We got the #3 pick. Discuss the possibilities.

I'd want to, of course, but any good lawyer would tell me to keep my mouth shut until the process is completely resolved.

Think about it this way, sure you'd want to passionately state your case, but imagine if you even slightly misrepresented something or something you said got leaked and changed the trajectory of the case resulting in a more negative outcome for you -- was it worth it??? The investigation is still going on and as a future multi-millionaire, there's also civil liabilities that he could be opening himself up to.

Again, I'm not disagreeing that it's a frustrating situation, but these things aren't as simple as stating your innocence and calling it a day.

 

that may or may not be all true; probably mostly true

but that's not all this is about. Teams are really trying to gauge the character and trustworthiness of players they are about to invest a lottery pick on; in Miller's case a top lottery pick

so it isn't just about the content of his answers, it's his conduct in the interviews. Him being cagey or evasive or non-responsive doesn't have to connect directly, or indirectly, to legal advice. It's conduct that will be used to gauge his value compared to his peers. Teams don't want to go all-in on a player they think may be hiding something or have a connection, however tangentially, to bad behavior

and let's not forget the situation: Miller was allegedly present at the scene of a murder. Maybe not the room where it happened, but at the address. And, allegedly, he may have supplied the weapon. At the very least that goes directly to his judgment. Maybe there's new exculpatory evidence I haven't heard about; I read about this quite a while ago

 

from the link above:



telling teams they "don't need to know anything else than what's on this sheet of paper" when there's murder and a gun involved is problematic. I don't think any team will accept that

 

100% with all of this, and without getting into too much detail, have worked pretty closely with some of the parties in these sorts of things in the past so definitely well aware of all of the components that are being considered here.

As I said, it's not a good look and is certainly more work for the teams, and yes it speaks poorly to his decision making, etc. My point was more directly to the handling of this specific situation and how he's handling it. While frustrating, I promise you that these teams understand the situation and that he can't say more about it without putting himself at risk. It's a bad situation all around, to say the least, and they'll absolutley dig in more and want answers. I just don't think that handing teams a letter and not addressing it further (which is the RIGHT thing to do in an ongoing investigation), by itself, means he's giving teams attitude or being a "talk to my lawyer douche". He's following the advice of his lawyers and with a lack of a lot of other details, that could at least be seen as a sign of maturity. All I'm really saying...

 

You serious man? If I was in his position I wouldn’t say a fucking thing. Anything he says publicly could be used against him by the law. If they decided to charge him he could do real time. I don’t blame him at all for not wanting to speak on the subject. I would speak privately with teams and that’s it.

 

Without knowing specifically what the letter said, it's tough to make too many judgements about it this bit, since it's secondhand from a journalist (and very obviously trying to sensationalize thie story). If the letter really IS being evasive or telling teams they don't need to know more, then yeah that's an even worse look, but having known agents and plenty of lawyers, I'm guessing that bit's being a bit hyperbolic or vague. My best guess is it's something more along the lines of "here's as much as we can say on the matter at this time" -- that's a much more likely and standard approach than "nothing to see here".

 

Many questions for sure....

 

Here’s a link to a CBS Sports report that summarizes what is known about the murder:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...tar-freshmans-involvement-in-murder-case/amp/

At the very least, Miller has shown terrible judgment about the people and places he hangs with.

 

Just to be super clear about my take on this this whole situation:
1. I prefer Scoot over Miller.
2. I prefer a decent number of trade scenarios over Miller.
3. I question how much ceiling Miller really has.
4. I have a LOT of concerns about Miller's decision making (guns almost NEVER make for good decisions and outcomes -- especially in the hands of 19 year olds) and I am definitely sketched out by this situation and his connection to a murder overall.
5. I also know a lot of lawyers, crisis management and PR types and have spent a lot of time with pro sports agents and GMs, so I have a pretty good gauge about how teams are actually approaching this internally. Unless the letter really said something fairly outlandish, I'm simply suggesting that this is much more of a nothing-burger or "no update, we're still digging" type of "insight" than something super explosive and revelatory...
6. I also think these kinds of things are unfair to someone who is simply following the advice to keep himself out of seriously deep trouble. In the grand scheme of things, even if he goes undreafted, if the outcome is him continuing his career instead of going to prison, I think he'd take that. Guilty, innocent, somewhere in-between or otherwise, if you were in his situation, you'd be doing what your advisors told you to do. Hard to judge him too harshly for that...

 

here's the rub though...

all those mitigations may be valid to some degree...but if the reality is Miller still has serious legal exposure, which seems to be the situation, and he won't or can't answer questions in private interviews from teams in the position of guaranteeing at least 45M dollars to him over the life of a rookie contract, he's going to fall in the order. Charlotte has been seriously burned by the Miles Bridges situation; Portland has the Jail-Blazers era and has made a strong effort to draft squeaky clean prospects since. If those two teams have any significant questions about Miller's character and judgement, I can't imagine either investing a top-3 pick in him

this murder case is still apparently open and at the very least, Miller will likely be a material witness. A PR problem for his new team

 

Not me. Sounds more like his lawyer and agent told him not to say anything. He has been cleared so why open your mouth? Maybe it backfires if teams are skeptical and he drops, but I doubt it and I doubt he is calling the shots.

 

Does anybody know when will the workout of the top prospects begin?

I'm anxious to see and hear from Scoot and Brandon at our practice facility

 

Miller is more than just a witness.
He either knowingly or unknowingly transported the weapon used in the murder of Jamea Harris.
I think most casual Blazer fans are unaware of the situation. That, of course, would change completely if Miller joins the team.

 

And Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore and others.

 

100%. I would seriously question his representation if they did anything but tell him to not talk about is anymore to anyone. The NBA and it's teams has enough money/power/connections to get the majority of the details regarding the situation.

 

And there is a massive difference between the two things, yet they seem to be spoken about interchangeably.

 

Yup. And it's going to be up to the local police to determine which one it is. I don't think it's strange to be holding a gun for a friend. If he had no idea what that friend was going to use his gun for, that's not really his fault. If anything, it just means he needs to be much better at judging his friends.

 

My take is that I while I can see Miller being a real positive on the Blazers, I like several other prospects better so I'd be passing on him at #3 even if he didn't have the gun issue.

STOMP

 

I don't think that's the issue. Everybody understands legal jeopardy and open investigations. NBA team representatives aren't stupid

as I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of ways Miller can respond to questions about his past, his associations, his behavior, his judgements, without exposing himself to any legal jeopardy. I suspect it's his conduct during the interviews rather than the content of his answers that is causing concern for some teams. A 2nd or 3rd pick this draft will be paid around 45M over the course of his 4-year rookie contract. At minimum, any player taken in the top-3 of the draft is guaranteed 22M. Teams have good reason and strong justification for probing Miller about this situation, his past, and his behavior

 

as somebody who grew up with guns, owns guns, and has a CWP, I question if there's a legit reason to "hold a gun for a friend". I don't think this was a deer rifle his friend handed to him before entering a 7-11 to buy Red Bull