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 compe ive 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.
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 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...).
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.
He's played eight NBA games since that declaration. So his injuries were obviously not career ending.
Sad point, but right as rain.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.
athletic players tend to be bags so it evens out at the end.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.
Cavs owner upset with Blazers’ threat
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 cir vent 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.”
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.
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.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3821503Darius 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. ...
The elusive "long 3"! Sign him up.
Has anyone considered that we might actually be able to use Miles? I mean, to with Portland. Why not give Miles a tryout to see if we can add a bit of explosiveness to our bench?
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.
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 en ies 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.
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.
I bet the Lakers sign him...
http://lakers.freedomblogging.com/20...esurface/8704/“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.
Someone Sign Him Now!
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."
So does Miles still have enough athleticism to compete or not?
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