Johnny_Sack
Years ago

Darius Miles still has game = -$18m Portland

This is awesome - after everything that happened last week: threats, counter threats, signings, etc...

Young Darius scores 13 points in under 14 minutes - even if the Grizz signed him to screw the Blazers they now have a pretty good cover for it... Looks like he has earned PT for the next few contests at least... Next chance for the Grizz to elict cheers from non-Blazers fans will be on saturday.

Topic #18736 | Report this topic


Mookie  
Years ago

$18 mill gonna buy Darius some serious weed to smoke.

Reply #221645 | Report this post


hereschenes  
Years ago

I'm finding it hard to feel sorry for Portland after the way they carried on. If they hadn't made such a big fuss about this, maybe no one would have signed Miles?

I believe the next game he gets playing time will trigger the contract language.

Reply #221657 | Report this post


Johnny_Sack  
Years ago

http://blog.oregonlive.com/blazers/2007/08/mcmillan_darius_car.jpg

My favorite Darius-Related photo. The look on Coach McMillan's face (the guy behind the car) is priceless... "And you're OUT OF HERE!!!"...

Reply #221665 | Report this post


Mystro  
Years ago

Darius still has game for an old stoner.
It's hard to say if Portland are going to follow through with what they threatened considering they don't have much of a leg to stand on legally.
They're just gutted that everyone else has budgeted for the upcoming free agents.

Reply #221672 | Report this post


3  
Years ago

To be honest, it's pretty ridiculous IMO that Miles ever got a contract like that in the first place. He's always only ever had athleticism and potential, and whilst being a decent player for a while there, never lived up to what he could have been at all. He dunked a lot and sold a lot of jerseys, but didn't really do anything of substance when you look back.

I remember reading an interview with him in SLAM from February 2003, just after he got traded to Cleveland. Supposedly his coaches realistically expected him to average 17 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists during the 2002/03 season. He thought he could go for 20, 10 and 7, plus 2 blocks and 2 steals per game. None of this ever happened, but the potential has always been there. I think Miles' time to be a star has passed him by, but if he can trully prove he's 150% healthy (and show that he has a game that doesn't solely rely on athleticism), he can still be a solid player in the league.

Reply #221701 | Report this post


olskoolgamer  
Years ago

Yeah attitude has always been a problem for him, not talent. He seems to have changed a bit, e.g. just thanking Celtics and Memphis for a chance even though he got cut.

But he gets paid no matter what, its just a matter of whether it gets paid by insurance and isn't on the salary cap, or whether the blazers have to include it in their cap. Everyone is making a big fuss of the contract being back on the cap, I don't think its that bad, his contract finishes at the end of next season, still letting the blazers hire someone from the 2010 free agent list.

I just think Blazers management had a strategy and now its fallen apart and will cost them $18 or so mill, so they are freaking out and hence handled it badly. It is a lot of money.

Reply #221733 | Report this post


3  
Years ago

Well yea, there's definitely been questions about his attitude in the past. I think the fact that his career was all but over has done a fair bit to humble him now though. He's actually come out and said that he's not the bad guy that he's been made out to be in the past, but there's definitely been some evidence that he was turning into a locker room cancer pre-injury in Portland. They were trying to get rid of him even before he hurt his knee.

I think the thing is that Portland aren't worried about 2010. They're worried about 2009. They want to be able to use their free agent money now, and so they should. Even besides that, Paul Allen (the owner of the Blazers), multi-millionaire or not, probably doesn't want to pay $18 million to someone if he doesn't have to, especially when he's not receiving their services at all.

Just a sidebar - the guaranteed contract situation in the NBA is pretty ridiculous IMO, especially considering Miles was judged to have a career-ending injury. At that point, he should have technically been considered retired (even if he hadn't officially done so), and his contract should have been wiped from the cap. A similar situation is happening with Eric Snow in Cleveland. He's pretty much done for, yet the $7 million or so that's on the Cavs' cap for his salary can't come off for while yet (not the whole term of the contract, but there's still an amount of time to go yet). I know that sets a dangerous precedent that could be used as a loophole by clubs to renege on bad contracts, but how many players are going to be willing to falsely be labelled with a career ending injury to have their contract voided? None I'd imagine, so that loophole wouldn't ever get used. With unguaranteed contracts, like in the NFL, you'd have to play to get paid, making these bad contracts virtually non-existent, as if someone is playing badly or can't play, you can just cut them, like in the NFL.

Reply #221736 | Report this post




You need to be a registered user to post from this location. Register here.



Close ads
Little Streaks - The fun and interactive good-habits app designed especially for kids.
Serio: Tourism photography and videography

Advertise on Hoops to a very focused, local and sports-keen audience. Email for rates and options.

Recent Posts



.


An Australian basketball forum covering NBL, WNBL, ABL, Juniors plus NBA, WNBA, NZ, Europe, etc | Forum time is: 8:51 am, Fri 29 Nov 2024 | Posts: 968,026 | Last 7 days: 754