? You've been on that trip to Yugoslavia and watched training sessions and everything. You think an international coach would fit nicely in an NBA team? Is this something possible to happen short-term?

Chad Ford: I think it will happen very soon. With college coaches now completely falling out of favor, the NBA has to refresh its ranks somewhere. There are a lot of great coaches in Europe. I wouldn't be shocked if something happens in the next two years.


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Vernon(Montreal): Hey Chad, I heard about your recent trip to Europe to look at numerous international prospects and I was wondering if future trips are planned to South America(perhaps to look for the next Nene, or Tiago, or Anderson) as well as China, to get a better gauge on the likes of Zhu Fanghyu (spelling?) and Yi Jian Lian and I also hear the Korean players are pretty good. It would be really cool to hear what ESPN has to say about the rest of the World's prospects. The fact that basketball is becoming a truly global game, has got this North American fan really excited.

Chad Ford: We're working on it. I think you'll see this in Insider sooner than you think. That's all I can say about it now, but ESPN fashions itself as the Worldwide Leader in sports. I think it will prove that very soon.


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Josh(Toronto): Chad what should the Raptors do? Keep siting Vince and watch the chance at getting a Lebron James or Carmelo Anthony grow by the day or bring Vince back and let him try to get his game going?

Chad Ford: I'd rest him. Get him 100 percent healthy. The Raptors are in too deep a hole. They're better off getting more talent via the lottery. With that said, Vince is pressing to return on Friday.


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E-Rock (Orlando): Chad, your columns are great! Why won't the Magic suck it up and make a trade, instead of always waiting for the future?

Chad Ford: You wonder . . . right now the team is slated to have $6 or $7 million under the cap next year. That won't be enough to get a top tier big man like Tim Duncan, Michael Olowokandi or Jermaine O'Neal. The Magic should figure out something now. They have a few guys in the last year of their contracts. Put them together and get a legitimate big man. They will go nowhere until they address the issue.


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Matt Lombardo (fords, nj): Hi chad. I am a diehard knicks fan, and believe a shotblocking center should be our focus come the trade deadline. Can we get camby or adonal foyle? Please tell me the todd MacCulloch rumors aren't true.

Chad Ford: The Sixers are shopping MacCulloch and they have contacted the Knicks. Normally, you'd think this would be a no brainer for Scott Layden. They wouldn't have to give up much in return and they need a big man in the worst way. However, CEO James Dolan is tightening the purse strings and MacCulloch is overpaid. I think the Sonics and Blazers may also get into the MacCulloch talks. Both of those teams could use another big body in the post.


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Gretta (St. Louis): Hey Chad, your hot!!

Chad Ford: Thanks Gretta.


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Asim (Granger, IN ): As a long suffering Warriors fan it's been actually exciting watching them this year. How long do you think before they're a playoff caliber team?

Chad Ford: As long as it takes them to fire Garry St. Jean.


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Christian (London): Please answer my question, please - Lamar Odom is back and playing well. Many think he's a top 10 player in terms of talent and versatility. If he stays healthy and out of trouble, will he be a franchise player? Where will he play next year. Thanks.

Chad Ford: I'll go one step further. If Lamar Odom stays healthy and if he stays out of trouble, he has the talent to be a top 5 player. He's the only big man in the NBA who truly has point guard skills. Of course, there are still a lot of questions swirling about Lamar. If he keeps up his strong play and helps turn the Clippers around this season, I think he'll get a big contract somewhere -- either L.A. (he's Donald Sterlings favorite) , the Wizards (he'd be a great fit) or Miami (Pat Riley loves him).


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Brian NYC: Good piece about Shaq on NBA Insider. Do you think he's a racist? I think the comment he made was tasteless and the reporter who wrote the article about it was right that there would be an uproar if a similar comment was made toward an African American athlete. I think an apology and/or an explanation from Shaq is needed. Thanks.

Chad Ford: Were Shaq's comments at Yao Ming racially charged? Absolutely. Did he intend them to be racial slurs? Only Shaq knows the answer to that. But what people tend to lose sight of when we talk about issues like this is that just because there wasn't an intent to do harm doesn't mean that there wasn't harm. I have received a ton of e-mail from Asian readers who were deeply hurt by Shaq's comments. I think Shaq would be surprised. Those close to him say he doesn't have a racist bone in his body and he was just trying to be funny. Of course they said the same thing about Fuzzy Zoeller.


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John Siwaraga (Pittsburgh): Can the people who say that Yao Ming doesn't deserve to start the all star game be more Xenophobic?

Chad Ford: I think this is part of the issue. I have no idea why people would object to opening up the All-Star voting to all countries. The NBA is an international game and most countries have fans just as rabid as Amercia's are. If people in China want to vote for Yao, more power to them. I think you'd be surprised how many Americans are doing the same thing. The claim that somehow the voting should be closed to certain people reeks of the type of small mindedness .

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Philip(Austin): what do you predict for the shaq vs. yao matchup next friday?

Chad Ford: I think it's must see T.V. folks. Both players ahve been stewing about this for months. Shaq will try to punish him, but don't count out Yao. His best games have come against LA, Dallas, Sacramento and San Antonio. He gets up for big games too. I think it will be a great match-up against the NBA's two best centers. We haven't had something like that in a while.