Blazers Trying to Blackball Darius Miles

Yet another turn in the Darius Miles saga comes with a bullying e-mail sent out by the Blazers to other teams. Per ESPN, the e-mail reads as follows:

Quote:
"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."

Okay: Here’s the question everybody around the NBA should be asking: If this contract issue with the Blazers did not exist, would it be more or less likely for a team to sign Darius Miles today?

If the answer is more — and I think it is — then Portland’s potential salary cap hit is a deterrent to Miles getting a chance to play, not the primary reason he would.

As one of the few NBA media people who has seen Miles play in person in a regulation NBA game since he left Blazers, let me say that he looks like he’s capable of contributing.

Miles played nine minutes in his two appearances with the Grizzlies last week. In his seven-minute stretch against the Timberwolves, he missed his only two shots — one at the rim, one a 20-foot jumper — but he grabbed two rebounds (one an offensive board that led to a Hakim Warrick layup) and, more impressively, blocked two shots (one a thunderous rejection of a Randy Foye lay-up, the other a muffling of a 10-foot Al Jefferson turnaround.) In a game that the Grizzlies lost, they held their ground with Miles on the floor. I was surprised. So were the other press people I was sitting with. I was also surprised when Miles threw down a windmill dunk in shootaround.

Maybe Miles didn’t put the proper effort into his rehab for Portland. Maybe the team doctor(s) who pronounced Miles’ injuries “career-ending” were coming up with the conclusion the Blazers wanted. I don’t know. Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace did tell me — after the team decline to guarantee his contract for the season — that trainers who had been working with Miles told him that Miles would look better in games than in practice drills. And that was the case.

Based on what I saw, Miles is better than a lot of players on NBA rosters right now. He’s certainly better than Grizzlies reserve center Hamed Haddadi. I’d imagine he’s probably better that Mark Madsen and Calvin Booth, who sat on the bench for the Timberwolves that night. If he can help a team, even in a small way, then why shouldn’t one of the 29 other NBA teams take a chance? Because of a “gentlemen’s agreement” with Portland. Or because of intimidation from Portland.

Either way, if Darius Miles doesn’t get a chance to play again this season, it will be because of artificial constraints. Sounds like a lawsuit to me. The increasingly entitled Blazers aren’t the only entity in this ordeal that could pursue litigation.

Submitted by Chris Herrington on Fri, 01/09/2009 - 8:23am.
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Moses (not verified) | Sun, 06/21/2009 - 4:26am

I have enough money to keep me in drugs and hoes for evah!

Memphis has a bunch of country bumpkins who date their cousins.

I liked Portland though. They had fine wimmin.

Now I have to go. It's my turn to hit that crack pipe.

Darius Miles (not verified) | Mon, 01/12/2009 - 8:09pm

Straighten the facts

This email was sent as a reply to the reports by some Eastern Conference teams that a team will sign Miles for the sole purpose of hurting Portland's cap space.

This email is not "blackballing' Miles, but asking teams not to sign him if their intent is to hurt Portland, rather than use Miles to help themselves.

The Dr. that gave the career-ending injury report was not a team doctor, but rather a Dr. appointed by the NBA and approved by the Players Association.

If Darius Miles doesn't get a chance to play for the remainder of the season, it will be because the goals of the team wanting to sign him are not 100% legit.

Straighten the facts (not verified) | Mon, 01/12/2009 - 3:55pm

There are a few Portland fans that make smart, accurate, and articulate points, but the rest of them are a bunch of big childish idiots who are mad that they have less cap space for a couple of years.

YOU ARE STILL ONE OF THE BEST YOUNG TEAMS IN THE LEAGUE! Get over it. Sure you can't sign a star free agent, but you don't need one. All you have to do is trade some of your young talent for a star and you will be set.

Quit getting mad at the Griz for wanting a backup small forward. And call us dirty, we aren't the ones trying to blackball a player who wants to make a comeback.

John (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 7:14pm

Miles is a loser...along with Rashweed, Damon and the jailblazers....all losers....take the creep...it shows a lot about your organization...total lack of class..but then again, it's the Grizzlers...and who the heck would want to live in that town?

You are kidding right? (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 4:24pm

Grizzlies, take Darius, if you wanna play him in two more games, be our guests, you can re-build your team with that caliber of players, thats fine. Portland will move on, but the Grizzlies will not. Have fun being in the lottery for many many many years to come. Maybe you girls need to move to the Eastern Conference, where maybe, just maybe, you have a shot at getting out of the lottery hole. Peace and Love, from your Western Conference foes, Portland Trail Blazers.

Blazin Thru Memphis (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 3:52pm

Read the comments again, guys. The Trail Blazers would end up suing another team that picked up Miles with the express desire of trashing the salary cap for 2009 - 2010. It doesn't say anything about a team wanting to pick him up if they actually thought he could help the team. While it would be extremely difficult to prove that a team is intentionally trying to mess with another team, do you seriously think any other organization in the league would sit by and not say anything in a similar position?

I hope you are happy with your new player, and that he doesn't completely poison your locker room.

GK107 (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 3:08pm

I'm amazed at all the misinformation flying around on Darius in the NBA media as well as the blogosphere. I'm also amazed at how worked-up everyone in and outside of Blazerland is about this situation. I may be the only person in the world who thinks everyone connected with this siutation, including Darius, has acted honorably. Darius is a young, sensitive guy who had problems with a dysfunctional Blazer organization and team and he let it sour his attitude toward the team. He's not a bad guy, he just has some issues.

The doctor who declared that Darius has a high probability of severely injuring his knee if he resumes his NBA career was hired by the Players Association and the League, not the Blazers. He made an honest assessment. He never said Darius would be unable to play again, and the Blazers have never said that to anyone. They were smart, not conniving, to obtain the medical retirement waiver on Darius and have a shot at getting him off their books. Insurance is paying 80% of his salary, which doesn't hurt, either. They were also smart, not conniving, not to want him around the young players they were bringing-in.

David Stern and the League are behaving honorably toward the Blazers, Miles, and the other 29 teams. There's no conspiracy against anyone. They are simply ensuring that everyone's interests are protected.

The Blazers released the email stating that they would take legal action against any team that they believe are playing Darius simply for the purpose of shafting the Blazers. There's nothing bullying or dirty about that. They just want the other teams to know they won't take such behavior lying down. The letter has been bad PR for the team and probably accomplished nothing, but the howls of outrage from everyone over it makes me think a lot of people need to get a grip on reality.

This whole situation is a tempest in a teapot.

BTW, I think the Grizzlies were smart to break-up a team that couldn't get past the first round of the playoffs and deal Gasol to L.A. for the great young players they have now. They've been playing better lately and I expect them to show steady improvement as their young players develop and new ones come onboard. Shame on those Blazer fans who say the Grizzlies suck. We've sucked for five years and have yet to make the playoffs, so it's a little early to adopt a smug, superior attitude, don't you think? Please stop giving the rest of us a bad name.

Yet another Blazer fan (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 3:06pm

Ok, if Portland didn't give a damn about Miles, then why did they threaten to sue any team that signed the guy? You can't just say that when the fact is that the Blazers tried their best to keep Miles out of the league. Good thing it backfired on them, it was a really low move.

Anonymous (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 3:02pm

1. Thanks for the more measured responses, fellas. That's a step in the right direction. No question he sounds like he was cancerous as all get out in Portland. And he may be here. And that is why, to answer the last query, the Grizzlies may not have wantded to guarantee his contract for the rest of the year. Another 10-day deal makes sense for Memphis in this situation.

2. He is not what he once was, but he may still have enough in the tank to spell Gay at the 3 1-14 minuts a night. If so, that has value to Memphis.

3. I don't get the nba-wants-to-screw-Portland paranoia frankly. The Spurs are small market as you can get, and they have done just fine. Portland clearly got the benefit of the ping-pong ball in getting Oden, you don't think the league would rather have had him in NY? That particular set of thoughts makes no sense to me at all.

membengal (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 12:37pm

If Darius was so promising, then why wouldn't the Griz sign him for the rest of the year? They had a 10 day contract, and they barley played him. By signing him to another 10 day contract, and if he plays the minimum again, the Griz will look pretty bad.

Dmiiler (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 12:31pm

All I can say to Griz fans and memphis is general....you can have'em. Miles will do nothing for your team, nothing for your franchise. He's a cancer and not much of a ball player. Now I know your team is one of the worst in the league and any inflection of talent might seem to be a good thing. But mark my words now, you will spend an inordinate amount of time litigating with Portland over a marginal player at best. We have the money, the talent, and believe me this organization has far loftier goals in mind than giving a $h*t about and under performer thats grossly over paid. So enjoy, even after you spend millions in court, (and you will) we'll pick up your tab. Your bringing in MILES as your veteran presence . What a joke, great role model for OJ. (oh wait rules have never ment much to him anyway) Have fun stuck in the basement on our dime.

pdx (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 12:24pm

First of all, (Above), No offense, but if you were Darius Miles your whole team would hate you and you would quit the second you got paid. You're also grinning ear to ear at the chance to suckle off the Blazers for another two season.

Secondly, I apologize on behalf the Blazermaniacs for any childish remarks on the Blazers behalf. We're a fan base that prides itself as much as is realistic on being informed and relatively behaved.

Look, your article makes great points: Miles is better than some players in the NBA and a few on your team. We know that, trust me, we remember watching him play. We also remember bitterly how he gave up on the team and the fans well before we gave up on him. We watched him suckle his giant contract while lounging on the bench and the locker room and tramping around portland like a pimp/thug.

He's a cancer and he doesn't deserve his talent nor a second chance at an NBA contract. That's my opinion, and it's biased, but deserved. I maliciously pray that he gets reinjured in his next game and we forget about him forever.

And you can't deny that this smells from the top all the way down. The league has it out for our small market team that's building a dynasty to take the spotlight away from LA and other bigger markets.

All said and done, you can't stop KP. With or without the cap space, he's taking us the promise land.

Fysho (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 11:25am

Chris Wallace, you are s*ck! you should sign NBA all star just like Paul Gasol who you traded for nothing. Don't mess around.

Anonymous (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 10:47am

I am continuously amazed by Blazers fans' sense of entitlement and their petulance over this whole issue.

But Blazers fans are monuments of human genius and understanding compared to "Steve from Knoxville".

Steve from Knoxville, please stumble back to your trailer and leave the humans alone.

HPTMatt (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 7:57am

Sorry for the horrible comments from some Blazers "fans".

Anonymous (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 6:19am

There would be no way for the Trailblazers to prove a team was not genuinely concerned with trying to increase the talent of their team by acquiring Darius Miles; he did receive all-rookie honors, and was a rising star before his injury.

I would not be threatened by an e-mail sent by the Trailblazers promising litigation in this regard. The team owner is a billionaire and would find this trivial.

Considering both paragraphs, I find this to be a low for the Portland organization, even though I do not like Miles, and am a Blazer fan.

If I were a team with nothing to lose, as the Grizzlies seem to be with a horrible season played so far, I would take a chance to sign Miles. I rather thought that the Clippers, having basically no bench, would have signed him just to have a substitution to play.

Kevin's brother (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 4:25am

Memphis sucks, period.

Anonymous (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 4:14am

.... and I think it is the Memphis women....

Anonymous (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 3:29am

ok, first off, there is alot of potty mouth going on....
Two, The 'independant' physician, i believe, was endorsed and sent by the players union and the league office. This doctor said, "ugh, I've never seen a knee this bad. If he were my son, I'd tell him to never play again. He has bone on bone.... Etc."
So the Blazers waived him, and continue to pay more than half the amount of the contract, and insurance pays, like 33%, or something like that to Darius.
All with approval from the league and players union.
The benefit is that the salary the blazers pay wouldn't reflect on the cap.
Then Boston has him in preseason, 2 games in Memphis, then waived so as to not guarantee the salary for the year.
The league, for the first time ever, sends out an "e" the notify the availability of M*les and said it would basically accept any contract for him. (WHAT!?)
The blazers, under the report from other GMs, hear that some teams were going to sign him to purposefully screw the blazers financially.
So the "e" went out stating that they believe this.
The league then sends emails to say ignore the Blazers threats and the union said it will file a grievance.
Then M*mphis SIGNS M*LES!
Something is REALLY fishy here.
Why would the league and union send this physician, Who states M*les is through (and I believe there was a 2nd opinion, too, then actively encourage and announce the way they did thru e-mails for teams to sign him...?

Your Mother (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 3:11am

Grizzlies fans have nothing better to root for so who are the losers in the end?! Nobody in Portland would trade places with your sorry team with or without Miles' cap space.

For a team that has no shot of making the playoffs, the worst GM in basketball and players that would rather be anywhere else (except OKC), you fans sure talk big.

Have fun with your crappy season.

Grizzled (not verified) | Sat, 01/10/2009 - 12:37am

Well the NBA sent a memo out that the NBA is behind any team that sign Miles.

Portland- 0
Every one else in the league- 1

Anonymous (not verified) | Fri, 01/09/2009 - 4:44pm

Chris

I understand releasing D Miles so that we don't gurantee his contract, but didn't Chris Wallace sign him to a couple of 10 day contracts. He looked good against Minny and the Grizz could use the help.

AP

Antonio (not verified) | Fri, 01/09/2009 - 3:21pm

Just thought of something else. This e-mail may backfire in their faces. Even if the Grizzlies don't re-sign Miles to a 10 day contract, this e-mail may push one of the league's big egos to do it for spite. I could see a guy like Mark Cuban signing Miles to a 10 day deal, and then daring the Blazers to sue. And honestly, I think the guy can really still play. Even regardless of his performances here, the Celtics wanted to keep him. They just didn't have a roster spot. He could be a quality reserve for any team in the league, and cheap too. (Well, cheap for the team signing him, not the Blazers.) I can't wait for a team to sign him. I hope it happens before the end of the day today, just to shove in Portland's face.

Adam (not verified) | Fri, 01/09/2009 - 10:00am

The Trailblazers have set themselves up for a nice fat lawsuit of their own. Darius Miles has definite grounds for litigation. They are purposely trying to impede his NBA career. The fact that his playing could negatively effect their salary cap is completely inconsequential. They signed the contract. It is now their responsibility. Not the other 29 NBA teams.

How many bad contracts has New York had? Not once have I heard them complaining that the other 29 teams in the league were hurting their finances, by taking advantage of those bad contracts through various deals. Portland, do the league a big favor...quit whining! Suck it up!

I would imagine the Players Association may have a slight problem with this too. A team trying to block a free-agent from signing with other teams? Hmmm...call me crazy, but that might just be something that is covered in the collective bargaining agreement. It sounds like the "Jailblazers" nickname might still have some relevance. Only now it applies to the team's management, instead of its players.

Oh, and if D-Miles does sue the Trailblazers, he might just "adversely impact" their finances even more. Now, that would be poetic. :)

Adam (not verified) | Fri, 01/09/2009 - 9:40am

If I were Darius, my lawyers would be having a field day with this. I would make it my personal mission to play 2 more games this season. That letter is outrageous. I hope the Grizzlies have the balls to sign him back and play him. Pardon my French, but #*$% the Blazer's, that is ridiculous.

Jacob (not verified) | Fri, 01/09/2009 - 9:35am

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