<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">OAKLAND, Calif. -- Darius Miles and his right knee will not be ready for the Trail Blazers' season opener next Wednesday, according to team President and general manager Steve Patterson, creating more uncertainty about the team's small forward position. Miles on Monday said he had a magnetic resonance imaging on his right knee last week, but neither he nor Patterson would reveal the results. Patterson said he is awaiting a team of specialists to evaluate the results, after which a course of action will be decided. He said he doesn't expect that decision to be made until late next week. Miles, who missed 34 consecutive games last season after undergoing minor arthroscopic surgery in December, was the last player to report to training camp this month, and he was overweight and out of condition. Upon his arrival, tests revealed the knee was 80 percent healthy, with a small amount of fluid around the kneecap. Now it appears that surgery -- be it another minor scope or a major microfracture procedure -- could be required. Arthroscopic surgeries generally take four to six weeks of recovery time, whereas microfracture surgeries generally take six months to recover. Patterson was hesitant to say whether another surgery was imminent. "I'm not a doctor," Patterson said from New York, where he was attending league meetings. "So I'm going to leave it to our doctors to make an evaluation." Miles, who signed a six-year, $48 million contract in summer 2004, has yet to practice with the team, creating a competition among Martell Webster, Travis Outlaw and training camp invitee Ime Udoka for the starting spot. But before Tuesday's exhibition game at Golden State, Webster was sent home because of recurring back pain and will not play in the final two exhibition games. The persistence of Webster's injury -- suffered Oct. 17 when he scored 25 points against Golden State -- hit coach Nate McMillan hard. "It's big," McMillan said, exhaling dejectedly. "He just didn't loosen up today, so we sent him back to Portland for an MRI. I wanted to play him tonight and get him some time." </div> Source
