Blazers threaten the rest of the NBA [merged]

I think this owner stated it well:

“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 would have prefered the jailblazer taken a different route than trying to bully other owners . . . isn't that the type of image we are trying to avoid. To bad we don't have Sheed to threaten the owners in the parking lot as they are walking to their car.

 

Not according to the Oregonian.

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/1215055511213950.xml&coll=7

That's the reason for this email. If it extended to next year, the email makes zero sense.

 

I was extremly angry to here this pile of crap...it is so wrong on many levels (as stated by many other posters). The Blazers have no grounds to sue any team for signing a free agent bases merely on the fact that it would fuck up thier cap space.
When it's all said and done i see even more teams looking more closely at signing him and it's just plain wrong to throw a threat around that can hurt the chance of Miles getting a job.

I wouldn't be surprised if Miles ends up sueing the Blazers for this....and they could end up losing even more than just the 9mil a year for next two....very stupid move.

 

I want the image that protects the future of the franchise. PERIOD.

 

This is a tricky area of the law, but this is not a tricky case. Yes, joint venture partners sometimes are bound by fiduciary duties. No, they do not apply in this circumstance. It's pretty clear that a team could stand up and say, "We are going to play Darius Miles for 2 games and then cut him, so that the Blazers will have to pay a tax," and there is not a court in the land who would hear a claim by the Blazers. Not even close.

Miles, on the other hand, may have a suit. If he can ever show that the Blazers were involved in leaking his diet drug thing, then he has laid the groundwork for punitive damages in his suit against them and the league for attempting to deny him his right to pursue employment. It's not a "slam dunk" case, for various reasons, but of the two imaginable lawsuits here - the Blazers for tampering and Miles for violating his right to work - it is really the only one imaginable.

 

Well because this particular franchise has "portland" attached to it's name . . . I want a franchise I can be proud of. PERIOD.

 

What about protecting cap flexibility makes your pride in the team diminish? It's an ugly situation regardless, and I applaud Paul Allen for not bending over and grabbing his ankles without putting up a fight.

 

So by threatening the entire league, they protect themselves from having to slander a specific team down the line... mmmkay... Somehow, it doesn't seem worth the consiquence. Here's an idea, don't do either...

Well I don't like it either, but it appears well within that teams right to do so. Don't hate the player, hate the game, meaning the National Basketball Association.

I think proving that would be pretty difficult, even under the scenario you speak of. And again, at any rate, I don't think the other team would be breaking any rules. Are they?

 

But he's going into a gun fight th....hell, a paperclip. This could hurt more than help.

 

What makes more sense?

1) Lose cap flexibility, handle the situation with dignity, and keep good faith with the rest of the league.

2) Or, Lose cap flexibility, handle the situation like a bully, and piss everyone off.

Those are your options. This is not protecting their cap space. This is a war they can't win.

 

Depends on how you look at rules and ethics in business. Paul Allen is protecting his asset, and the email validates the Blazers expect other NBA teams to act in good faith.

What I really don't understand, however, is how 6 pre-season games can be counted prior to a ten-game suspension. That is horse-bleep and makes no sense to me.

 

If another team acts in bad faith solely to screw your organization, and you do nothing about it, the entire NBA becomes about bad faith.

Business can be ugly. Anybody who has been around the block knows this. I don't understand the bashing of the team over this.

 

I'm acknowledgeing that there is another side to this . . . protecting the interests of the organization, I get that. I disagree with the way they handled it, but I see what they are trying to do.

But if you can't see why this might put Ptd in a bad light around the league, then I don't think you are looking this sitaution clearly.

If PA wants to put up a fight, sue somebody. Don't make a threat behind your president of operations and send a group email out. We have already seen one owner's public response . . . considers the email insulting and quite frankly a joke. I would love to hear the non-public responses from owners. The NBA has implied they will stand behind any signing of Miles which shows they aren't taking the email seriously.

Paul Allen isn't fighting anything, he is threatening to fight and I don't think anyone of importance is taking him seriously.

 

Niiiiicely put! My sentiments exactly. Not to mention they could get sued my Miles not for hindering his ability to get work

 

Are you saying it is false?

Because a team could play Darius in a few pre-season games next year and it's all over for the Blazers. Kind of hard to argue bad faith over games that don't count on a contract that isn't guaranteed. This year, it's either a ten-day deal or a guaranteed contract from tomorrow forward.

I expect Darius to be in a camp next fall and I expect him to get some more run.

 

I don't know how this effects things, but I realized that if the Blazers go over the cap, the money is split by other teams. Aren't there business ethics laws that preside over such things? It seems to me there is a huge conflict of interest here from other NBA teams.

 

Yes. I'm almost positive that it's 10 games combined over 2 seasons.