Cavs Owner Is Standing Up to the Blazers’ Threat
D-MilesFirst, the Blazers threatened to sue anyone who signed Darius Miles, as his status on an NBA roster for another two games would force Portland to take on $9 million on their cap.
But that didn’t just fall on deaf ears. In fact, Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert is rolling up his sleeves and telling the Blazers just how he feels about that threat.
“With all due respect…although the Cleveland Cavaliers have no interest in signing Darius Miles and will not be signing Darius Miles,” Gilbert wrote, “I find your email quite peculiar from two standpoints:
“1. It’s dead wrong. I believe that all 30 NBA teams were and are fully aware of the terms and provisions of the collective bargaining agreement as to which all teams and the NBA are a party to, including the Portland Trailblazers.
“2. Are legal threats through a mass email the best way to circumvent the known potential consequences that could result from the Trailblazers decisions and actions they took with respect to Darius Miles?
“I fully understand the frustration you and your team’s ownership must be feeling in regards to this situation, but a preemptive threat of ‘litigation’ directed at all of your partners through a group email does not sit well with me and seems to be incongruent with the spirit of keeping a ‘fiduciary duty’ and good ‘partner-like duty’ to your ‘NBA joint venturers.’
“I would think there has got to be a better tactic than this one.”
Nothing like a little front office drama.
Source: Yahoo! Sports
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January 9th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
chekmate says:
i can only see this turning out badly for the blazers.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Jim says:
Good for him. Portland looks like punks. It’s almost like their owner made a fortune in part through bullying opponents through the courts…
January 9th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
TCL says:
Well I agree 100%. Everyone in the league knows about Portland’s situation, so sending an e-mail like this out would make teams want to screw them even more.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Austin Burton says:
If anything, it just gives D-Miles and the players union grounds for a collusion argument.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Amar says:
this really only benefits the teams that are under the cap, and have a roster spot to burn. the jazz currently do not, but i’d fully support some other team signing him to a 10 day contract so he can play in two games.
seriously, portland’s brass look like asses with how they’ve handled this. obviously miles is physically able to play (even if no one wants him), thus, the medical termination of his contract was just so they could get out of paying him . . . not because he is really physically incapable of playing ball again. that’s weak.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
kg fan says:
Good response. I hope someone picks up Miles, not just to f with portland’s cap (a bonus though), but to see if he can turn his career around. I’m sure he can help off the bench on some team. The whole shadiness of how he was put on injury retirement was pretty messed up. Its about time Portland had some bad luck. Well besides Oden being Oden.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Diego says:
Yeah, I hope this whole thing keeps playing out. Somethning is really screwy here to begin with. Did the Trailblazes strong-arm Miles to take medical disability? Or did Miles pull a fast one on Portland by retiring via medical disability and then reneging? Miles is not that old. If we are not dealing with the second scenario, then Miles is getting unfairly burned by teams. I’d guess he can still play.
Screw Portland! The Hawks should place a call to them and say, hey, trade us for Speedy Claxton or we’ll sign D. Miles, punks!
January 9th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
TD says:
Considering Darius got paid all his money from insurance and the team, do they get any of that back since he’s obviously trying to get work? Or is that just lost money?
January 9th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Ashlov says:
Someone should sign Miles out of spite, and give him the number 9. Screw the Blazers and their immature ranting. Any team has the right to sign a player and NOT give them PT. This is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Heckler says:
what the hell is portland doing?!!?
an email threat “we will sue you if you try to sign darius miles?”
hahahaha. laughable. sue for what?…$18 million over the next two years.
i dont understand this….
January 9th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
kg fan says:
@diego
I think they put him on medical disability. Their team doctors said he had a career ending injury and wasnt fit to play. I remember they also “anonymously” released information regarding his drug suspension that wasnt supposed to be released. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong (dont feel like googling it)
January 9th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Willis says:
I wouldn’t be surprised if the OKC Thunder picked him up. After all, Bennett loves screwing people over.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Heckler says:
Portland made themselves so vulnerable.
ANY/EVERY team looking to dump a fat bad contract should be contacting Portland and telling them:
“take this player contract off our hands or we will sign darius miles!”
now that would be funny!!
January 9th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Scott says:
Is anyone else curious as to why Miles was waived by Memphis???? I mean if he can’t stick on that squad, who’s left OKC?
But ya, the Blazers should’ve kept quiet, its looking A LOT like they tried to get rid of Miles via a loophole aka the medical retirement. Its no secret they wanted him gone desperately, and they acted desperate in the way they rid themselves of him.
Considering it was the Blazers Pres that sent this, I’d be interested to see what Pritchard’s stance/take/involvement in it all is. As he was getting the golden boy treatment for assembling that team, I wonder how much this hurts his rep and the Blazers.
Did the jailblazers players change into a family friendly squad while the front office kept in that mode??
Just wondering. But glad that Gilbert sent this out and it was made public.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
mules says:
Wow! And I really thought the Portland front office was trying to get rid of the “Jailblazers” image, then they go and pull this shit with Darius. I guess if you wear a tie and a starched collar it’s okay to operate outside the law. Darius’s lawyer must be salivating.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
the cynic says:
D-Miles can’t play and never could play. Running and jumping like a gazelle doesn’t mean you can play basketball; fool has already stolen Millions from the NBA, he should just go home and lite a fatty.
If i was an opposing team I’d pick up D-Miles and demand a first round pick from Portland if they don’t want him to play, hell maybe 2 first rounders. 18 mil is a lot of dough
January 9th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Blue says:
does anybody think this might help miles turn his career around? make him play with a chip on his shoulder?
…nah, i didn’t think so!
but yeah, f the blazers!! larry miller only sent the e-mail because his shady ass would’ve done something like that!
January 9th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
rob stewart says:
I thought Miles needed to play a total of 10 games to get his money. Has it changed to two games now? Someone please bring me up to date.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
KnickFan84 says:
Ok, time for me to chime in because I’m seriously pissed at a lot of ignorant fans and even the real punk-like Blazers. I gotta put everyone in their place:
FIRST of all, prior to the injury D-Miles was developing into a very good 3rd option like player similar to Marvin Williams. For everyone who said he wasn’t working hard etc, if you were watching him, he went from an athletic catch and dunk run and gun type player into someone who actually was being productive in a system and developing a solid midrange game.
He got hurt, if memory serves me right, had microfracture surgery. Many players have come back from this but it takes about a year. The doctors felt that he wouldn’t be able to play at the same level as prior. It really seemed as if *assumption* the blazers convinced Miles that he would be unable to play. Miles if you recall had gotten several different opinions and only 1 doctor said he couldnt. In fact, Antonio McDysse has worse damage to his knee that Miles when you think about it.
So Miles clearly is capable of playing. Even Boston stated the only reason they cut him loose was because they didn’t have an open roster spot that they could designate to him. Memphis picked him up and clearly he is capable of playing in practice, it’s just a matter of him being able to play his way into a rotation at this point.
Plenty of players are on squads for practice purposes only and hardly if ever get into a game unless it’s garbage time. Nobody is claiming he is ready for major minutes, however he definitely is capable of practice.
There are plenty of teams that will be able to sign him and they will do so and I can’t wait because Portland is in the wrong regardless. To me it’s real dirty tactics and Miles does have grounds to sue if he is unable to find work because clearly twice teams felt he was an asset to his team and if nobody signs him by end of year, he would have grounds for lawsuit.
I hope once the Knicks get their roster exemption for Cuttino Mobley (funny, same could happen to him in theory) they pick up Miles.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Gary says:
can someone sign miles . . . he’s still a legit player who can at least contribute in practice!
January 9th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
AI says:
Practice!…we’re talkin’ about practice!
January 9th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
CoolJack says:
Thought the Blazers handled it with class when they kept mum about those 6 exhibition games with Boston being counted as part of the 10 games Miles was required to play… But then they do the threatening email shit…? What a waste…
January 9th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
FourtyTwo says:
Don’t the Blazers get hit twice if he plays 2 more games?
Once for the Luxury Tax. The other from the insurance company not paying Miles’ salary (because he isn’t actually medically retired). Seems like Paul Allen is on the hook for the salary AND the tax.
Could there be an insurance fraud issue too? Obviously, Miles isn’t too hurt to play like Portland claimed.
Shouldn’t D’Antoni try to get Donnie to sign him? He and Q used to love to play together. It’s worth a flier, surely.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Big Sia says:
All that ‘fiduciary duty’ and good ‘partner-like duty’ to your ‘NBA joint venturers’ makes me think the NBA is rigged
Pao Gasol for a sack of bricks
KG trade from a former Celtic
Artest for nothing
January 9th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
kg fan says:
@ Big Sia
At least KG was traded for a whole squad. Not as rigged as Pau and Artest or even Camby
January 9th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Tbone says:
GO GILBERT
Eloquent, articulate, and above all, CORRECT
thank god someone had the balls to stand up to that idiot Larry Miller. Did he really think they were gonna get away with this?????
January 9th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
solomon says:
i can see mark cuban taking a shot at this one LOL
January 9th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Eric Woodyard says:
he needs to just chill out
January 9th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
AY says:
thanks dime.
what portland is doing is just so wrong. ignoring all the bad stuff associated with darius miles, they received a benefit by declaring him medically retired without his consent. Now that he appears to be medically able to play, they threaten to use litigation if he was signed, just to protect the benefit they weren’t suppose to receive in the first place. I hope david stern would look at that email and impose some major punishment. Insurance fraud, cheating, black mail, selective employment in a trust/monopoly, the blazers are breaking all kinds of laws and it only stands to hurt the nba.
Just when they thought they turned the corner by fielding a .500 team with robert parish and brandon roy, this happens. The blazers organization needs to stop trying to take shortcuts and stop embarrassing their great fans.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
fatty says:
@ rob stewart
D. Miles was active in the preseason, this also counts towards the 10 games.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
dennis says:
jesus what a bunch of uninformed horseshit. you people shouldnt comment on this if you dont know the simple facts
January 9th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
TheAnswer71086 says:
The Nuggets should get on the phone and try and trade Anthony Carter, Kleiza, and like Dahntay Jones for Brandon Roy…and if the Blazers refuse then they should sign Miles and cite Melo’s injury as the reason…
Win win for Denver…
January 9th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
fallinup420 says:
This is what us computer nerds call a microsoft style punk out. It’s a Paul Allen special.
Out of spite I’d sign Darius. The PTI guys said it best…the Lakers should sign Darius and play him for 1 minute during 1 game, and 1 minute for another….then release him the next day. Just to stick it to a division rival. haha
January 9th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
George W Kush Sr says:
He has pretty much been let go or traded by everyone he ended up with this season.
This mass email is not helping them at all, stupid idea. He probably isn’t healthy enough for anyone to pick up anyways.
If I was the thunder or even the Clips with all their injuries, i’d pick him up just as Fuck You response
January 9th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Drink the Haterade (KB24 Chip 09) says:
This is just somebody screwing with Miles. I believe that Portland did him “Pornstar Dirty”! Everyone knows they were trying to get rid of him and then convinced a doctor to tell him he was no longer capable of playing. No in my opinion he does not belong in the L, but somewhere in basketball, he does belong. So the Blazers leak out that his suspension is for drugs and then send out this email. Something smells fishy!
January 9th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
SteveNash says:
I hope Mark Cuban signs him…
January 9th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
KnickFan84 says:
The dude is fine, personel in both Memphis and Boston stated such. Their roster situations dictated that they needed to address another need etc. SF/PF tweeners are a dime a dozen. Regardless, he’s getting picked up, no doubt about that.
I hope Stern throws the BOOK at the Blazers. How is this not just as bad as the Joe Smith Minn scandal.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
SteveNash says:
did you just say Robert Parish…. jajajajajajjaja
January 9th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
SayItAintSo says:
I don’t know, I’m going to say that Paul Allen and his team of brainiacs know what they’re talking about. I would just not bother with it…
January 9th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
SteveNash says:
Hey DIME. don’t you have a hook up with Lawyers who understand this ish… Did NBA doctors say he can’t play or Portland doctors… What if NBA doctors find him fit to play… I see Portland getting a nice slap for this… send Rudy to the KNICKS!!!
January 9th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
fallinup420 says:
Just because the title mentions Cavs. (Dime, yer slackin’!)
My thoughts on BOS @ CLE: 1 of 2 possible scenarios.
1) Boston snaps out of thier funk and starts playing defense. The big 3 do what they do, but Rondo gets out of his funk and goes off. Boston wins close. And this could go to overtime.
2) Cleveland keeps on this juggernaut run at home. Boston stays in it’s funk and it has officially become PANIC time for Ainge. Bron goes bananas. Cleveland rolls big at home, by at least 10.
3) I’m a moron and should stop making predictions. heh
January 9th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
fallinup420 says:
Without the silly scenarios….I think Boston pulls of the W.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Austin Burton says:
If I recall, the Blazers kept asking Miles to retire, he refused, they sent him to multiple doctors until one of them finally said he was physically unable to play, then they got him off their books.
I like how Portland is the one who signed him to (or at least took on) his contract, now they’re trying to avoid it like someone did them wrong.
January 9th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Tbone says:
Fallinup, lol, you’re safe with 1 and 2! No need for the 3
January 9th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
specialguydurr! says:
just so everyone is clear, it was not just a blazers doctor who declared miles’ injuries to be career ending. This was confirmed by a second opinion from a nba appointed physician. No rules were broken, they were all followed in the move to force medical retirement upon miles. And everyone who is simply saying the email said portland would sue anyone who signed miles, is grossly oversimplifying what the letter said. It clearly said any team signing miles with only the intention of screwing portland financially, and not having any intent to give miles a chance to resurrect his career could be threatened with a law suit. I am a blazer fan. I wish that this would have been handled differently. However I don’t think that the blazers are colluding to destroy miles career. He has or will have done that to himself, either with his being a headcase or having a wrecked body. And the blazers haven’t violated any rule with this although they have potentially damaged their reps with the rest of the league.
January 9th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Mark Madsen says:
haha..Tbone.
I cover all bases.
January 9th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
fallinup says:
Except when it comes to changing back my display name. Back to the game…Celtics are looking like shit.
January 9th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
buffalo balla says:
d-miles should have always been playing on the AND1 Tour…d-mizzle!!
January 9th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Austin Burton says:
@specialguydurr! — What makes the Blazers look childish in this situation is that they’re making threats they can never follow up on. If a team did sign Miles just to mess up Portland’s cap space, how would the Blazers ever prove it? The team isn’t going to tell them that’s why they signed Miles. Even if Miles doesn’t play but a minute here and a minute there and then gets cut, it is that team’s prerogative to sign a guy and play him however they want; just like the Blazers can sign guys and give them minimal playing time.
January 9th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
dolomite says:
to me, Gilbert only “stands up” to the Trailblazer’s owners’ threat if he signs Miles his damn self-otherwise it’s still just “talk”….
January 9th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
rob stewart says:
I would love to see Miles and Richardson “black on tour”
January 9th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
specialguydurr! says:
@Austin Burton-I agree with your take about it looking childish, but I think this was a knee-jerk reaction to the anonymous eastern conference gm laughing and saying “Portland is screwed” Just for the record though Miles has already made a ton of money from both the blazers and nba insurance, and it was not just some doctor on the blazers payroll who said this was a career ending injury. Miles has as much of a chance of becoming an impact player as stephen hawking has of winning the boston marathon. His injury occurred and he was given care by some of the best doctors in all of sports, and then given nearly two years to recover from a surgery that has had a detrimental effect on a lot of athletes. After over a year and a half it was then determined that he wasn’t healed or would not heal to the point that he could have a productive nba career. And I think that if KP knew about the 6 games for boston counting against the ten needed to overturn the medical retirement, Ainge knew it too. Every gm has lawyers working for them, and given some of the terms of signing miles to a team it is naive to think that every gm who has thought about bringing him in wasn’t aware of this. What I don’t understand is why, if he was supposed to serve a ten game suspension for violation of the leagues banned substances rules, this was not enforced in preseason, if in fact officially the season starts at the opening day of training camp, and pre-season games count towards his ten games needed to be played.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
tyrone (real thug) says:
off topic but did scalabrine really just get off the bench?
real thugs never use IE6
tyrone
January 9th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
ianodelaleza says:
everyones been showering the blazers with love the last couple years (and in most cases it was deserved, great draft picks….player gelling and playing well) but now we can see the real blazers
a. I agree with steiny mo that the ‘career ending’ injury was a pile of manure, the guys like 25 years old when they told him that…
b. They were so desperate and vocal about their intentions of getting rid of miles, really didnt do it in a respectful way (to miles)
and now this…..a THREAT???!!! this is ridiculous and i definately think the blazers should be penalized heavily for this, im thinkin maybe even going as far as taking a draft pick away from them.
THEY signed miles to the contract, THEY released miles… now when people could actually use a 26 vet wingman they cant have that messing with their financial future, and back to steiny mo’s comments…they shouldnt of had that cap acception because that whole medical opinion was a dud, probably some blazer fan!
blazers front office=despicable
Ian H
January 9th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
specialguydurr! says:
@ianodelaleza-how old was shaun livingston? Age has nothing to do with blowing up both your knees. Ultimately I don’t care if miles plays, if he can be a ligit player, but if he is just being used as a pawn to screw the blazers out of money then this just reinforces the fact that it doesn’t necessarily matter what you bring on the floor, and that the game is not just 48 minutes on the court. Trying to beat the blazers with finances is a pussy move.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
specialguydurr! says:
and if anyone can name a law or rule that the blazers broke then you can talk about punishment, until that happens, which it has not stop talking smack. I agree it was in poor taste sending the email, but really it didn’t do anything besides bend a bunch of people out of shape. And if anyone is upset about past trades involving the blazers involving players, draft picks or money, then I suggest you take it up with your teams gm, because they were in on it too! It’s not like the blazers are the friggin’ mafia! Get a grip!!!
January 9th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
jk says:
blazers made their bed signing miles initially – now they have to sleep in it. nba front office has to make a stand on this or i can see this happening again in the future with team trying to clear contracts “gone bad”.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
specialguydurr! says:
And I don’t believe that under the collective bargaining agreement a player can be “medically retired” without the approval of a league appointed physician, who by the way is also working for the nba insurance. All the rules were followed, it’s not like this is the first player who has had to retire because of an injury. Get your stories straight before you accuse the blazers of having it out for miles! Yeah there were a lot of off the court problems with him, yeah he didn’t fit with the direction the team was going, hell he wouldn’t even fit with the personalities of this team, but what the hell are you supposed to do with a huge contract on a player that can’t even play substantial practice minutes! 2 years of rehab and he was barely over 60 percent healed! I GUESS WE SHOULD HAVE ONLY THOUGHT ABOUT dMILES! Not winning, rebuilding a franchise , a reputation and getting some hard-working decent players who the fans could be proud of! No let’s keep the guy who was involved in 2 shootings at our local strip bars. The guy who snubs fans, is lazy, cares more about being an nba player then playing basketball, and represents everything that this team is trying to erase from it’s past. Maybe if he could’ve put it on the floor portland wouldn’t have tried to cut him. But if after two years not playing why would any team in any league want to keep a player that has problems off the court as well? He got paid millions of dollars for playing a game. He’s better off than 99 percent of the people in the world. He got millions of dollars to play out his dream. And I for one am not going to feel sorry for someone who can wipe the tears off his face with 1000 dollar bills!
January 10th, 2009 at 12:00 am
jk says:
@specialguydurr
so they should never have signed him to that contract. but they did. they can live with the repercussions.
January 10th, 2009 at 12:31 am
JCARR says:
D-Miles stand up for yourself… I am glad that owners are going against the malovolent childish threats from the Blazzzers.
January 10th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Austin Burton says:
@specialguy — I don’t think the Blazers have it out for Miles as much as they’re trying to protect their cap space. Still, to make an empty threat like that just makes the situation worse.
And I’d venture to guess that suspensions are only applied in the regular season because players themselves don’t care about the preseason. Let’s say Kevin Garnett committed a flagrant foul in the last playoff game of the year that earned a one-game suspension. Making him sit out the first preseason game doesn’t necessarily hurt him or the Celtics (because he was just as likely to skip that game anyway). There has to be some kind of punishment element.
January 10th, 2009 at 12:46 am
Timmy D says:
Grizzlies are signing Miles to a 10 day contract Saturday morning. And he will for sure play 2 games for us. So its pretty much a done deal so sorry Blazers fans.
January 10th, 2009 at 1:00 am
blazeitup says:
If D-Miles can’t get a spot on the grizzlies and play good minutes he’s not even healthy enough to play in the wnba
January 10th, 2009 at 1:03 am
blazeitup says:
im white thirty and fat with bad knee’s and ankles but i can jog up a court for two mins if i could could cause cap problems a time would pick me up
January 10th, 2009 at 1:03 am
blazeitup says:
team
January 10th, 2009 at 1:26 am
Timmy D says:
@ blazeitup
Bet you cant do this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOkcfSxng50
Cap Killer is back with the Grizz and there is nothing the Blazers can do about it.
January 10th, 2009 at 2:19 am
specialguydurr! says:
@Austin Burton-yeah that makes sense about the regular season suspension. And I agree that this is not a vendetta by the blazers to ruin someone’s career. They gave him ample time to recover and he wasn’t placed in medical retirement until the fourth season of his contract. I don’t understand why people say the blazers should have to pay for the full contract when he was deemed unfit to fulfill his end of it. The nba’s insurance was on the hook to pay half of miles last two years worth salary so obviously their doctor would be very thorough in his analysis. But I wish that this situation would have been allowed to play out rather than engage in these tactics. I think if he had been signed by another team and was unable to play any real minutes, then waived the blazers would have looked like the good guys in this. But as it is now everyone has yet another reason to clown our team, our fans, our town and that sucks. I grew up a blazer fan, it’s the only sport we have and they are the only team I’ve ever been a true fan of. I am not a millionaire, nor do I deal with the kind of finances that pro teams and their owners deal in. Ultimately wherever intentions lie the blazers and miles will be fine, but we as fans will now have to deal with yet another embarrassing, and humiliating situation that is out of our control. I still think we are better off without the thugs that we were trying to root for, but I guess we’re not out of the woods yet. Sucks to be a fan right now truth be told.
January 10th, 2009 at 2:31 am
specialguydurr! says:
@jk- if you hired a plumber to work on your house and he shows up to replace your toilet, do you pay him in full for removing your old one and not showing up to install the new one? It’s a contract and contracts are written agreements between two parties to recieve payment for services or goods. Miles and his agent both agreed to be looked at by the independent physician that the league sent down to judge whether his injury was career-ending. It was deemed to be so by the league, not just some doctor that the blazers have on payroll. Remember they had a vested interest in proving whether or not it was career-ending because the league insurance would be on the hook for his benefits if it was. And quite frankly miles never had a chance in the world to suit up as a blazer ever again. They at least gave him a chance by releasing him to try to play in the league again. Out of the 48 million that his contract was worth Miles will recieve 39 million even if he doesn’t play another game for anyone. I’d say that his situation is not that bad and he still worked 30 mil from the blazers for essentially one good season of play. Not even kobe gets paid like that.
January 10th, 2009 at 3:49 am
specialguydurr! says:
apparently I was mistaken. Miles will recieve the full amount of his contract with portland, which in the end will be 48 mil for 1/2 of a season, which has got to be the highest paid player ever. This only affects whether the money owed on the contract counts against portlands salary cap. Which means they have less money to spend on a free agent without cutting several players on the current roster. And memphis will benefit by the blazers paying the luxury tax by getting a large sum of money when portlands taxes are divided up amongst the teams who are under the cap. Memphis can sign him, pay him 40 grand and cut him, and by the time summer rolls around they’ll get over 250 g’s. But in the end ptown will still have an up and coming team that we can be proud of and memphis will have…the grizzlies! See you in the lottery!;)
January 10th, 2009 at 4:33 am
Fobuless says:
Looks like he can get a spot after all.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3822911
January 10th, 2009 at 9:03 am
rodnets says:
where’s the smack?
January 10th, 2009 at 10:36 am
the cynic says:
Grizz are going to do portland dirty; can the blazers trade for D-Miles just so he doesn’t play?
January 10th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
KnickFan84 says:
Thank god the Grizzlies picked him up again. No good Blazers should be taught a serious lesson. They messing with someone’s life like that. I don’t understand how there isn’t an infraction that David Stern can impose for this crazy event. Blazers clearly were trying to cheat the system. This is worse than Joe Smith scandal for real. How they don’t lose picks is BEYOND me at this point.
January 10th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
specialguydurr! says:
@knickFan84-A threat of a lawsuit is not a lawsuit, it’s just like sayin’ something somebody doesn’t like. You can’t sue someone or punish someone because your feelings got hurt
January 11th, 2009 at 2:59 am
z says:
i think nba owners analysts and gms know alot more about the situation than this special guy and thats why their all glad that gilbert stood up and are bashing on portland, so maybe special guy needs to shut the hell up and stop acting like he knows everything lol
January 11th, 2009 at 3:14 am
z says:
and really, would you back down from a threat like that? or not even, just any kind of threat from anyone lol personally, i would make sure the guy that threatens me pays for it and never thinks about threatening me ever again
January 11th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Coop says:
at post 73, Minny did a back-door deal in their case and got punished for that. it’s against the cba. portland has done nothing of the sort.
January 11th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Legend says:
The Blazers have made some bad decisions in the past, but seemed to be turning things around. Hopefully this D-Miles incident doesn’t set them back any further. I hate to bring it up, but hopefully Oden doesn’t turn out to be another bust…
January 12th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
sam says:
A lot of teams make bad draft picks and sign bad contracts. A lot of teams can’t get rid of them. Portland should not be an exception, they tried to get out of it by saying he couldn’t play anymore, and they failed. They are better off than new york and should stop complaining…