No, it's not. I'm sure the Doctors (yes, plural) who ruled his knee injury career ending know more about it than any of us, but I suspect the condition is degenerative - the more he plays on it, the worse it gets, like Bo Jackson's hip injury. The doctors didn't say he would never walk again, or that his knee would implode within the first nine minutes of game action. They simply stated their opinion that Miles was risking his long term health if he resumed his NBA career. Nothing that has happened since disproves that opinion. If Miles elects to continue playing and ends up needing knee replacement surgery (like Bo's hip replacement), he is accepting the risk and going against the opinion of multiple doctors. That's his choice and doesn't mean the advice of the doctors was flawed in any way. BNM
Five teams don't have to split LeBron...there are other free agents in 2010, like Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson and Dirk Nowitzki. Josh Howard, Michael Redd and Manu Ginobili, too, though they'd probably seem more like consolation prizes.
I suspect one of two things will happen: Memphis will pick him up on a pair of 10 day contracts. This will give them some additional time to evaluate his play before they have to guarantee his contract for the remainder of the season. This scenario makes the most sense. Why would Memphis pay him while he served his 10 game suspension to only cut him after 9 minutes of action? Or... Boston will pick him up on a pair of 10 day contracts to see if he can actually contribute. In either case, Miles is a much more attractive 10-day contract pick-up now that the pesky 10 game suspension is out of the way. And, two 10 day contracts is enough for him to get in the additional 8 games needed to put his salary back on Portland's cap. BNM
I still don't know about this "third party" thing. I feel like, over a year ago, Miles said he was better. He wanted to play. Said he was ready to play. But Nate/KP just wanted him gone. The guy was healthy. They didn't know what to do. And they had this doctor come in to get him out and off our cap space. But he's FINE. He's BEEN fine for about a year now. And both the Celtics and Grizz thought he was fine enough to get signed to contracts. The idea that these teams are doing it just to mess with us is ludicrous. That's what I think. I'm rooting for Darius. Met him last year. Liked the guy. Liked him when he played for us.
Memphis did him a huge favor. They allowed him to serve his suspension and now he only needs a few games under his belt to fuck (even though it's not that big of a deal) the Blazers. Another team will sign Darius now and think they are getting over on the Blazers.
I actually hope he does well; I'm not too stoked about his contract thing, but I did enjoy seeing him play, when he was "on" of course... At least in my old NBA games he could throw down some sick jams!
Mike Barrett >>>>>> Pete Pranica, although Pete had some decent calls during the JailBlazers years (remember the "Miracle Minute" vs. Dallas) And yes, Darius looked good on that block. However, he still only played 7 minutes, and if Memphis thought he could bring that ability 20-25 minutes a game, they would have kept him. But he obviously can't. It's like what a poster said earlier in this thread about Clyde Drexler saying he could suit up today and play at his peak level for a game in the NBA, but wouldn't be able to walk tomorrow. I'm sure that Darius could play at a high level for a VERY short amount of time before his knees started to give out on him, which would take a couple of days of ice and treatment to get back to normal. Is that enough for an NBA contract? Memphis didn't think so.
Well, please don't get so confused as to go looking for pretty girls in the crowd to show the folks at home in the GS game as I am going to be in attendance right behind the scorers table. Get plenty of rest and no drinking or such. Instead, look for me, I am a "good looking old guy" with a Amish like white beard with my lovely youngish wife beside me. You can give the people a treat if you want. LOL
Two doctors came to the same conclusion that his knee was shot. One doctor was assigned by the league and had nothing to do with the Blazers. He may look fine especially in short spurts but I doubt he'd last long with 15-20 minutes a game for say 10 games. These doctors are the best of the best and had no reason to lie about his knee being career ending.
Uh no....The reasoning was that it was bone on bone in the knee and that he would never be able to come back and sustain it.....The fact that he has been able to get into games in scrub minutes doesn't suddenly prove otherwise..... Actually I think it is more telling that 2 (3?) teams now have signed and then released him after seing him....He may well break the 10 game barrier but his future in the NBA is going to be very short lived regardless....I think he is done, I think he is just unwilling to accept it right now..... and I don't hate Darius....but his injury coupled with his (lack of) work ethic has done him in....
My son injured his mcl wrestling. He's worked very hard to be top level competitor. He would do almost anything to wrestle tomorrow. Taking a few weeks off in the middle of the season destroys your conditioning and timing. The doctor flat out told him that there are things pro athletes do to get themselves so they can play now that sacrifice their long term health. So he finally agreed to stay off it and do a week or two of rehab. But it was a tough sell. He wants to compete. I have no doubt that what the doctors and the Blazers and Kevin Pritchard himself have said about Darius knee is true. Notice Miles was cut before playing in back to back games. Notice he didn't play in the second half. He hasn't proven the knee can hold up and sustain NBA level play day in day out. Maybe he could, in fact, squeeze 8 more games out of that knee this year. And maybe I can squeeze another thirty thousand miles out of bald tires. Its not a question of IF the knee will give out, its a question of WHEN.
Sometimes the most obvious answer is the correct one. His knees are shot and he can't move anything like he once did. He's too slow to guard wings, too light to guard the post, and never had a jumper. I've thought the ongoing fretting over him was much to do about nothing since watching him play in the summer league for the Celts... dude is done. STOMP
Due to the almost complete absence of cartilage in Miles' injured knee, two doctors, including one agreed upon by the NBA and the NBA players' union, came to the conclusion that if Miles continued his career for any duration, he was at great risk for a knee replacement at a rather young age. Knowing this, Danny Ainge and Chris Wallace are basically vampires for extending the carrot to Darius. He is a terrible NBA player at this point who can't even score. That is what he is now, in what should be his healthiest after the surgery.
PapaG, I know that you and I don't see eye to eye very often, but I have to say that your avitar is the most awesome picture I've ever seen. And I'm an Al Frankin FAN! ROTFL.
I thought we hashed that out years ago. Oh well... As for the avy, I cringe every time I see it, so I don't know how long I can keep it.
I thought we had, too, but I seem to recall a little flare up a few months ago. Ahh, such is the life of a passionate online Blazer fan Anyway, you know that the offer of a beer in the RG at halftime of a game that we are both at still stands.
Oh my wow. Over a year ago he was ready to play? On October 31, 2007 (iirc) the following picture was taken (google "Darius Miles Fat Picture"). The dude was not close to basketball shape. He was "healthy"? Not from what Jay Jensen, Bobby Medina and the league-appointed doc said. What was Darius' suspension for? Couldn't have been "magic pills", could it? Both the Celtics and Grizz thought he was fine to bring in, and both decided that they didn't want his services at the pro-rated league minimum. But since you met the guy, I'm sure that he's just great and KP and Nate just hold really big grudges against him for some reason (though I'm not sure why, since iirc Darius hasn't been on the court since halfway through Nate's first year with the team). I root for Darius, too. I root for him not to be one of those old guys we see 30 years from now hobbling around on 2 replacement knees asking the 2039 All-Stars for more cash into the "disabled Players Pension fund".
