Blazers threaten the rest of the NBA [merged]

Re: Blazers threaten the rest of the NBA

This seems pretty spot on to me. The letter has multiple purposes. 1) Lay groundwork for a future lawsuit. 2) Scare other teams away from signing Miles for malicious reasons. 3) Let teams know that if they do sign Miles, they better be willing to let him play.

This may all lead to a suit by Miles, but I would think that does not matter much. Miles is already being paid a healthy sum of 9mil by the Blazers, and this is targeted more at 10 day contracts. So the most that Miles would likely win from any lawsuit is perhaps the total payment of a couple of 10 day contracts. Also, the lawsuit would not be concluded in all likelihood for some time and the Blazers would have gained what they are after already, cap space this offseason.

Seems like a brilliant move to me.

 

I find it odd that anyone is happy about this. All it does is open Portland up to penalties, law suits against them, loss of draft picks, and a commish that will probably make it even harder for them to do anything. Maybe the refs call a few more fouls, who knows?

Portland has no right to issue a warning to NBA teams. They also have no way to prove another teams intent. Say a team signs Miles and plays him 4 games then waives him because they didn't like his attitude, or because he was late for a shootaround, or whatever. How in the world could the Blazers say anything.


Really, really bad move by the team.

 

.. wasn't your initial response was that Miller's letter was awesome?

 

The Blazers could stop it all by signing Miles and not ever playing him the next 2 yearrs.... much cheaper

 

Why would he want to sign with the Blazers?

LOL! MM is awesome.

Mediocre Man's 3 posts --

I like seeing people's thought process.

 

I initially thought the same thing, but after sleeping on it, it occured to me: What if the Blazers have hard evidence of collusion or conspiracy? A recorded conversation, an inside source, information obtained through an investigator? I'm not saying they have definitive evidence, but if they do then there could be a lot more to this legal posturing than hot air and a bluff.

 

Re: Blazers threaten the rest of the NBA

I don't think this is accurate. I believe the Blazers are paying 20% of Miles' salary and insurance is paying the other 80%. At least that was how it worked last season.

But, I agree with the rest of your point. This isn't about the money. Paul Allen can afford to pay it. It's all about cap space and the opportunity it would provide the Blazers to improve their roster - either through a free agent signing, a sign and trade, or a trade involving mismatched salaries.

BNM

 

My guess is the Blazers have knowledge that there is a team out there that is going to sign Miles to screw the Blazers. This is a preventitive measure by the Blazers. What owner is going to want to go to court over this especially against the richest owner in sports? Is Miles really worth it, doubtful. I have no doubt that the Blazers have obviously thought this out and realize the ramifications of sending this letter out. I'm guessing they are more than willing to pay Miles in court if he sues the Blazers. Maybe he gets $1-2 million isn't that worth it to the Blazers in order to save their cap space.

 

I don't think what the Blazers did was wrong. They didn't say don't sign him. They said do not sign him with the intent of just hurting the Blazers.

I'm also sure that this is not just a letter sent out in the heat of the moment, and everyone in the front office including KP and Allen thought it over and sent it out.

We will see if it works.

I think that the rule should be re-worked, and that if an INDEPENDANT Doctor appointed by the League and the Player's Union, with no connection with Portland, says its career ending and playing on it threatens his future quality of life, that we should be able to buy him out (still pay him his money), and that no matter if other teams want to risk his health, it should not effect portland from there on.

 

The only possible penalties that I see as actual possibilities are either 1) a team signs him anyway or 2) Miles sues the Blazers. in (1) that would happen anyway, so no big problem. In (2), the Blazers would still get what they were after in cap space, so any loss here would be worth it.

There would be no loss of draft picks since the Blazers are not doing anything illegal by writing this letter. They are just protecting their own interests. You are getting quite nervous here for no good reason.

 

If Miles's salary comes back on our books, wont it push us into luxury tax territory? I believe the luxury tax $$ is dispersed to all teams that are below the cap, so some teams could financially benefit from us having to pay the luxury tax. Another reason why a team would sign him to a 10 day deal and play him in 2 more games.

Things that make you go hmmmmm.

 

AWesome in the sense of big is all I meant. I also said I wasn't sure if it was good or bad. I have decided bad, but good for you guys for leaving out text. It's easier to needle somoene that way.

 

It was funny. Just showing the thought process. Nothing negative intended.

 

Lawsuit coming soon!

Love ya MM!

 

You should have just said big then.

 

LOL exactly.

 

So, I doubt that the Blazers would have sent this letter without knowledge that some team was going to sign Miles. So, three questions:

Q1 - What teams are most likely to sign Miles?

Q2 - Do you think that this letter will deter other teams from signing?

Q3 - Do you think that Miles will actually sue?

 

^^^
1 - None.
2 - Yes.
3 - For sure! Miles's agent hates us.

 

Re: Blazers threaten the rest of the NBA

Nice perspective and insight from a non-Blazer fan.

I agree with a lot of this.

 

yup. Portland is strengthening their position for an appeal if Miles goes over the game threshold and is putting teams on notice of a lawsuit if they don't behave honorably. Having watched him play a couple times in the last few months, it's hard to fathom that a team would want him for his actual abilities. He's never been a skills guy or a shooter, he's been an athlete... now he's a plodder.

It's also a public shot across the bow for some real ugly PR for any team that is considering taking him on. Playing him just enough to affect Portland's cap quite likely won't stick, but without question this hypothetical team would face a very hostile fanbase in Portland for years... Raider fan ugly. They'd also have their motives publicly questioned by the courts and their own fans. Methinks D Stern probably would rather the league avoid this sort of PR embarrassment/infighting.

STOMP