Yes it does. With Darius Miles off the books, Blazers are legitimately looking at being able to getting a guy like Ben Gordon, Hedo Turkoglu or Carlos Boozer or Paul Millsap. Now, they will likely fall short of that. Allen Iverson will probably be out of that price range as well. So now, they no longer will have the opportunity to sign a very good young player, who could be part of their core long term. Still have enough to pry awaay a guy like Artest, Marion, Odom or Miller, but they don't fit long term with the team, and in Marion/Odom's cases, both look toast.
It'd be a civil suit, so the team, the Knicks here, would be able to recoup their legal fees from the plaintiff if they were to win.
Portland can decline Outlaw and Blake's options, in addition to not offering Ike and Channing qualifying offers. This would leave them about 15 million in cap space even with Darius on the books. It wouldn't get a Boozer, but it'd certainly get a Gordon, Millsap or a Turkoglu. Gordon and Millsap max out at 14 million dollars due to their time in the league and the contract raise restraints that come with that. I could certainly be wrong on the cap number but I'm pretty positive I am not. In the morning I will look at old posts on other sites that have detailed this more, but for now I sleep.
Who is to say they'd lose the lawsuit? The NBA agreed with the independent doctor that Miles knees were shot, and that the team shouldn't be liable to pay for his contract (as insurance would). This is just the Blazers way of saying that if another team thinks they can just sign Darius to 'screw' Portland, that Portland would not be sitting idly by watching. They have the richest owner in sports, and could afford to hire better lawyers than anyone in the league could (after all, a lawyer is going to go where the money is in this scenario), and if another team wants to test the situation out, they're willing to go as far as necessary. In this scenario, I think money trumps whatever you are perceiving as the Blazers chances (which I also would guess that the team has a just slightly better grasp on that than you do, considering we're talking about them being dinged almost 20 million dollars). I would also bet that Larry Miller, Tom Penn and Kevin Pritchard have spent their time looking at the situation, and already know several ways to defend their stance. Especially if it looks as though a team is just signing Darius to fuck Portland over. Darius, at this stage of his career, is no longer worth the lawsuit it would bring to a team. Is it really worth the cost of Darius' contract (albeit, tiny), and the lawsuit and time it would take to take care of the issue in court? Darius isn't good enough to justify that, nor are teams going to risk signing him knowing that the Blazers will just take them to court over it. If Darius was a Brandon Roy type player (or had ever improved in his career), that's one thing. You could make the argument for trying to sign him and claim you're doing it because he's either worth it or the best out there. And you and I both know, (and everyone who reads this forum, or in the case of the NBA, has any scouting team worth it's salt), Darius is not worth the hassle that would come with him.
They won't want a guy like Ben Gordon, Hedo Turkoglu, Boozer or Milslap. They wouldn't want Iverson. I think it's far more important to the team to re-sign Oden, Brandon, LaMarcus and Rudy, than to sign any of the bounty you just named.
With Miles off the cap the Blazers are looking at a max of 25 million in cap room, with him on the books it falls to 16 million. The only player you mention above that is going to get more than 16 million a year is Carlos Boozer ... and I have a pretty good feeling the Blazers aren't looking for a number one guy, they are looking for strong complimentary players (Josh Childress types).
This whole Miles saga is definitely an interesting one but one that I fully expect to end with a Blazer victory. 1st of all, an INDEPENDENT doctor, not a team doctor deemed Miles injuries career ending. Just because Miles chooses to play with these injuries making his knee worse is own own doing. There is a rather easy way to solve this: The NBA should've or should NOW make Miles sign an injury waiver that states if he plays he plays at his own risk and that Portland is not liable for his contract. He would have to become a free agent, voiding the contract that pays him his annual salary currently being paid by insurance. NO TEAM, would sign Miles at that point because they would be paying him directly. Miles wouldnt even get above the vet minimum which means he would lose millions. Its pretty clear the ONLY reason Miles was gathering attention around the league was for the belief in how it would affect Portland long term. NO PLAYOFF CONTENDING TEAM would ever want a headache like Miles on or around their team. He is a perennial loser, never making his team better only bringing drama and negative attention to an organization. BTW, when he was a healthy player, what did he ever do that showed why he deserves so much attention as he is getting now? He has bounced around the league. Clippers, Cavs, Blazers, Celtics and Grizzlies. Tell me again, what exactly is the motivation to sign this guy and what does he offer to a team?
Agreed, but what is he offering to a team at this point. He didn't even play in meaningful minutes this preseason with Boston or with the Grizzlies. It is pretty clear that any team that signs him has one intention in mind. Like I said, if he wants to play and play AGAINST an independent NBA doctors advice, make him sign waivers and just void out his contract all together making him available to sign with any team and make his own contract (while not being paid the injury settlement). No team would sign him for what he gets now........AND for those that say we are blocking him from working and making a living, he IS being paid his contract in full.
The independent physician was not only approved by the NBA but by the Players' Union. Everyone is on board that Miles' injury is so severe that he risks his long term health by continuing to play.
BTW, I would love to see footage of Miles in practice with the Grizzlies and Celtics. Wonder if he was running all the drills with the team, performing sprints ect. Was he given days off to recoup. Could he perform at a high level all of practice. With all these reports of him being healthy, I think footage of numerous practices tapes (which every team films) would prove he is legitimately healthy and not just being evaluated to "screw Portland". However, I think Portland is not liable anyways with the doctors ruling on the matter.
Agreed maxiep. That is why I have never really understood how the CBA could say that if Miles plays 10 games we are liable for everything when his injury was already deemed career ending. Makes no sense whatsoever. This needs to be changed immediately.
The intent was to keep the same team from re-signing the player that just retired at the vet min with them already receiving a higher salary. In other words, it could be a cap circumvention. It wasn't forseen that a player wouldn't be wanted by his own team.
