Blazers threaten the rest of the NBA [merged]

That is what it was up until the email. Blazers just threw out the challenge and now wasting a roster spot says I won't back down to big bad PA and his team of lawyers.

I thought Memphis looked small time and petty for what they were pulling off and I feel the Blazers just lowered themselves to Memphis level.

Blazers could have handled this situation with respect and class and not complained about potentially being screwed which could have endeared us with the NBA and maybe other teams. Instead, Blazers took the low road, sent out an offensive email to all other teams and made the Blazer organization look like either bullies or crybabies.

 

If the Blazers sign him, the 10 game thing goes out the window, and he immediately goes back on the cap.

 

No, he gets his entire salary.

 

Well I read the last few pages of this thread. All I can say is POR is fighting a lost cause. He will sign somewhere. I dont see how you can prove in court that the team that signs him did it ONLY to screw over POR. Its not like you can argue the method of building a team in a courthouse with an obvious right or wrong answer. Sorry guys, he's going back on the books sooner than later.

 

You're not being penalized by the NBA if Miles makes it through 10 games. If Miles plays 10 games, he will have proved to the NBA that it was not a career ending injury, therefore, he should never have been removed from the cap. If the NBA were to rule that Miles shouldn't go on the cap, even if he played the set amount of games, the NBA would be rewarding Portland for a mis-diagnosis.

 

The thing is, Miles wasn't designated as retired. To my knowledge, I do not believe the league or any team can force a player to retire unless he breaks some rules. They can simply stop signing him, but it's obvious that some teams are still interested in Miles.

I'm guessing the process went something like this:

*Miles wasn't progressing. His knee is in really bad shape.

*The Blazers ask him to retire and he says no, because he doesn't want to forfeit his contract.

*The Blazers approach the league and plead their case, stating something along the lines of "this guy is just sitting on our bench collecting a paycheck, but he's unfit to play. Help us!"

*The league assigns a doctor and determines that Miles' knee is in bad shape, so they allow the team to cut him without any penalties or responsibility, with the caveat that he must stay inactive.

*Miles sees an opportunity to make more money, so he tries to get back in shape and make another roster.

Are the Blazers at fault for signing Miles? Yes and no. Miles was always a paycheck player. He showed some real talent in 04. They got tired of paying a guy to sit on their bench and do nothing. With that said, I'm not 100% sure it was all Miles. I don't think the Blazers wanted him around the team. I'd be really interested to know more about what went on behind the scenes before Miles was cut.

 

I think you have this wrong. Miles gets his cash from the contract . . . paid either by insurance and Blazers or all by the Blazers.

 

Ummm ...

Miles got injured after signing a long-term deal with the Blazers, then proceeded to loaf around during his rehab and had setback after setback. An NBA and players union-approved independent doctor evaluated Miles and said that he is not medically able to carry out the duties of his contract and the Blazers are eligible for compensation for his inability to fulfill his contract.

The Blazers obviously feel like the spirit of the insurance compensation rule for injured players under contract is being violated.

This is an issue the NBA needs to address. It's not like the Blazers hired some phony doctor just to get money back because they didn't like the guy's character. This was a doctor approved by the NBA and the players union.

There just happens to be a loophole in the NBA rulebook that allows teams to sign medically fragile players for the purpose of fucking over a competitor's salary flexibility.

-Pop

 

Does anyone know who payed for the diagnosis by the doctor?

 

Jesus would you please get it in your head that:

AN NBA APPOINTED DOCTOR RULED MILES AS HAVING A CAREER ENDING INJURY.

This wasn't just Portland trying to pull a fast one. There weren't any shady dealings here.

 

Darius Miles was suspended for 10 regular season games. That was the terms of his suspension, thus it was legal for him to play in those 6 preseason games.

 

IT WAS AN NBA APPOINTED DOCTOR! It wasn't Portland who diagnosed him. DO YOU GET IT? IS THAT CLEAR ENOUGH? As is, the NBA is PENALIZING Portland for something they didn't do. And since his salary was lifted from the cap, the team has moved on and signed other players under the impression that his salary will remain off the cap. Now that it will come back on, we'll be over the cap and paying luxury tax.

We're being wrongly penalized, and every other team is being rewarded for the mis-diagnosis, not Portland as you claim.

 

Yes, we understand Portland wasn't trying to pull a fast one. But it looks like Miles injury wasn't career ending, and that the doctor was wrong, therefore Miles should go back on the cap.

 

Why should we be on the hook when both the NBA and players union agreed with our assessment. I've bolded the importnat part for everyone that seems to forget about this.


http://www.katu.com/news/17691544.html

This is a press release courtesy of the Portland Trail Blazers

Pursuant to NBA procedures with regard to career-ending injuries, the Portland Trail Blazers have requested waivers on forward Darius Miles, General Manager Kevin Pritchard announced today.

An independent medical examiner jointly appointed by the NBA and the NBA Players Association examined Miles and determined that the damage to Miles’ right knee is severe enough to qualify as a career-ending injury.

Miles has missed all of the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, last appearing in a game for the Trail Blazers on April 15, 2006.

"Given the serious nature of his knee injury, we agree with the doctor’s conclusion that Darius has sustained a career-ending injury," Pritchard said. "This allows Darius and the Trail Blazers to move forward and achieve closure to this matter. To his credit, Darius worked hard to come back, but his body just didn’t allow it to happen."

The 6-9 forward appeared in 145 games for the Trail Blazers after arriving from Cleveland in exchange for Jeff McInnis and Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje on Jan. 21, 2004. As a Trail Blazer, Miles averaged 12.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

The third overall pick of the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2000 NBA Draft, Miles played six NBA seasons with Los Angeles, Cleveland and Portland. He appeared in 412 games, with career averages of 10.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists.

 

Portland knew that there was a possibility that he could go back on the cap. They're not being punished, the rules are just playing out right now. It was Portland's decision to move forward in a direction assuming the best possible outcome on the salary cap.

 

And Portland isn't fighting teams trying to legitimately sign Miles which would lead to him being back on the cap. They're saying if you sign him and do it in a really suspicious way (aka have the balls to play him two games, a minute in each, and then release him and no one else picks him up again) we're going to sue you because you're costing us 18 million dollars.

 

It really depends on what you would qualify as "career ending". If you think hobbling up and down a court simply because the team who signed you wants to hurt your former team is a career, so be it. Do you think Miles will play after this is all over? Do you think anyone will sign him when the Blazers have his money back on their cap? Most teams have no interest in him. Surprisingly, only the Celtics and Grizzlies, two teams that were burned by Portland, have signed him....

Also, just because he can step onto a court doesn't mean he can play. If the doctors are right, he could be doing irreparable damage to his knee, which he will pay for later. How much later is undetermined.

 

Just because he can run up and down the court for 3 minutes per game doesn't make him able to "play NBA basketball".

If he signs 2 games plays sparsely, then gets cut and never to play again...suddenly this rule becomes absolute horseshit, because I would expect the Blazers to then find every loophole in existence to fuck other teams over as long as they can.

 

Yes, but there is a provision in the CBA that makes it so that if a player plays 10 games in the season, than they have shown sufficient proof that they are not career ending. The CBA had provisions in place for a mid-diagnosis, and I'm assuming they didn't withhold this portion of the CBA from the Blazers.

Playing 10 NBA games a year would be 126K. That is definitely a decent career. The CBA provision makes sense.

 

He's averaging 8 blocks per 36 minutes right now. He seems like he can still play a bit.