Ian Thomsen: Trail Blazers issue warning to other NBA teams not to sign Darius Miles

[some_user86]

The Portland Trail Blazers have issued an unusual warning to rival NBA teams who are thinking about hiring their former player, Darius Miles: Put Miles on the court, say the Blazers, and we may sue you.

"The Portland Trail Blazers will take all necessary steps to safeguard its rights, including, without limitation, litigation,'' wrote Blazers president Larry Miller in an e-mail addressed late Thursday night to all NBA team presidents and general managers. SI.com was provided access to the memo by an NBA team executive.

Miles underwent microfracture surgery to repair his right knee as a member of the Trail Blazers in November 2006. He was released by Portland last April after his injury was judged to be "career-ending'' by an independent medical examiner appointed by the NBA and the players union.

Miles, 27, has attempted a comeback this season, playing a total of eight exhibition and regular-season games with the Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies, who waived him Tuesday to avoid having to guarantee his contract for the rest of the season. The 6-foot-9 Miles had two rebounds and two blocks in seven minutes during his final game with Memphis on Tuesday.
If Miles were to be picked up by an NBA team and play in two more NBA games, his original $9 million salary for this season as well as next season would be reinstated to Portland's official payroll, pushing the Blazers over the luxury tax threshold this season -- costing them millions of dollars -- while hurting their chances to sign a major free agent this summer.

Here is the full text of Miller's statement that was dispatched to rival teams Thursday:

"Team Presidents and General Managers,

"The Portland Trail Blazers are aware that certain teams may be contemplating signing Darius Miles to a contract for the purpose of adversely impacting the Portland Trail Blazers Salary Cap and tax positions. Such conduct from a team would violate its fiduciary duty as an NBA joint venturer. In addition, persons or entities involved in such conduct may be individually liable to the Portland Trail Blazers for tortuously interfering with the Portland Trail Blazers' contract rights and perspective economic opportunities.

"Please be aware that if a team engages in such conduct, the Portland Trail Blazers will take all necessary steps to safeguard its rights, including, without limitation, litigation.''

A team executive said it was "unprecedented'' for an NBA team to threaten a lawsuit against a rival for signing a player who is a free agent.

The executive speculated that Miles may seek legal action of his own against the Blazers, by claiming that Portland is limiting his right to work.

Miles's agent, Jeff Wechsler, said he could not comment Thursday as he had not yet seen Miller's letter.

LINK: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/basketball/nba/01/09/Blazers.Miles/index.html

[SpursFanFirst]

Would Portland have any legal ground to stand on here?
They released him.

[K-State Spur]

Easy way to fix it:

Put him (and his full contract - which they willingly took on in the first place) back on Portland's roster.

Then they don't have worry about other teams interfering with them.

[exstatic]

Shit, they are all but admitting that he only needs two more games. What if someone signed him, and played him in like 12-13 more games? Could they prove that it was just to fuck them over?

[K-State Spur]

Would Portland have any legal ground to stand on here?
They released him.

I can't think of how they would. The player is a free agent. They got a GIFT when it was (possibly wrongly) declared a career ending injury.

[Brutalis]

Okay FUCK Portland. I HOPE he gets signed and purposely played 2 games just to fuck them.

Portland can threaten all they want but they can't do shit about it.

They are going to get so fucking sued it's incredible they had the nerve and stupidity to do this. What the fucking hell are they thinking??

If I was a GM and saw this, I would bite just because of the threat. Portland can't do shit to any team. Fuck them stupid criminals.

[timvp]

Hopefully someone calls Portland's bluff. That would never stand up in any court of law. It's not like they are pushing Miles out there on a wheel chair. Two blocks in ten minutes of play this season tells me he's still capable of being an NBA prospect.

The Blazers should win the douchebags of the year award. I wouldn't be surprised if the players' union gets upset with this memo . . .

[Kori Ellis]

:lol What a joke.

How could they ever prove that a team signed him just to screw Portland? If the team signs him and uses him, then oh well.

[ClingingMars]

Fuck them, sign him Holt! Call their bluff.

-Mars

[timvp]

Come on, Pop. Do it.

It's not like the Blazers have been doing the Spurs any favors recently. Pritchard is kinda like Kerr in that he bases everything they do in hopes of beating the Spurs.

Time to prove the godfather status :tu

[m33p0]

i don't think they can. the player's union would be up in arms over this since they're interfering a player's right to seek livelihood.

[anakha]

Any thoughts, tlongII? :p:

[toki9]

Miles should take legal actions against the Blazers now...this is an incredibly asinine move on the Blazers' part...

[SenorSpur]

Personally, I've had just about enough of Portland and their "silver-spooned" acts of arrogance and entitlement. Their talent hoarding was one thing, now this. They act like they are the Boston Celtics. Even if they were, it give them no right to threaten the personnel decisions of other teams.

I hope some team does eventually sign Miles, after all. Perhaps all this bruhaha will temporarily halt all this talk about them being the "team of the future". Instead, they can be known as the team of the court - the judicial court.

[baseline bum]

Stern should step in and penalize them a first round pick for this kind of garbage. This is seriously funny shit though. Can you imagine how pissed Miles is and how ready he is to do anything possible to screw them over when Pritchard tries cockblock him from his next paycheck?

[Ditty]

The Portland Trail Blazers have issued an unusual warning to rival NBA teams who are thinking about hiring their former player, Darius Miles: Put Miles on the court, say the Blazers, and we may sue you.

"The Portland Trail Blazers will take all necessary steps to safeguard its rights, including, without limitation, litigation,'' wrote Blazers president Larry Miller in an e-mail addressed late Thursday night to all NBA team presidents and general managers. SI.com was provided access to the memo by an NBA team executive.

Miles underwent microfracture surgery to repair his right knee as a member of the Trail Blazers in November 2006. He was released by Portland last April after his injury was judged to be "career-ending'' by an independent medical examiner appointed by the NBA and the players union.

Miles, 27, has attempted a comeback this season, playing a total of eight exhibition and regular-season games with the Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies, who waived him Tuesday to avoid having to guarantee his contract for the rest of the season. The 6-foot-9 Miles had two rebounds and two blocks in seven minutes during his final game with Memphis on Tuesday.
If Miles were to be picked up by an NBA team and play in two more NBA games, his original $9 million salary for this season as well as next season would be reinstated to Portland's official payroll, pushing the Blazers over the luxury tax threshold this season -- costing them millions of dollars -- while hurting their chances to sign a major free agent this summer.

Here is the full text of Miller's statement that was dispatched to rival teams Thursday:

"Team Presidents and General Managers,

"The Portland Trail Blazers are aware that certain teams may be contemplating signing Darius Miles to a contract for the purpose of adversely impacting the Portland Trail Blazers Salary Cap and tax positions. Such conduct from a team would violate its fiduciary duty as an NBA joint venturer. In addition, persons or entities involved in such conduct may be individually liable to the Portland Trail Blazers for tortuously interfering with the Portland Trail Blazers' contract rights and perspective economic opportunities.

"Please be aware that if a team engages in such conduct, the Portland Trail Blazers will take all necessary steps to safeguard its rights, including, without limitation, litigation.''

A team executive said it was "unprecedented'' for an NBA team to threaten a lawsuit against a rival for signing a player who is a free agent.

The executive speculated that Miles may seek legal action of his own against the Blazers, by claiming that Portland is limiting his right to work.

Miles's agent, Jeff Wechsler, said he could not comment Thursday as he had not yet seen Miller's letter.

LINK: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/basketball/nba/01/09/Blazers.Miles/index.html

ok then the spurs should write a letter to them to review the derek fisher shot in 2004 and the barry foul in last years finals bullshit i hope the rest of the 29 teams call miles tonight its competition your supposed to care about your own team fuck the other teams therre just pissed cuz there going to lose maybe 2 of there big guns within the next few years

[Brutalis]

P U L L T H E T R I G G E R

[WildcardManu]

Personally, I've had just about enough of Portland and their "silver-spooned" acts of arrogance and entitlement.

+1

[Biggems]

id love to sign him, and use him to beat Portland a few times

[Thompson]

Sign him, play him a few games. If Portland tries to sue, countersue them for legal fees and convince Stern that an additional penalty must be enforced to prevent the spread of such disruptive attempts: make them give us Batum.

In addition, when Pop announces the new Spur Darius Miles, I want him to do the "Fonzi" at the podium like he did to Shaq. "Ehhhhh, Portland!"

[baseline bum]

I really wish Pop would sign Miles to a 10-day contract, play him 2 games, and waive him right there, and then have a press conference and say it was to screw the Blazers over. Payback for them throwing huge money at Bowen in '01 to try to keep him from coming here or for taking Derek Anderson only to weaken us. Fuck Portland.

[Biggems]

I really wish Pop would sign Miles to a 10-day contract, play him 2 games, and waive him right there, and then have a press conference and say it was to screw the Blazers over. Payback for them throwing huge money at Bowen in '01 to try to keep him from coming here or for taking Derek Anderson only to weaken us. Fuck Portland.

or for trading Drexler to Houston so he could screw us over in the 95 WCF.

[Yorae]

Yeah it's payback time.

[DANILO DRASKOVIC]

"The Portland Trail Blazers are aware that certain teams may be contemplating signing Darius Miles to a contract for the purpose of adversely impacting the Portland Trail Blazers Salary Cap and tax positions.
what if someone signs him for the purpose if winning?
hey Portland, go fuck yourself and eat granola

[Dex]

:lmao :lmao :lmao

[The Truth #6]

Portland is freaking out right now, which is awesome. Only someone crapping in their pants would write such a ridiculous memo.

I'm curious how David Stern, Esq. is feeling about this.

And yes, this absolutely violates Miles' rights or 14th amendment rights... or something.

It seems impossible to determine that a team is trying to undermine Portland, and if they are, so what? When was sports supposed to be fair? It's competition.

Things were getting boring. This is actually amusing.

[pawe]

Sign Miles asap, it's payback time! Fuck Portland and their 41 yr old player!

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

If he is still available, Spurs should sign him to a 10 day contract starting on February 25th when the Spurs play the Blazers, Cavs then Blazers again... haha.. let his 2nd game be against Portland in Portland... that'd be badass

[AnotherArgie]

Personally, I've had just about enough of Portland and their "silver-spooned" acts of arrogance and entitlement. Their talent hoarding was one thing, now this. They act like they are the Boston Celtics. Even if they were, it give them no right to threaten the personnel decisions of other teams.

Let's not forget the memo comes from a franchise owned by a Microsoft co-founder. They're used to that kind of litigation shit.

I don't know, I found that memo surprisingly stupid. They should be sued from everywere. Not only from Miles, but also from every NBA team and the NBA itself. If Stern don't take action into this it will be worse than the refs scandal.

[Trainwreck2100]

If he is still available, Spurs should sign him to a 10 day contract starting on February 25th when the Spurs play the Blazers, Cavs then Blazers again... haha.. let his 2nd game be against Portland in Portland... that'd be badass

Portland would be screwed over before then, me thinks.

[mystargtr34]

This is a joke. Funny shit though. I honestly think this will entice 90% of GM's to work him out in the hope he can play and fulfills some sort of short term need.

Fuck it, sign him even if he is shit.

They wont like being bullied.

[timvp]

Let's not forget the memo comes from a franchise owned by a Microsoft co-founder. They're used to that kind of litigation shit.

I don't know, I found that memo surprisingly stupid. They should be sued from everywere. Not only from Miles, but also from every NBA team and the NBA itself. If Stern don't take action into this it will be worse than the refs scandal.

The Blazers have been dirty throughout this entire Miles process. Even this summer, they were ignoring federal regulations when trying to scare teams from signing Miles.

Stern ignored it then and he'll probably ignore it now. Here's the article from back in July:



Blazers could come under scrutiny for statements on Miles' condition
Forward looks to play elsewhere, despite suggestion that knee replacement surgery may be in his future

By Dwight Jaynes

The Portland Tribune, Jul 28, 2008

The Trail Blazers, specifically General Manager Kevin Pritchard, may be in violation of federal regulations in regard to public comments about the medical condition of former player Darius Miles.

Miles underwent microfracture surgery on his right knee and has not played since April 15, 2006. After a long rehabilitation period, the team first ruled him unfit to play and then sought an independent physician’s examination of the knee. That physician ruled Miles’ injury was career ending — which was important to the Blazers on two fronts that have to do with finances.

First, the $18 million over two seasons left on Miles contract would not count against the team’s salary cap.

Second, insurance would cover much of the cost of Miles’ remaining salary.

If Miles plays 10 games in the league in either of the next two seasons, however, the Blazers would be responsible for the salary out of their own pocket and be forced to count it against their salary cap.

Obviously, that situation creates an incentive for the Blazers to hope Miles never plays again. And perhaps an incentive for the team to be as negative as possible in describing Miles’ chances of ever playing again – thereby discouraging other teams from taking a chance on him.

“Two doctors said Darius had the worst microfracture injury they had ever seen,” Pritchard said on an Oregonlive.com blog this week. “They would never have him play basketball and the odds of having knee replacement surgery is high. I hear that, and as a general manager, I didn’t want it on my conscience – that I had a kid have to go through a knee replacement surgery. That’s a pretty major surgery. They saw (two bones) and replace (the knee). It’s a bad deal.”

In a story posted April 14 on the Portland Tribune’s Web site, Pritchard said, “The doctors had actually said, ‘If you were my son, I’d never have you pick up a basketball again.’ I’m the kind of GM (that) I wouldn’t want that on my head that he ever had to have knee replacement.”

The problem for Pritchard and the Blazers is that those statements could be a violation of the privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Availability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Since the HIPAA privacy rule went into effect on April 14, 2003, pro and college teams in all sports have been very reluctant to reveal specific details of player injuries without the permission of the player.

Most teams have come to the point where they will reveal only whether a player may sit out a game, but not give any specific details of the injuries. HIPAA’s privacy rule prohibits “covered entities” — often interpreted as employers who provide health care or health-care clinics for employees, which teams do for their players – from revealing health information about those employees without their consent.

“It’s very clear,” one NBA official said. “Without the consent of a player, about all you can say is he is probable to play or not probable to play in a given game. They call our doctors in, sit us down at the start of the season and make these rules very clear to us. If the player wants to make his condition public, that’s fine. But he has to give consent.”

Chuck French, a Multnomah County district attorney, has extensive experience with HIPAA regulations, and he believes the Blazers must have had some form of authorization to release information about Miles’ condition.

“It would seem that they may have exceeded their authority, but I would think that they may have had authorization, from Miles or his agent, to talk about his condition,” French said. “I’d be shocked if they aren’t hanging their hat on some form of authorization.”

Miles’ agent, Jeffrey Wechsler, refused comment. It is believed nothing will come of this if Miles lands a job with another NBA team. And it’s likely he will, given that teams will need to pay him only the minimum salary and, in spite of the local perception of his character, many of his former teammates and coaches believe him to be relatively harmless to team harmony.

However, if he does not sign with another team, there is an expectation that Miles could file a grievance with the league and also file a suit against the Blazers for attempting to restrict the player’s ability to find a job.

“I don’t want to comment on anything,” Wechsler said this week, when asked to respond to questions about HIPAA or Miles’ free-agent status.

Pritchard chose the same course.

“I would not comment on that,” he said Thursday.

[spursfaninla]

1) Portland has basically NO chance at suing another team for this.

2) 14th amendment? That is discrimination-based, which would not apply here.

3) I doubt this in interference with his right to work, since teams can still hire him, and since he is still getting paid by portland anyway.

[Man of Steel]

They're bluffing.

Sign his ass

[TDMVPDPOY]

i dont think theres any legal grounds here.....

contract law :D how can PAUL ALLEN sue a 3rd party (nba team) if its a contract between miles and said nba team....when there was no stipulation in the buyout contract between miles and the blazers stopping him from signing with any NBA TEAM. Its the NBAs fault with the 10 game bs rule, you cant hold that against a team signin miles using him for the remainder of the season or whatever....


Paul can afford the luxury tax...... why go this route.

[Yorae]

Pitchard is such an asshole it seems.

[SpursFan0728]

They fucked themselves over and now threats overs not to do so.

W.T.F?

[xellos88330]

Wouldn't there be some sort of rule protecting a team and letting them permanently void a contract in the case of a career ending injury?

[xellos88330]

NM, found it on the net.

[xellos88330]

Sign him and send Portland a letter saying.. "Thanks for the tip, have fun in 2010!!!"

[bigdog]

You've got to be kidding me. These Portland idiots are scared now that some team can make their free agency period a living hell this offseason, so they are threatening them? That is so stupid.

Just for that, I hope RC and Pop decide to fill up Tolliver's empty roster spot with Miles. It would be badass if it was just for him to play 2 games, just to put it in Portland's face, but it would be even more badass if they let him play a few minutes in, lets say, 15 games, just so Portland can't say that they signed him only to screw the Blazers.

Come on RC and Pop!!!! Holt, don't be a dumbass! Be a badass for once!

[raspsa]

This ranks right along side with Cuban suing Nelson for intellectual property rights violations..

[mathbzh]

Miles should take legal actions against the Blazers now...this is an incredibly asinine move on the Blazers' part...

+1

[TDMVPDPOY]

someone should sue them for anti-competitive behavior .....

[phyzik]

If Larry Flynt was an NBA franchise GM, he would have the balls to do it.

The only othr person, and I hate to say this, that would have the balls to do it would be Mark Cuban. (Not to mention the stupidity)

The reason why I Dont see the Spurs doing it is two fold. One, Peter Holt most likely doesnt want to spend unessesary money on lawyer fee's regardless if he wins or loses in court, and Two because of the supposed impending lawsuit its a waste of time and money if the guy cant contribute anything, we wouldnt gain anything except doing the other teams a favor by gifting them the projected 250,000 extra while we get shit.

Its a pretty damn smart calculated response.

That would probably be the thought process behind this empty threat, whoever does it would only help out the other teams in the league and no one wants to do that in a business like this....

*edit*

The only way I see someone pulling the trigger on this is if another team in their (Blazers) conference promises a non-rival team an incentive like a cheap draft pick or something.

[Yorae]

How about McFail...out of bitterness.

[Austin_Toros]

i really badly want milies to play 2 more games.... only to see him on the court, or course!

[mathbzh]

i really badly want milies to play 2 more games.... only to see him on the court, or course!

He is such a spectacular player... :rolleyes

[timtonymanu]

Pritchard and Allen have shown they are the greediest people ever. The Blazers already have a so-called "stockpile" on talent. Why do they need to get more benefits from everything?

i hope a team signs Miles just to fuck them up and I use to hate Miles and support the Blazers, but i find myself switching sides. GO Miles!!!

[crc21209]

Wow this is the stupidest fucking shit I have ever heard of in the NBA. I hope someone signs Miles to fuck over the Blazers, they deserve it for putting this bullshit out.

[Das Texan]

Portland is a bitch team. I'm sure Pop saw this memo and put it in his toilet paper stack.

Now go sign Miles, sit back with a nice bottle of vino and laugh in Portland's face.

[Spurs#1]

I would guess that this warning is less about suing and more about trying to make these GM's feel like pieces of shit if they do this. It's a club and the GM's wouldn't want to be put in this situation. I'm guessing nobody go's after miles after this.

[baseline bum]

I don't think any GM would feel bad for screwing the Blazers over after the way they used Paul Allen's deep pockets to try to overpay guys they didn't need in an effort to keep them away from the competition.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Nuggets should sign him and just say it was to help while Melo was injured :smokin

[balli]

Beyond the ludicrous legal threats and the notion that somebody should sign Miles just to fuck the Blazers; in terms of future deals- talk about burning your bridges in general. These are all gm's and owners that Portland's going to need to make deals/have relationships with and rely upon in the future, deals entirely unrelated to Miles, and they decide to declare preemptive fucking warfare on every single one of these GM's/owners? One of the all-time dumbest NBA decisions ever. Fuck the Blazers.

[mountainballer]

I'm speachless.
the appropriate reaction would be that each of the 29 teams sues the Blazers for trying to trespass and limit their business.
and the NBA should punish the Blazers, taking away a 1st rounder from them is a good idea (since they don't care for money like other teams would).
just think about it, it might happen that all agree that this memo was an inappropriate action, but Miles might still go unsigned and the Blazers get their will. what kind of a message would that be?
next they warn other teams to give one of their restricted FAs an offer sheet, because this also might hurt their cap?
or they warn the other teams to pick a certain player in the draft, because matching would hurt their plans?

let them feel that this kind of arrogance backfires. and teams should blow them out of the arena whenever possible. kick them out of the PO spots.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

Their arrogance is astounding but don't you get the feeling that it might just work for them? The NBA has always been silent regarding this issue and the fact that they still are, after this, leads me to think that the best solution to them would be if we could suddently forget that it has ever existed and that Miles just retires.

It's been suddenly blown out of proportion now and whatever happens next will be judged very thoroughly - would some team be willing to bare with all the concequences and trouble for a guy whose value is quite low actually? Or what will happen if nobody signs him? Will there be an investigation by the NBA? Probably not because their interest is clear,they want rid of this mess and the less noise the better.

I think the logical conclusion would be that Miles suddenly retires and the NBA playing deaf and blind about it. After all he can always get a job with Microsoft lol

[benefactor]

This is pretty unbelievable. Pritchard has a lot of nerve coming out with something like this. I would be shocked if there is not some sort of backlash from both his collegues and the NBA.

It's not like this is first time an NBA player has been signed and didn't work out for one reason or another and the team was stuck with the bill. Pritchard needs to stop being a crybaby and just man up and accept whatever his fate may be.

[baseline bum]

would some team be willing to bare with all the concequences and trouble for a guy whose value is quite low actually?

For $250,000 in luxury tax payments for the cost of a 10-day contract? Clearly yes, some team under the luxury-tax threshold will sign and play him and have the Blazers pay them to bend Portland over the table. It's good business; free money while also weakening a competitor. If it is not done, then there is undoubtably collusion within the league to circumvent salary cap rules. There is no good reason owners would turn down $250,000 for nothing while sticking it to someone who thinks he can buy a title just because he's a billionaire many times over.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

For $250,000 in luxury tax payments for the cost of a 10-day contract? Clearly yes, some team under the luxury-tax threshold will sign and play him and have the Blazers pay them to bend Portland over the table. It's good business; free money while also weakening a competitor. If it is not done, then there is undoubtably collusion within the league to circumvent salary cap rules. There is no good reason owners would turn down $250,000 for nothing while sticking it to someone who thinks he can buy a title just because he's a billionaire many times over.

Oh I totally agree with you - it would be good business and Portland deserve it for the way they've acted, but it still is a bit of a dirty job and we'll just have to wait and see if there'll be a team to go forward and do it or they'd all be thinking that somebody else is going to do it for them. Besides unless the NBA responds and at least slap Portland's hands for this memo then who knows what could happen, because as Bruno said yesterday there are some loopholes in the rules regarding this issue and it's effectively the first time something like that happens.

If I were a GM of an NBA team ( thinking Miles couldn't help the team as a player ) I would prefer to wait and see what happens and hope for somebody else to sign him.

[2centsworth]

any team signing Miles will have to be prepared to spend a million defending themselves in court. Even the innocent lose.

[smeagol]

No comments form the resident Blazers Fan?

[CubanMustGo]

No comments form the resident Blazers Fan?

He's feeling a bit sheepish about now.

[temujin]

I also think that nobody will sign this Miles guy.

However, targeting every single NBA GM is not a very smart move and this sets a very unpleasant precedent for the NBA.

Hence, the following will happen.

1) Portland will have hard times making deals with just about anybody, from now on. Portland is radioactive material.

2) On the commissioner side, we know how Stern deals with these matters: he will send his Joey Crawfords in key games. I wouldn't be surprised if Portland will have hard times making the playoffs, and in case, it will not proceed much further than the first round.

Good luck!

[mrspurs]

So the rest of the NBA should be scared of being beat by the Blazers lawyers and not the team. hahahahahahaha

[urunobili]

classless from the Blazers... Karma is a bitch...

[sonic21]

that's lame, portland

[Tbiggums47]

:lol What a joke.

How could they ever prove that a team signed him just to screw Portland? If the team signs him and uses him, then oh well.
I agree. Its an idle threat....No legal teeth.:whine

[mountainballer]

I was just thinking about another aspect of this story:
a part of Miles salary was covered by insurance. reportedly the Blazers will have to also pay money back, when Miles loses his injury retirement status.
so this try to force other teams to not sign Miles might cost the insurance company millions of $. if I was them I sue the Blazers for that money immediately. if in fact no team signs Miles, they have all reasons to claim that this happened because of the warning and thread of the Blazers. they might even argue that this comes close to an insurance fraud by the Blazers.

[Dex]

any team signing Miles will have to be prepared to spend a million defending themselves in court. Even the innocent lose.

As would the Blazers. And they have less of a case than any defense that went against them.

Since when could any team tell any other team what players they can or cannot sign?

For that matter, since when did any team tell a player it had released that he can't play elsewhere?

It's like the Brent Barry thing. Everybody and their Mom could know what a team's intentions are when they sign Miles...but unless someone outright comes and says it to the media, the Blazer's case holds no water.

Of course Portland doesn't want to pay the price for making such a bad fucking deal and then watching it hit the fan, but it's the bed they've got to sleep in.

[DANILO DRASKOVIC]

the really interesting part is how he was deemed unable to play ever again but yet Miles has been able to pass two (boston and memphis) examinations and deemed fit to play?

[MoSpur]

Now I really want San Antonio to sign him. I was a huge fan of his when he was on the Clippers.

[The Truth #6]

The Blazers have been dirty throughout this entire Miles process. Even this summer, they were ignoring federal regulations when trying to scare teams from signing Miles.

Stern ignored it then and he'll probably ignore it now. Here's the article from back in July:

In the medical field, HIPPA issues are huge. Every office has paper shredders specifically to discard paperwork regarding patients. I wasn't aware that teams were now being more cautious on this front. Regardless, Miles could be the one to press the issue if he wanted to.

The funny thing is, he might just want to play and actually make a comeback. I'm not sure if 'revenge' against PDX is really his motivation. He and his lawyers have been silent throughout the whole process, as far as I can tell.

Stern would have to intervene, I would think, before he let the Blazers owner sue anyone for signing Miles. But being a lawyer and knowing the law isn't the same thing as being respectful of the law so we'll see how Stern reacts, if at all.

[benefactor]

the really interesting part is how he was deemed unable to play ever again but yet Miles has been able to pass two (boston and memphis) examinations and deemed fit to play?
I thought about that same thing. Pritchard seems to be pushing the medical argument but if Miles passed a physical with two teams then it's going to be pretty hard to sell.

[benefactor]

In the medical field, HIPPA issues are huge. Every office has paper shredders specifically to discard paperwork regarding patients. I wasn't aware that teams were now being more cautious on this front. Regardless, Miles could be the one to press the issue if he wanted to.

He most certianly could. I have worked in health care for 10 years and have seen several employees and multiple facilities get fired for disclosing patient information. Having information about his injuries disclosed without his permission could land the Blazers in a lot of hot water if no one else takes a chance on Miles. Like you said though...it will really depend if Miles wants to press the issue.

[50 cent]

This is such fucking bullshit. I know the Spurs won't have the balls to sign him, but maybe some jackass like Cuban will do it just out of spite. That would be entertaining.

[Raoul Duke]

Do it. Somebody sign him. It was an independent doctor. Darius had nothing to do with it. The guy wants to make a living.

[tlongII]

FUCK YOU GUYS! If you don't immediately close this thread I will resort to litigation without limitation. In other words, I WILL SUE YOUR ASS!

[tlongII]

Just remember that Paul Allen has enough resources to keep you in court for years and drain your coffers! :smokin

[m33p0]

FUCK YOU GUYS! If you don't immediately close this thread I will resort to litigation without limitation. In other words, I WILL SUE YOUR ASS!you can't prove anything! we will bring out the virtual paper shredders to hide evidence! wahahaha!

[InK]

He most certianly could. I have worked in health care for 10 years and have seen several employees and multiple facilities get fired for disclosing patient information. Having information about his injuries disclosed without his permission could land the Blazers in a lot of hot water if no one else takes a chance on Miles. Like you said though...it will really depend if Miles wants to press the issue.

Oh he will, he got swindled outta 18 mill, time to get it back. Either way this whole bullshit unfolds, Darius will have a nice chunk of change at the end of it. And really, what the fuck were the Blazers thinking, this is as dumb as it gets. Uniting the whole league against yourself, what a fail.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Seems to me that if Portland was going to have anyone they could target legally for putting them behind the financial 8 ball on this it would have to be the independent physician that (apparently incorrectly) declared the injury a career ender.

The only reason I think the Blazers believe they could pull of anything so brazen is that they have a ton of young talent on there that literally every team in the league would love to get their hands on. The legal threats sound fairly baseless but the implicit threat that they'd stop taking a team's calls might be enough to spook a few clubs that are thinking about the future. I also wouldn't be surprised if this isn't the straw that breaks the camel's back for some team on the fence and they call Miles' agent just to spite the Blazers after this little stunt.

[benefactor]

This is such fucking bullshit. I know the Spurs won't have the balls to sign him, but maybe some jackass like Cuban will do it just out of spite. That would be entertaining.
It's funny you said that...because Cubans name was the first one to pop in my head when I was mulling over teams that would have big enough nuts to pull the trigger.

[resistanze]

LOL...How could they NOT think this would backfire?

[CubanMustGo]

It's funny you said that...because Cubans name was the first one to pop in my head when I was mulling over teams that would have big enough nuts to pull the trigger.

+1

C'mon, Cuban, do something besides insult the RiverWalk. With all that money you're not gonna have to spend on the Cubs now, this is chump change.

[Spurminator]

I think a lot of teams hope someone will sign Miles, but no one actually wants to be the team to do it.

[tlongII]

Oh he will, he got swindled outta 18 mill, time to get it back. Either way this whole bullshit unfolds, Darius will have a nice chunk of change at the end of it. And really, what the fuck were the Blazers thinking, this is as dumb as it gets. Uniting the whole league against yourself, what a fail.

Dude, Darius gets his 18 mil regardless. We just don't want it to count against our salary cap. If he has a career-ending injury we get that money taken off our salary cap, but he still gets paid.

[InK]

Dude, Darius gets his 18 mil regardless. We just don't want it to count against our salary cap. If he has a career-ending injury we get that money taken off our salary cap, but he still gets paid.

My bad.

[K-State Spur]

Its the NBAs fault with the 10 game bs rule, you cant hold that against a team signin miles using him for the remainder of the season or whatever....


Why is it a BS rule? If Miles is physically able to play - Portland shouldn't be allowed to just have that terrible contract waived off their books?

Hell, I think his contract should already be back on their cap.

[ploto]

This issue is more complicated than some are making it out to be because it was not a simple release or buy-out of a player. "The injury was termed "career-ending'' by an independent medical examiner appointed by the NBA and the players union."

So, all I need is some doctor to declare me unfit to play, collect the insurance money, and get out of my contract with that team. Then, I can suddenly be OK and play elsewhere??

Don't foget- this guy served a 10-game suspension for violating the drug policy and it was not one that followed a 5-game suspension, so that rules out certain drugs. No way the Spurs would sign him.

[Zee Laker]

I have always had respect for Pop, but if he sign Miles now he will be like a rock star in the NBA.

Do it Pop (you know Cuban is gonna do it, beat him to it)

[FromWayDowntown]

The 10-day rule is something that the Blazers implicitly agreed to live by, through their vote to ratify the last CBA on the NBA side. After all, the NBA is governed by the teams that comprise it.

I haven't given this a great deal of thought, but I think the back-end consequences of upholding such a claim by the Blazers would be troublesome, particularly to the players' union. Suppose that the Blazers can conceivably prevail on a claim like this one. What stops the Cavaliers from sending an identical letter to the NBA teams in June 2010, saying that any team's choice to sign Lebron James will be considered a breach of that team's fiduciary duty to the Cavs and the league in general and that, though James is contractually a free agent, any effort to ink him to a succeeding deal to weaken the Cavs will be considered a tortious interference with Cleveland's right to obtain a benefit from James? Obviously, the examples aren't exactly the same, but the principle strikes me as quite similar.

Miles is no longer under contract with the Blazers. The Blazers obtained a right to partially void part of the contract and obtained an accounting benefit to boot. By doing those things, their contractual relationship with Darius Miles terminated. By doing it the way that they did, they took a calculated risk that the diagnosis of a career-ending injury might be incorrect; and they knew when they took that risk that the consequence of being wrong on that gamble would be a significant accounting hickey. That consequence, again, is something that the Blazers agreed would apply to them. Basically, the Blazers have no relationship with Miles for anyone to interfere with. And they don't seem to have a right to the protection of a fiduciary relationship as to a risk that they took and which had expressly spelled-out consequences.

But if, despite all of those things, they can have legal recourse in terms of claims for breach of fiduciary duty and tortious interference with contract, any team whose contract with a player terminates -- no matter the basis of that termination, one would think -- could make similar arguments and might actually have a better case than the Blazers have here. That would be a bad result for the players, who would largely be bound to the teams that they've contracted with, and for the league.

I don't think the Blazers have a cognizable claim here. In fact, I think that any lawsuit would be borderline frivolous. 2centsworth is right that the cost of litigation might be enough to scare some teams away from facing that possibility; but most jurisdictions do have rules that permit parties facing frivolous claims to recover damages or attorneys fees. The Blazers would seem to have to include that possibility in their calculations, too.

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

Just remember that Paul Allen has enough resources to keep you in court for years and drain your coffers! :smokin

Kings owners are mob. They can fuck Allen with their mob lawyers until even he is broke.

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

Dude, Darius gets his 18 mil regardless. We just don't want it to count against our salary cap. If he has a career-ending injury we get that money taken off our salary cap, but he still gets paid.

If he still want to play and can then Blazers have no right to tell him and other teams he cannot. They should be penalize draft pick by NBA just for making such statement to press.

[picnroll]

Time to put a hard cap rule on these Portland bitches. Watch their bought talent dissipate.

[DDS4]

The 10-day rule is something that the Blazers implicitly agreed to live by, through their vote to ratify the last CBA on the NBA side. After all, the NBA is governed by the teams that comprise it.

I haven't given this a great deal of thought, but I think the back-end consequences of upholding such a claim by the Blazers would be troublesome, particularly to the players' union. Suppose that the Blazers can conceivably prevail on a claim like this one. What stops the Cavaliers from sending an identical letter to the NBA teams in June 2010, saying that any team's choice to sign Lebron James will be considered a breach of that team's fiduciary duty to the Cavs and the league in general and that, though James is contractually a free agent, any effort to ink him to a succeeding deal to weaken the Cavs will be considered a tortious interference with Cleveland's right to obtain a benefit from James? Obviously, the examples aren't exactly the same, but the principle strikes me as quite similar.

Miles is no longer under contract with the Blazers. The Blazers obtained a right to partially void part of the contract and obtained an accounting benefit to boot. By doing those things, their contractual relationship with Darius Miles terminated. By doing it the way that they did, they took a calculated risk that the diagnosis of a career-ending injury might be incorrect; and they knew when they took that risk that the consequence of being wrong on that gamble would be a significant accounting hickey. That consequence, again, is something that the Blazers agreed would apply to them. Basically, the Blazers have no relationship with Miles for anyone to interfere with. And they don't seem to have a right to the protection of a fiduciary relationship as to a risk that they took and which had expressly spelled-out consequences.

But if, despite all of those things, they can have legal recourse in terms of claims for breach of fiduciary duty and tortious interference with contract, any team whose contract with a player terminates -- no matter the basis of that termination, one would think -- could make similar arguments and might actually have a better case than the Blazers have here. That would be a bad result for the players, who would largely be bound to the teams that they've contracted with, and for the league.

I don't think the Blazers have a cognizable claim here. In fact, I think that any lawsuit would be borderline frivolous. 2centsworth is right that the cost of litigation might be enough to scare some teams away from facing that possibility; but most jurisdictions do have rules that permit parties facing frivolous claims to recover damages or attorneys fees. The Blazers would seem to have to include that possibility in their calculations, too.

As far as I'm concerned, the Blazers don't have a legal leg to stand on. You can't prove in court that a team was not genuinely interested in signing Miles for his services. You can't prove spite in court.

The Blazers are trying to wipe themselves clean out of this Miles mess. They should have done due diligence and never honored Miles a contract in the first place, especially with 10 game clause. On top of that, they get to collect insurance money all this time.

I say sign him without hesitation.

[tlongII]

Just because a team sign Miles to a 10-day and plays him in 2 games for about 2 minutes does not mean he is physically able to play. That is the issue the Blazers are arguing here. Miles will never play another game in the NBA after this. That equates to a career ending injury. I think it's clear that the intent of any team that would sign Miles is just to screw the Blazers. That is a breach of fiduciary duty.

[tlongII]

Now I have to go to the gym to release some of my pent up anger.

[m33p0]

Just because a team sign Miles to a 10-day and plays him in 2 games for about 2 minutes does not mean he is physically able to play. That is the issue the Blazers are arguing here. Miles will never play another game in the NBA after this. That equates to a career ending injury. I think it's clear that the intent of any team that would sign Miles is just to screw the Blazers. That is a breach of fiduciary duty.
i'd like to see the blazers prove that.

[Mr. Body]

Portland will have lawsuits from at least Darius Miles and the Players Union heading their way. Not to mention sanctions from the league - you simply cannot threaten other teams with litigation for simply following your best basketball interest - and possibly a lawsuit from the insurance company.

They'd probably lose every single one. But they're banking on scaring off possible litigants with their big money.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

If I'm understanding this correctly, if a team under the cap picked him up and played him the two games they'd push the Blazers over the cap and get a few hundred thousand more in lux tax payouts. Couldn't they just as easily argue that failing to seize such an opportunity would represent a failure to act in the best financial interest of their team?

[Mr. Body]

If I'm understanding this correctly, if a team under the cap picked him up and played him the two games they'd push the Blazers over the cap and get a few hundred thousand more in lux tax payouts. Couldn't they just as easily argue that failing to seize such an opportunity would represent a failure to act in the best financial interest of their team?

Yes.

It's the right competitive move to tie up Portland's resources. It's the same as bidding up a player in free agency. It's stupid not to. Portland got lucky to get off the hook because Miles looked done, so his salary was struck. But now he wants to play, they're boo-hooing and sissy crying about it. In the NBA there are guaranteed contracts; they should invent a time machine and prevent themselves from giving him an ungodly contract in the first place.

[Bruno]

In the CBA, there is a chapter saying that teams must respect the intent of the CBA. Teams can't use tricks and loophole to play around the CBA. One of the most basic intent of the CBA is that teams sign players because they like them.
If you remember the Kidd to Dallas trade, the league has asked NJ to keep KVH for a certain time to approved the trade. It was because KVH couldn't be S&T just to make salaries match in the trade.
So a team can't sign Miles just to hurt Portland cap space and luxury tax situation. Portland has legs to sue a team if it does that.

However, there are two big holes for Portland :

First, you had to prove that the team intent is to screw Blazers. I've watched Darius Miles last game with Memphis and he looks really good physically wise. He can jump high and run well the floor. He didn't look at all like someone with a career ending injury. It will be almost impossible for Blazers to prove that a team can't be genuinely interested in Miles. BB wise, I wouldn't be against Spurs trying him.

Second, what Portland is doing is flat out disgusting for Miles. He likely works like a madman to come back after all these injuries. It's almost a given that Miles and his agent will react. It's almost a given that the player association will be strongly behind him. The league will have to choose a side. The NBA FO don't really give a fuck about Portland (small market, no great player) but they have zero interest to upset the player association. Don't forget that the current CBA ends in about two years and the league will have to negotiate with the players association for the new one. Portland has been damn stupid to send that email, I can see the league giving them huge sanctions about that (huge fine, Miles salary back in Blazers' team salary, first round picks lost...).

[m33p0]

In the CBA, there is a chapter saying that teams must respect the intent of the CBA. Teams can't use tricks and loophole to play around the CBA. One of the most basic intent of the CBA is that teams sign players because they like them.
If you remember the Kidd to Dallas trade, the league has asked NJ to keep KVH for a certain time to approved the trade. It was because KVH couldn't be S&T just to make salaries match in the trade.
So a team can't sign Miles just to hurt Portland cap space and luxury tax situation. Portland has legs to sue a team if it does that.

However, there are two big holes for Portland :

First, you had to prove that the team intent is to screw Blazers. I've watched Darius Miles last game with Memphis and he looks really good physically wise. He can jump high and run well the floor. He didn't look at all like someone with a career ending injury. It will be almost impossible for Blazers to prove that a team can't be genuinely interested in Miles. BB wise, I wouldn't be against Spurs trying him.

Second, what Portland is doing is flat out disgusting for Miles. He likely works like a madman to come back after all these injuries. It's almost a given that Miles and his agent will react. It's almost a given that the player association will be strongly behind him. The league will have to choose a side. The NBA FO don't really give a fuck about Portland (small market, no great player) but they have zero interest to upset the player association. Don't forget that the current CBA ends in about two years and the league will have to negotiate with the players association for the new one. Portland has been damn stupid to send that email, I can see the league giving them huge sanctions about that (huge fine, Miles salary back in Blazers' team salary, first round picks lost...).
:tu

[Bruno]

On a side note, it was quite depressing to see a player with a career ending injury being ten times more athletic than the average Spurs player. :depressed

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Just because a team sign Miles to a 10-day and plays him in 2 games for about 2 minutes does not mean he is physically able to play. That is the issue the Blazers are arguing here. Miles will never play another game in the NBA after this. That equates to a career ending injury. I think it's clear that the intent of any team that would sign Miles is just to screw the Blazers. That is a breach of fiduciary duty.

He's played eight NBA games since that declaration. So his injuries were obviously not career ending.

[benefactor]

Just because a team sign Miles to a 10-day and plays him in 2 games for about 2 minutes does not mean he is physically able to play. That is the issue the Blazers are arguing here. Miles will never play another game in the NBA after this. That equates to a career ending injury. I think it's clear that the intent of any team that would sign Miles is just to screw the Blazers. That is a breach of fiduciary duty.
b5Y8iS3elvA

[SenorSpur]

On a side note, it was quite depressing to see a player with a career ending injury being ten times more athletic than the average Spurs player. :depressed

Sad point, but right as rain.

[m33p0]

On a side note, it was quite depressing to see a player with a career ending injury being ten times more athletic than the average Spurs player. :depressed

athletic players tend to be douche bags so it evens out at the end.

[ttdog]

Cavs owner upset with Blazers’ threat (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AlxPIJjeuLa_mHGWadREc.nTjdIF?slug=aw-gilbertresponse010909&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)
By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports

The Portland Trail Blazers’ threat to possibly sue any team that signs free-agent forward Darius Miles has created a firestorm of reaction around the league.

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert emailed Blazers president Larry Miller to say he took exception with Portland’s threat.

Yahoo! Sports obtained Gilbert’s email because it was carboned to the rest of the league’s owners and executives.

“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.”

[FromWayDowntown]

If I'm understanding this correctly, if a team under the cap picked him up and played him the two games they'd push the Blazers over the cap and get a few hundred thousand more in lux tax payouts. Couldn't they just as easily argue that failing to seize such an opportunity would represent a failure to act in the best financial interest of their team?

I think they could argue that failing to seize such an opportunity would represent a failure to act in the best finanical interest of every team that is eligible to receive tax payments -- which will probably be a significant number of teams. In essence, Portland is contending that there will be a fiduciary breach if teams don't put the Blazers' interests ahead of their own.

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

Should be more than $300K to each team under tax if someone sign him. Spurs owner is cheap he will like this money to have.

[2Cleva]

Darius Miles cleared waivers and became a free agent. That much was clear Friday.

Yet everything surrounding the Miles affair -- the possibility of him returning to the NBA this season, and the negative salary-cap ramifications he would cause for the Portland Trail Blazers -- took a complicated and controversial turn Friday after the club sent a memo to the 29 other NBA teams threatening litigation against anyone who signs Miles or claims his contract off waivers if it is solely for the purpose of burdening the Blazers' cap.

The matter has been added to this afternoon's agenda at a previously scheduled meeting between NBA and players' union attorneys, ESPN.com has learned.

In the statement Friday that announced Miles had cleared waivers, the league acknowledged it received the e-mail Portland sent to all teams and seemed to indicate that it would support any club signing the veteran forward.

"Under league rules, teams are free to sign Darius Miles to a Uniform Player Contract if they wish to secure his services as a player, and any such contract would be approved by the NBA," the statement read.

If Miles plays two more games, then his Blazers contract, worth $18 million total for this season and next, would count against Portland's salary cap and force the team to pay the NBA's luxury tax next summer. The contract had been removed from salary-cap and tax considerations when the Blazers deemed Miles medically unable to play and released him.

"Darius Miles is focused on one thing -- that's returning to play basketball. That's it. He's not focusing on any of those other issues," said agent Jeff Wechsler, who was on the phone Friday morning with union attorneys trying to devise a strategy to confront what many around the league were describing as an unprecedented situation. ...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3821503

[tp2021]

I think they could argue that failing to seize such an opportunity would represent a failure to act in the best finanical interest of every team that is eligible to receive tax payments -- which will probably be a significant number of teams. In essence, Portland is contending that there will be a fiduciary breach if teams don't put the Blazers' interests ahead of their own.

[Borosai]

The elusive "long 3"! Sign him up.

[Cry Havoc]

Has anyone considered that we might actually be able to use Miles? I mean, to hell with Portland. Why not give Miles a tryout to see if we can add a bit of explosiveness to our bench?

[phyzik]

according to ESPN this issue has been added to the agenda of a meeting between the league and the players' union lawyers thats supposed to occur this afternoon. Hopefully we will hear something soon.

[phyzik]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3821503

NEW YORK -- Darius Miles cleared waivers and became a free agent. That much was clear Friday.

Yet everything surrounding the Miles affair -- the possibility of him returning to the NBA this season, and the negative salary-cap ramifications he would cause for the Portland Trail Blazers -- took a complicated and controversial turn Friday after the club sent a memo to the 29 other NBA teams threatening litigation against anyone who signs Miles or claims his contract off waivers if it is solely for the purpose of burdening the Blazers' cap.

The matter has been added to this afternoon's agenda at a previously scheduled meeting between NBA and players' union attorneys, ESPN.com has learned.

In the statement Friday that announced Miles had cleared waivers, the league acknowledged it received the e-mail Portland sent to all teams and seemed to indicate that it would support any club signing the veteran forward.

"Under league rules, teams are free to sign Darius Miles to a Uniform Player Contract if they wish to secure his services as a player, and any such contract would be approved by the NBA," the statement read.

If Miles plays two more games, then his Blazers contract, worth $18 million total for this season and next, would count against Portland's salary cap and force the team to pay the NBA's luxury tax next summer. The contract had been removed from salary-cap and tax considerations when the Blazers deemed Miles medically unable to play and released him.
lastname
Miles

"Darius Miles is focused on one thing -- that's returning to play basketball. That's it. He's not focusing on any of those other issues," said agent Jeff Wechsler, who was on the phone Friday morning with union attorneys trying to devise a strategy to confront what many around the league were describing as an unprecedented situation.

The Blazers' e-mail, signed by team president Larry Miller, states that if any team were to sign the free-agent forward "for the purpose of adversely impacting the Portland Trail Blazers' Salary Cap and tax positions ... the Portland Trail Blazers will take all necessary steps to safeguard its rights, including, without limitation, litigation."

The full text of the e-mail, according to reports by SI.com and Yahoo! Sports, reads:

"'Team Presidents and General Managers,

'The Portland Trail Blazers are aware that certain teams may be contemplating signing Darius Miles to a contract for the purpose of adversely impacting the Portland Trail Blazers Salary Cap and tax positions. Such conduct from a team would violate its fiduciary duty as an NBA joint venturer. In addition, persons or entities involved in such conduct may be individually liable to the Portland Trail Blazers for tortuously interfering with the Portland Trail Blazers' contract rights and perspective economic opportunities.

'Please be aware that if a team engages in such conduct, the Portland Trail Blazers will take all necessary steps to safeguard its rights, including, without limitation, litigation.'"

Teams had believed the collective bargaining agreement said Miles must play 10 regular-season or postseason games in a season for the $18 million to count against the Blazers. But six preseason games Miles played for the Boston Celtics counted toward the 10.

Before the Memphis Grizzlies waived him on Tuesday night to avoid guaranteeing his contract for the rest of the season, Miles served a 10-game drug-related suspension and then played two regular-season games, pushing his total games played to eight.

Had they not waived him, Miles' contract with Memphis would have become guaranteed for the remainder of the season. It was not clear whether the Grizzlies had planned to re-sign Miles to a 10-day contract after he cleared waivers.

Senior writer Chris Sheridan covers the NBA for ESPN.com.

[tp2021]

Second, what Portland is doing is flat out disgusting for Miles. He likely works like a madman to come back after all these injuries. It's almost a given that Miles and his agent will react. It's almost a given that the player association will be strongly behind him. The league will have to choose a side. The NBA FO don't really give a fuck about Portland (small market, no great player) but they have zero interest to upset the player association. Don't forget that the current CBA ends in about two years and the league will have to negotiate with the players association for the new one. Portland has been damn stupid to send that email, I can see the league giving them huge sanctions about that (huge fine, Miles salary back in Blazers' team salary, first round picks lost...).

[024]

Has anyone considered that we might actually be able to use Miles? I mean, to hell with Portland. Why not give Miles a tryout to see if we can add a bit of explosiveness to our bench?

i think it's a decent idea. spurs need an offensive interior presence so if they can't get a big, a inside SF will be the next best thing. every one of the spurs SF aren't interior players. finley, bowen, udoka, bonner all just camp the three point line when they aren't part of a play, leaving just duncan and an offensively challenged oberto inside. miles can also make a good small ball PF.

[whottt]

I bet the Lakers sign him...

[2Cleva]

“If you want my predicition it’s that a team that needs a small forward will sign Darius to a 10-day contract in the next day or two,” Clippers president Andy Roeser said Friday
morning.

Roeser said he knew of at least three teams that want to sign the former Clippers lottery pick. The Clippers, however, are not one of those teams. By signing guard Fred Jones to a 10-day contract Thursday, the Clippers’ roster is at the NBA regular-season maximum of 15 players.

Portland’s veiled threat of pursuing legal action, should any team sign Miles, carries no weight.

“No question, the league will approve it,” Roeser said, in regards to Miles being signed to a contract.

http://lakers.freedomblogging.com/2009/01/09/miles-soon-to-resurface/8704/

[bigdog]

Someone Sign Him Now!

[benefactor]

Prediction....the league and players union come out against Pritchard and he backpedals. He will probably say something like..."Well, it was directed at teams that might want to hurt us financially. I have no problem with a team signing him if they are going to use him."

[tp2021]

On a side note, it was quite depressing to see a player with a career ending injury being ten times more athletic than the average Spurs player.


I'm not sure that there will be much interest in a guy whose entire game depended upon his athleticism, but whose injuries have cost him that athleticism. It wasn't that long ago that Miles' injuries were medically evaluated to be career ending. I'm not sure how many guys who have little game beyond their athleticism can regain it after suffering a "career ending" knee injury.

Miles is attractive to those who want to stick it to the Blazers, but I'm not sure he's got much to offer from a basketball standpoint.

So does Miles still have enough athleticism to compete or not?

[Spurs Brazil]

This is patetic

Fuck the Blazers

[ploto]

I think the issue would come down to how the team that signs him actually uses him. If some team signs him and plays him exactly 2 games and only in meaningless minutes or for a couple of minutes and never again, then Portland could claim they signed him just to hurt Portland.

[phyzik]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AnBqnYSlpX9GjuaT.5QsIlm8vLYF?slug=aw-nbamiles010809&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

NBA tells teams Miles free to be signed

Despite the Portland Trail Blazers’ efforts to dissuade teams from signing Darius Miles, the NBA sent out a memo on Friday morning that makes clear it won’t stand in the way of the free-agent forward’s return to the league.

The league notified teams on Friday that Miles had cleared waivers and is eligible to be signed to a standard contract. “Any such contract,” the league wrote in the email, “would be approved by the NBA.”

“What they’re saying is: ‘Don’t let that scare you off,’ ” said one Eastern Conference GM who had received the memo.

An NBA spokesman wasn’t immediately available to respond for comment or clarification regarding the memo.

The Memphis Grizzlies waived Miles on Tuesday after he played in two games for them. If Miles plays in two more games, the remaining $18 million of his contract will go back on the Trail Blazers’ salary cap.

Blazers president Larry Miller sent out an email to every NBA team threatening possible legal action should Miles be signed for the “purpose of adversely impacting the Portland Trail Blazers’ salary cap and tax positions.”

[ClingingMars]

Good for the Cavs owner to take a stand against Portland. Need more teams behind him.

-Mars

[ploto]

These really are not diametrically opposed. The NBA will honor a contract but if Portland finds cause that the signing was purely to screw them, they will sue.

[phyzik]

These really are not diametrically opposed. The NBA will honor a contract but if Portland finds cause that the signing was purely to screw them, they will sue.

The thing though is if the League approves the signing they will most likely stop any litigation before it even gets off the ground.

[lurker23]

The NBA players' union said Friday it will file a grievance against the Portland Trail Blazers after team president Larry Miller threatened litigation if a team picks up Darius Miles simply to adversely impact Portland's salary cap.

Before the 6-foot-9 small forward cleared waivers Friday morning, Miller sent an e-mail to the other 29 NBA teams as a warning that the Blazers would sue.

If Miles plays in two more games this season, Portland would be on the hook for $18 million -- the amount remaining on Miles' contract, which would count against the salary cap and force the team to pay luxury tax.

"We are shocked at the brazen attempt by the Portland Trail Blazers to try to prevent Darius Miles from continuing his NBA career," NBPA executive director Billy Hunter said in a statement Friday. "Their attempt to intimidate the other 29 NBA teams by threatening frivolous litigation merely for signing this capable NBA veteran is a clear violation of the anti-collusion and other provisions of our Collective Bargaining Agreement. We will vigorously defend Darius' rights."

The matter was added to Friday's agenda at a previously scheduled meeting between NBA and players' union attorneys.

In a memo sent to its 30 teams Friday that announced Miles had cleared waivers, the league office acknowledged it received the e-mail Portland distributed.

The NBA in its statement also seemed to indicate that it would support any club wishing to sign the veteran forward.

The Blazers waived Miles, who has not played for the team since microfracture surgery on his right knee in November 2006, at the end of last season after determining he was medically unable to play.

Miles has played in eight games this season -- six preseason games for the Boston Celtics, then two games for the Memphis Grizzlies before being released earlier his week.

Miles, the third overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2000 NBA draft, was on the Blazers' roster from 2004-08. He signed a six-year, $48 million deal with the team in September 2004.

In 414 career games, he has averaged 10.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.15 blocks.

Information from ESPN.com senior NBA writers Chris Sheridan and Marc Stein and The Associated Press was used in this report.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3822392

[benefactor]

The Blazers are about to get owned. Portland better do some damage control quick.

[Obstructed_View]

Kings owners are mob. They can fuck Allen with their mob lawyers until even he is broke.

I assure you that they aren't. All the big lawyers in Vegas are probably hooked up though.

[Obstructed_View]

I have to say, in all my years of being a Spurs fan, I can't think of anyone I've wanted the Spurs to sign as badly as I want them to sign Miles.

[tp2021]

I have to say, in all my years of being a Spurs fan, I can't think of anyone I've wanted the Spurs to sign as badly as I want them to sign Miles.

You were all for signing Hairston. You must really want to screw Portland over OV!

[ClingingMars]

It's on, Portland.

-Mars

[K-State Spur]

I think the issue would come down to how the team that signs him actually uses him. If some team signs him and plays him exactly 2 games and only in meaningless minutes or for a couple of minutes and never again, then Portland could claim they signed him just to hurt Portland.

They can claim it, but they can't prove it. Who were the Spurs trying to hurt when they essentially did that with Keith Langford last year?

It's a bluff. With the way the memo was worded and possible charges of collusion coming from the union, the Blazers would not just be facing off against the team that plays Miles - they would also be facing the NBA front office, the players union, and likely a countersuit from Miles that holds much more validity on face value.

He takes a lot of flack, much of it deserved, but David Stern is a pitbull. I don't think Pritchard wants to see how he'd react to one of his entities filing suit against another for signing a guy who is a FREE AGENT.

Portland's the one who f'ed up and signed Miles to that ridiculous contract in the first place. They caught an extremely lucky break when it was voided from a cap perspective. But it's still nobody's fault but their own if it goes back on the books.

[tp2021]

If the Spurs were ever going to offer Udoka to Portland for Batum, now would be the time. An email saying, "We plan to shore up our 3-4 position, and would like to go young instead of taking a chance on any available free agents." would fit nicely. Obviously the Blazers understand the language of threats.

[Obstructed_View]

You were all for signing Hairston. You must really want to screw Portland over OV!

I wanted Hairston locked up, and that's done.

I think it would be a stupid, stupid business move NOT to sign Miles if you have the spot for him. If the Spurs complained about the Blazers getting Batum, I'm sure the answer would have been, "It's just business." This situation isn't any different. As has also been mentioned, the kid probably wouldn't be the least athletic on the Spurs roster, and the team environment might do him good.

[Obstructed_View]

Thank you, tp. I'm having trouble getting all my thoughts into a single thread. :)

[xtremesteven33]

Miles would be that big athletic 3 weve all been waiting for....do it pop.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Pop should just pull the trigger on that one for the sheer entertainment value of it all. He can send a video of himself giving two thumbs up to the Blazers' brass.

[PDXSpursFan]

If a team sign Miles for a 10-day contract and play him exactly 2 game then Portland has a strong case. Otherwise, if he's signed and play through the rest of the season (even on limited minutes) there's no case and I won't expect any legal action

[lil_penny]

As a blazer fan this shit pisses me off, they went all about this situation the wrong way. I seriously hope someone signs miles.. i can kinda see their point on if someone only signs him to fuck them over but still they put themselves in this situation they went about it all totally wrong.... fuck blazers management.

[AnotherArgie]

Dude, Darius gets his 18 mil regardless. We just don't want it to count against our salary cap. If he has a career-ending injury we get that money taken off our salary cap, but he still gets paid.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't an insurance company the one that is paying Miles? If I were that insurance company, I'd be pissed as hell too.

[toki9]

If Portland really wants to sue someone, it should sue the doctors who signed off on the injury as career-ending for malpractice...unless, of course, there was some sort of collusion there...

[Mr. Body]

I think the issue would come down to how the team that signs him actually uses him. If some team signs him and plays him exactly 2 games and only in meaningless minutes or for a couple of minutes and never again, then Portland could claim they signed him just to hurt Portland.

So what? There's nothing wrong with it. Blazers don't have a case at all.

[Indazone]

Maybe Daryl Morey will pull the trigger on this one. Rockets have 1 roster space and $450,000 of cap space left. hmmmm

[tp2021]

Thank you, tp. I'm having trouble getting all my thoughts into a single thread. :)

:tu

[Yorae]

Bitchard just make matters worse than they were before the stupid email. Poor Miles, he maybe a douchebag wannabe gangsta but he's still an nba player and i think portland just fucked up his career.

[mystargtr34]

There is absolutely no way a team DOESNT sign him. Its just a matter of time. Portland is screwed - they signed him to that contract, now they have to pay for it.

[tp2021]

There is absolutely no way a team DOESNT sign him. Its just a matter of time. Portland is screwed - they signed him to that contract, now they have to pay for it.

+1

A contract is a contract is a contract.

[AlamoSpursFan]

Stern is a lawyer by trade. I'm sure he has a rock hard dick over this one...

:lol

[jag]

I think the issue would come down to how the team that signs him actually uses him. If some team signs him and plays him exactly 2 games and only in meaningless minutes or for a couple of minutes and never again, then Portland could claim they signed him just to hurt Portland.

The details of a signing are irrelevant. Miles has a right to seek a profession...and no other teams are responsible for the previous contract that Portland signed with Miles.

It's just a scare tactic on the part of Portland.

[Obstructed_View]

I'm getting my "pritch-slapped" Photoshop ready. Thanks for the pics, TLong.

[tomtom]

As a blazer fan this shit pisses me off, they went all about this situation the wrong way. I seriously hope someone signs miles.. i can kinda see their point on if someone only signs him to fuck them over but still they put themselves in this situation they went about it all totally wrong.... fuck blazers management.

[Obstructed_View]

The details of a signing are irrelevant. Miles has a right to seek a profession...and no other teams are responsible for the previous contract that Portland signed with Miles.

It's just a scare tactic on the part of Portland.

That's correct. A team can sign Miles, play him for however much he needs, and then cut his ass loose and there isn't a damn thing anybody can do about it. If the NBA wants to change the rules, they can do so when they negotiate the next CBA.

[Duncanoypi]

there you go...

TORONTO –- One of the strangest NBA plots ever will thicken Saturday because Darius Miles will rejoin the Grizzlies with a 10-day contract.

That’s the word I got while the Griz were getting blown out by the Raptors.

Miles is expected in Memphis sometime Saturday. He has visited family in Mississippi since Tuesday when the Griz waived him to avoid guaranteeing his contract for the rest of the season.

So Miles won’t have to travel far in order to put an exclamation point on an unprecedented NBA saga given the ramification his return likely will have for the Portland Trail Blazers.

If Miles appears in two more games this season, the $18 million remaining on his salary will count against the Blazers’ salary cap. The development would make the Blazers a luxury-tax payer and limit their future free-agent spending.

Portland is still expected to be under the cap this summer. If the Blazers let Raef LaFrentz’s $12.7 million contract expire and Miles’ contract goes back on their books, they would be approximately $7.5 million under the current cap.

The figure would be $16.5 million if Miles never played.

Check www.commercialappeal.com for more details on this development.

http://www.thememphisedge.com/2009/01/09/griz-signing-miles-to-10-day-contract/

[K-State Spur]

Portland is still expected to be under the cap this summer. If the Blazers let Raef LaFrentz’s $12.7 million contract expire and Miles’ contract goes back on their books, they would be approximately $7.5 million under the current cap.


that's only if they renounce their rights to webster (which they might do since they have 17 SFs on the roster).

[50 cent]

Hell yeah Memphis. There is absolutely no way Portland could say they were signing him to only harm the Blazers since he has already played for them this season.

[tlongII]

Memphis is obviously trying to force a trade with us. Fuck those pieces of shit! We'll see how this plays out...

[mystargtr34]

:lmao good job Memphis.

[m33p0]

tic.. toc... tic.. toc...

play 'em, coach!

memphis is going to be the most-watched team this coming week. :lmao

[Yorae]

Suddenly memphis is my second favorite team.

[lurker23]

Not too much new info here, but posting this partially because of the quote from Larry Miller that I hadn't seen on this thread, unless I just missed it.

Report: Grizzlies ignore Blazers' threat
ESPN.com news services

Apparently the Memphis Grizzlies have chosen to ignore the Portland Trail Blazers' recent request.

The Grizzlies have re-signed Darius Miles, who is attempting a comeback from major knee surgery, to a 10-day contract, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Friday night.

If Miles plays in two more games this season, Portland will be on the hook for $18 million -- the amount remaining on Miles' contract, which would count against Portland's salary cap and could force the team to pay luxury tax.

Hours before Miles cleared waivers Friday, Portland team president Larry Miller sent an e-mail to the other 29 NBA teams warning of legal action if a team takes Miles simply to adversely impact Portland's salary cap.

Miles, who was waived by the Grizzlies on Tuesday to avoid guaranteeing his contract for the rest of the season, is expected to be back in Memphis on Saturday.

The chance of paying the luxury tax led to the Blazers to send the e-mail, threatening legal action if a team signs Miles.

"Please be aware that if a team engages in such conduct, the Portland Trail Blazers will take all necessary steps to safeguard its rights, including, without limitation, litigation," part of Miller's e-mail reads, according to SI.com and Yahoo Sports!, which obtained it.

Miller tried explain his action on a conference call Friday.

"Our purpose here was not in any way to keep Darius from being able to play," Miller said. "If he can come back and help a team to win and play at a level on the court that helps the team, we have no problem with that at all.

"We were hearing a lot of rumblings and rumors that there were teams out there planning to sign Darius Miles specifically and maliciously to hurt our organization. This was our way of responding to that and letting folks know that we were not going to take it sitting down."

Later Friday, the NBA players' association said it planned to file a grievance against the Trail Blazers, on Miles' behalf.

Miles, who was the third overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2000 draft, signed a six-year, $48 million deal with Portland in 2004. The Blazers waived Miles at the end of the 2007-08 season after an independent doctor determined he hadn't recovered from microfracture surgery on his right knee in November 2006.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3822911

[BruceBowenFan]

:tu to memphis

[ploto]

:tu to memphis

The team that gave Gasol to the Lakers for next to nothing?

[Obstructed_View]

If they put him into two games, let him commit an intentional foul and then pull him, I will make them my new favorite team.

[Obstructed_View]

The team that gave Gasol to the Lakers for next to nothing?

Marc Gasol, Darrell Arthur and two first round picks ain't nothing.

[Cry Havoc]

Marc Gasol, Darrell Arthur and two first round picks ain't nothing.

:lmao

That's like saying I gave you a Ferrari but it's okay because you gave me a Subaru in return.

[ClingingMars]

Suddenly memphis is my second favorite team.

[ClingingMars]

Marc Gasol, Darrell Arthur and two first round picks ain't nothing.

also, this is a tired Lakerfan excuse.

-Mars

[Obstructed_View]

:lmao

That's like saying I gave you a Ferrari but it's okay because you gave me a Subaru in return.

OMFG, Pau Gasol is a Ferrari now? :rolleyes

Okay, let's go with your analogy. It's more like saying I gave you a 2001 Ferrari for a 2006 Maserati, a 2009 sports car of my choosing and two more in the next few years, any of which could be as good or better than what I gave you depending upon the quality of my choice.

[Obstructed_View]

also, this is a tired Lakerfan excuse.

-Mars

Yep, you smoked me out. I'm a laker fan. :lmao I never said Pau wasn't a good player, but Memphis didn't exactly get dog food back in the deal, and it's a retarded attempt at sour grapes by fans of the other teams to suggest it.

[tp2021]

Memphis is obviously trying to force a trade with us. Fuck those pieces of shit!

It's kinda your team's fault. A contract is a contract. They are the ones who wrote it up.

[K-State Spur]

That's correct. A team can sign Miles, play him for however much he needs, and then cut his ass loose and there isn't a damn thing anybody can do about it. If the NBA wants to change the rules, they can do so when they negotiate the next CBA.

If there is a rule change, I think it would lean much more towards making it harder to immediate get cap relief for a career ending injury that may not be.

[Cry Havoc]

OMFG, Pau Gasol is a Ferrari now? :rolleyes

Okay, let's go with your analogy. It's more like saying I gave you a 2001 Ferrari for a 2006 Maserati, a 2009 sports car of my choosing and two more in the next few years, any of which could be as good or better than what I gave you depending upon the quality of my choice.

He's a former all-star and a legit big man. How many skilled bigs do you see running around the league these days? You think you can just dip into the first round and come up with a player that will give you 18 and 9 consistently against almost any team in the league, while still being content with being the #2 or #3 go-to guy on the team?

Geez, man. Where are all these 18 and 9 guys that the Spurs can pick up? We could sure use them.

Granted, now that Marc has suddenly come on a bit stronger, the trade isn't vastly lopsided, but even so, trading a perennial borderline all-star for role players is just crazy.

[bigdog]

good job Memphis. I wish the Spurs would have done it but oh well.

[temujin]

Take home message.



The Lakers are afraid of Portland and have their subsidiary sign this guy.

[phyzik]

I would have preferred the Spurs to sign him, I think he actually could have contributed, but Im glad someone called Portlands gay ass bluff. Lets se if they sue now, they will be so fucked over it would be awesome!!!

Karma is a bitch, Portland!

[smeagol]

OMFG, Pau Gasol is a Ferrari now? :rolleyes

Okay, let's go with your analogy. It's more like saying I gave you a 2001 Ferrari for a 2006 Maserati, a 2009 sports car of my choosing and two more in the next few years, any of which could be as good or better than what I gave you depending upon the quality of my choice.

The Lakers are 29-6 because of Gasol. Otherwise, they'd be just another good team (just like us, NOH, ORL, etc). Gasol made the Lakers so much better it is not even funny.

I'd rather that trade never happened and I blame MEM for it. I could care less if the fuck Portland.

[m33p0]

The Lakers are 29-6 because of Gasol. Otherwise, they'd be just another good team (just like us, NOH, ORL, etc). Gasol made the Lakers so much better it is not even funny.

I'd rather that trade never happened and I blame MEM for it. I could care less if the fuck Portland.
without gasol, they're a first-round fodder and will be at the mercy of the suns once again. :tu

[mrspurs]

FUCK YOU GUYS! If you don't immediately close this thread I will resort to litigation without limitation. In other words, I WILL SUE YOUR ASS!

Well Well...Looky Looky Looky....Tlong wha wha what happened? Did I miss my guess again? And here I was expecting a........what ever.....etc.:lol You left me with no choice. See ya..........:wow It was a great run.:king

[benefactor]

Prediction....the league and players union come out against Pritchard and he backpedals. He will probably say something like..."Well, it was directed at teams that might want to hurt us financially. I have no problem with a team signing him if they are going to use him."

Our purpose here was not in any way to keep Darius from being able to play," Miller said. "If he can come back and help a team to win and play at a level on the court that helps the team, we have no problem with that at all.
:hat

[MannyIsGod]

I bet next you'll predict the sun rises tomorrow.

[benefactor]

I bet next you'll predict the sun rises tomorrow.
The possibility is there, but I am not going solid on it for a few more hours.

[MaNuMaNiAc]

I bet next you'll predict the sun rises tomorrow.

:lol

P.S. Fuck Portland... wait... oh that's right, Memphis just did :lol

[Obstructed_View]

He's a former all-star and a legit big man. How many skilled bigs do you see running around the league these days? You think you can just dip into the first round and come up with a player that will give you 18 and 9 consistently against almost any team in the league, while still being content with being the #2 or #3 go-to guy on the team?

Geez, man. Where are all these 18 and 9 guys that the Spurs can pick up? We could sure use them.

Granted, now that Marc has suddenly come on a bit stronger, the trade isn't vastly lopsided, but even so, trading a perennial borderline all-star for role players is just crazy.

Again, I haven't said that Pau is not a very good player, but he's not top five in the league good as many of you like to portray it. In fact, you've softened in a couple of posts to the point that Pau is now a "perennial borderline all-star".

As you mentioned, his brother looks pretty good, and it remains to be seen how Arthur develops, and you have no idea who they are going to get with the other two picks. Again, that trade is only a gang-rape in the minds of bitter fans of teams that didn't make the trade for Gasol when he was available. The Lakers just happened to have the right combination of expiring salaries, draft picks and young talent. You might not find a better big man to put on th floor with Kobe because he has a high basketball IQ, is an excellent finisher and has really good hands. Memphis wasn't going anywhere with him as the primary option, and they probably weren't going to be able to keep him and sign the young talent they're developing.

[buttsR4rebounding]

I heard Memphis signed him to a 10 day contract today...let the bullshit fly!

[ClingingMars]

he's an actor, too...

http://us.imdb.com/name/nm1056968/

-Mars