duncan228
01-10-2009, 09:31 PM
Are Trail Blazers rooting against Miles' comeback? (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Are_Trail_Blazers_rooting_against_Miles_comeback.h tml)
Express-News
The league doesn't willy-nilly declare that injuries are career-ending, and that is what is really behind what has become the “BlazerGate” scandal of the 2008-09 season.
It is understandable that the Portland Trail Blazers don't want guard-forward Darius Miles' $9 million salary returned to their roster for salary cap purposes.
The league agreed to remove Miles' future salaries last year after an NBA-appointed doctor agreed his knee injury was so severe it threatened to end his career. But Blazers executives knew they would have to put the whole $9 million back on their cap if Miles played at least 10 games this season. That is consideredprima facie evidence that the docs were wrong, and if it seems like a minimal standard, well, that is because it is, the presumption being that teams don't use players who aren't physically able to compete, even for a few games.
The Blazers didn't say much when Miles went to training camp with the Celtics. There was no audible sigh of relief when the Celtics made Miles their final cut before the season began.
They got nervous when the Grizzlies signed him on Dec. 14, but what really appeared to fire them up was a column last week by Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
The columnist merely verified that the six preseason games in which Miles appeared for the Celtics counted against the 10-game threshold.
Miles played in two games for the Grizzlies this season before the team waived him Wednesday. They re-signed him three days later, and now he is just two games shy of taking away $9 million worth of Portland's free agency flexibility, both this summer and next.
Trail Blazers president Larry Miller's intimidating e-mails followed Wojnarowski's column by just one day, and it wasn't long before players' union chief Billy Hunter was threatening a grievance against the Blazers for threatening to derail Miles' comeback attempt.
The whole affair is a reminder that pro sports can be a cutthroat business. The clear implication of Miller's e-mails suggests teams are willing to behave unscrupulously to gain a competitive advantage.
Imagine that.
Express-News
The league doesn't willy-nilly declare that injuries are career-ending, and that is what is really behind what has become the “BlazerGate” scandal of the 2008-09 season.
It is understandable that the Portland Trail Blazers don't want guard-forward Darius Miles' $9 million salary returned to their roster for salary cap purposes.
The league agreed to remove Miles' future salaries last year after an NBA-appointed doctor agreed his knee injury was so severe it threatened to end his career. But Blazers executives knew they would have to put the whole $9 million back on their cap if Miles played at least 10 games this season. That is consideredprima facie evidence that the docs were wrong, and if it seems like a minimal standard, well, that is because it is, the presumption being that teams don't use players who aren't physically able to compete, even for a few games.
The Blazers didn't say much when Miles went to training camp with the Celtics. There was no audible sigh of relief when the Celtics made Miles their final cut before the season began.
They got nervous when the Grizzlies signed him on Dec. 14, but what really appeared to fire them up was a column last week by Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
The columnist merely verified that the six preseason games in which Miles appeared for the Celtics counted against the 10-game threshold.
Miles played in two games for the Grizzlies this season before the team waived him Wednesday. They re-signed him three days later, and now he is just two games shy of taking away $9 million worth of Portland's free agency flexibility, both this summer and next.
Trail Blazers president Larry Miller's intimidating e-mails followed Wojnarowski's column by just one day, and it wasn't long before players' union chief Billy Hunter was threatening a grievance against the Blazers for threatening to derail Miles' comeback attempt.
The whole affair is a reminder that pro sports can be a cutthroat business. The clear implication of Miller's e-mails suggests teams are willing to behave unscrupulously to gain a competitive advantage.
Imagine that.