A Reminder on How to Read Chad Ford

Five years ago (damn, I can't believe it's been that long), Tom wrote a fantastic article on how to read and interpret ESPN's Chad Ford, perhaps the most famous draft prognosticator in the business. I highly recommend you go read it.

The reason I bring this up is because there has been a lot of rumor and speculation regarding the Kings brought up by Ford lately, especially regarding trades.

First, we have this tidbit from his latest Mock Draft:

The Kings also are listening to offers for their pick (apparently no one shops their picks anymore they just listen). If they can get someone who can play right now, they'll likely go that direction. They've shown interest in the Minnesota's Kevin Love, but have also lowered their sights for players like the Atlanta's Dennis Schroeder, and I'm told they also like Milwaukee's Brandon Knight.

which prompted this question and answer in Ford's latest chat yesterday:

Brian (CA)

You said the Kings had interest in Brandon Knight for the 8th pick, would that interest extend to Larry Sanders, considering he would be a perfect fit next to Big Cuz.

Chad Ford  (1:42 PM)

Yes. The need a rim protector and Sanders is available. I think if they give up Knight and Sanders they'll want more than just the 8th pick. But the Kings have enough assets to throw another player the Bucks way. Would be a good deal for both teams -- especially if the Bucks could get Ben McLemore as well. They need young players they can build around. The Bucks will be active in trying to move up and get another pick and the Kings have been among the most active in trying to add a few vets to turn this team into a playoff contender next year. Sanders and Knight would probably do it.

Using TZ's basic method of "cutting through the crap", here's what we can take from these rumors/speculation.

1. The Kings do like Dennis Schroeder and Brandon Knight in some form.  With Schroeder, we also have an earlier report from Scott Howard-Cooper that mentions the Kings being high on him in last year's draft.

2. The speculation on Knight/Sanders being involved in a trade for the 8th pick is just that, speculation.  It's basically Ford making a deal in his mind that he thinks makes sense, much like Kings fans do in our comment threads every day.  Ford's actually right about the Kings needing a rim protector and he's probably right that Sanders is available, but neither of those are hard deductions to make.  But there's absolutely no indication that the Kings and Bucks have discussed any such trade, and there has been absolutely no indication that the Kings would be willing to give up Ben McLemore in that type of trade.

This time of year obviously leads to a lot of this type of speculation, so it's hard to take most of it at face value.  The best you can do is take everything with a grain of salt and sift through the facts to see if there's anything useful.  This doesn't go just for Chad Ford either, but for everyone.