Darius Miles was placed on the Memphis Grizzlies active roster today after sitting through a 10-game suspension. Well, the good news is that the Grizzlies beat the Mavericks, the bad news is this is the first of 10 games that Miles must play for his contract to come back on the Blazers’ book. He played two minutes and had no other statistics. Yup, no assists, fouls, turnovers, steals, blocks, rebounds or even shots. It was only two minutes. It does look like Darius will play the 10 games, I have a feeling that Memphis will put him in for 30 seconds to finish the half or game just to ensure he gets to that ten game mark. Honestly, who can blame them. They have the opportunity to punish another NBA team, so they might as well make the most of it. It’s bad news for Rip City, but now that it looks like Miles is back for real, I wish him the best.
Tag Archive for 'darius-miles'
One Down, Nine To Go
Miles is About to Land
Here it is, the news that you didn’t want to hear following a three game losing streak. Darius Miles is about to sign with the Memphis Grizzlies. It’s apparently all but done says Yahoo! Sports:
In a move that could damage the salary-cap flexibility of the Portland Trail Blazers, Darius Miles is close to signing a minimum-salary contract with the Memphis Grizzlies, two NBA sources said Friday.
Miles recently worked out for the Los Angeles Clippers, who drafted him third overall in 2000, but team officials said they would prefer to wait until January to decide whether to sign him. The Grizzlies had room for another player after trading guard Javaris Crittenton to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday and appear to have settled on Miles after looking at D-League options. One source said only a last-minute veto by Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley could keep the team from signing Miles.
The Boston Celtics have requested waivers for Miles. That means, he officially will not be a Boston Celtic.
The Boston Celtics announced today that the club has requested waivers on forward Darius Miles. The training camp roster now stands at 15.
“Darius was a model citizen during his time here in Boston. He showed that he still has a lot of basketball left in him.” said Celtics Executive Director of Basketball Operations/General Manger Danny Ainge.
Miles signed as a free agent on August 22, 2008. The 6′9, 235-pound forward appeared in six preseason games, averaging 1.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 10.4 minutes per game.”
Will another team pick him up? We shall wait and see, but I am leaning towards no. That means cap room looks better for Portland and a LaFrentz trade even more likely. You know KP and Paul Allen will be keeping a close eye on Darius Miles’ situation for the next few months.
The Boston Celtics have played six preseason games (4-2). Of course, there is one player of interest on the Celtics for any Blazers fan: Darius Miles. There are basically two things to watch:
1) Will Darius Miles make the Celtics final roster?
2) If he doesn’t make the Celtics final roster, will he show enough for another NBA team to sign him?
Well, in the six Celtics games, Darius has done the following:
Oct 8 v 76ers: 16 min, 6 pts, 1 rbs, 1 asts, 0 blks
Oct 10 v Cavaliers: 4 min, 0 pts, 0 rbs, 0 asts, 0 blks
Oct 11 v Rockets: 9 min, 0 pts, 4 rbs, 0 ast, 2 blks
Oct 14 v Cavaliers: 13 min, 2 pts, 2 rbs, 0 ast, 0 blks
Oct 16 v Nets: 9 min, 1 pt, 0 rbs, 0 ast, 0 blks
Oct 17 v Knicks: DNP - Coaches Decision
So, in short, Miles has not shown much of anything that would lead you to think he can play the NBA game. He got a look in each of the first 5 games, but didn’t see the court in the 6th preseason game. His scoring has been horrible and has only posted one assist in the five games.
On another note, the Celtics roster has 15 guaranteed contracts. That means that Miles needs to be stellar to make the Celtics roster, which has not happened. So, I am making the not-so-bold assumption that Miles will NOT be making the Celtics roster.
That solves half of the issue. The next issue is if someone will pick up Miles because the Celtics were interested. Think of the Shaun Livingston situation. Portland gave him a look, turned him away and Miami took him. There might have been some NBA team out there willing to give Miles a chance if he did a decent job in the pre-season. The bad news for Miles (good for Blazers) is that his pre-season has not been productive. I won’t be so bold to say that a team won’t pick up Miles mid-way through the season, because no one knows what other injuries teams will occur, but I will say that I would be shocked if someone signed Miles to their opening day roster. This pre-season was Miles’ chance to prove he can still play, and unfortunately (for him) it looks like it really was a career ending injury. I’m not one to wish ill-will on others, but Miles hasn’t showed me anything to make me think his attitude has changed. Actually, he has said things (comments about his time in Portland) that makes me still think he is the same Miles.
I don’t see any situation where Miles is on an opening day roster. I highly doubt he is picked up during the season, and beyond that I double highly doubt he will play in 10 games.
Hello Huge Cap Room.
Okay, so everyone knows media day was Monday. I have officially selected my top three favorite photos from around the league.
I am only posting the Miles photo because he is surrounded in smoke, which is a little too ironic.
A new article just came hot off the ESPN presses only about 10 minutes ago. It comes from Chris Sheridan and it adds yet another chapter to the Darius Miles saga. Here’s a quote: 
NEWPORT, Rhode Island — Darius Miles says he has no clue what made him fail a drug test that will cause him to serve a 10-game suspension if he makes it through training camp with the Boston Celtics.
Speaking at length Tuesday for the first time since his suspension was announced by the NBA over the summer, Miles said he never took diet pills — the over-the-counter medication in which the banned stimulant he tested positive for, phentarmine, is most commonly found — and had never taken any medication other than what was prescribed by Portland’s doctors and trainers.
“I wish I knew. I really do wish I knew, but [Celtics president] Danny Ainge told me ‘leave it alone,’ so I left it alone,” Miles said.
At this point, I’m nearly convinced that Darius Miles will indeed play 10 NBA games this upcoming season even after his 10 game suspension IF he does get signed to a contract after training camp. That’s a pretty big IF, so don’t label me as someone who’s already convinced that Miles will get a contract with the Celtics. The article states that only he and Sam Cassell are the two players with non-guaranteed contracts on the Celtics’ 16 player training camp roster.
The thing is this, even after the suspension, Darius still has 72 left to play 10 games somewhere in those 72 games to get his salary put back on the Blazers. For anyone who doesn’t know exactly how badly it will hurt the Blazers’ salary cap, Miles’ contract, if put back on us, will take up 2/3 of the cap. That’s a lot of money.
However, scenario two is that the Celtics sign Sam Cassell (which I think is much more likely to be honest) and Miles bounces around the league looking for a team to sign him to some short-term contracts. However, with that 10-game suspension looming over his head, I’d find it hard to imagine a team signing him to a 10 day contract, having him sit out, then sign him again after his suspension has been served.
There has been a very heated debate over if/should the Blazers sign Shaun Livingston ever since he worked out for the team. The Blazers are very deep at point with Blake, Bayless (although I contend he is a 2, as was his position in college) and Sergio Rodriguez.
So let me take a moment to break down the potential Livingston signing.
Background:
- Livingston went straight from high school to the NBA, he is only 24 years old
- He is tall, 6′7″, for a point guard
- He was the 4th pick in the 2004 draft
- His career averages are 7.4 pts, 4.8 asts and 3.1 rebounds per game
- He has played in 12 playoff games (avg 7.5 pts)
- On 02/26/07 he went for a layup, missed, and landed terribly on his knee. He dislocated his left kneecap and his leg literally snapped back. He tore his ACL, PCL, and meniscus. He also sprained his MCL and dislocated his tibia-femoral joint and patella
- Of 246 regular season games while in the NBA, Livingston has been injured for 101 of those games
- On 06/16/08 (over 14 months after the injury), Livingston was cleared to play basketball
The 15th Spot:
The heart of the Livingston debate really goes to the remaining 15th spot debate. Signing Livingston eliminates the possibility to sign Luke Jackson or Steven Hill (more likely Steven Hill then Luke Jackson). The only other possibility is that Livingston is signed, and an existing Blazer is traded for cash (or a 2 for 1 deal) to open up the spot for Hill. The only player who would be at all in a position to be traded in exchange for essentially nothing is Sergio Rodriguez. So, the heart of the debate is really: Do you take Livingston over Rodriguez? Hill over Livingston? Rodriguez over Hill? Basically, two of these players will be Blazers, one will not.
Risk v Reward:
I have been reading a lot of NBA blogs and forums, and one thing that I hear from fans who want Livingston is the risk v reward argument. Now, the risk here is not that he will flop and sit on the bench. The risk is that he will flop and sit on the bench AND Rodriguez or Hill (whoever is not a Blazer in the end) flourishes elsewhere in the NBA. So, I agree that this is risk v reward, but I think most people are not viewing the risk properly. What if we sign Livingston, trade Sergio and Blake goes down opening night with a season ending injury? Then we are left with Livingston (after a 14 month knee injury and a non-productive NBA career) or Bayless (a true 2 guard and rookie) running the point. I actually would feel more comfortable with Rodriguez running the point. I think Bayless would still start over Rodriguez, but I think Rodriguez would be very productive off the bench, especially playing with Rudy Fernandez. So what if we sign Livingston, keep Rodriguez and let Hill sign elsewhere? Well, Ike Diogu is a huge unknown with his injury past, Frye is out with an injury and LaFrentz is injured. That would mean another season of Outlaw playing a lot of time at the 4, which might not be so bad, but it might upset him enough to demand his way out of Portland. Hill could provide heart, dedication and someone for Oden to throw around in practice. I think the practice dummy factor is actually important.
The “Star” Factor:
I have also heard many fans say that Livingston was a #4 pick, a great talent, has huge potential and was a great player. It’s simply not true. Yes, he was the #4 pick, but he never adjusted to the NBA game and never was able to really make a name for himself in the NBA. We let Darius Miles, a former #3 pick (both were drafted by the LA Clippers), walk after his injury. How is Livingston any different? If anything, Miles proved he can play in the NBA (and act in Hollywood, see “The Perfect Score,” so Miles was a real star) before his injuries. Now, I do think Miles was a plague in the locker room and I would be happy enough to have his contract stay on our books just as long as he is out of the locker room.
Livingston, by all accounts, has a positive attitude towards his return to the NBA and wants to put in the work to make it happen. I just disagree with the fact that Livingston was, or ever will be, a star. At best, he is a bust who turns into a solid rotational player through a lot of hard work. He will never be averaging 20+ points a game, and he is not our long term solution at point. Is he a better third string point guard then Rodriguez? If healthy, yes, but his whole career he has been out for about 40% of games due to injury. Livingston might be able to have a positive impact on the team, but I don’t see him as a star, or having ever been a star.
So Will KP Sign Livingston:
I guess only KP knows, although the consensus is that Livingston will sign with the Blazers. I would welcome this signing, but I would be confused if Rodriguez is still on the team come opening night. Even with Rodriguez gone, I just don’t see any minutes for Livingston. Blake will be starting and playing in the 3rd quarter, Bayless running the point in the 2nd and Roy in the 4th. All the garbage minutes are already accounted for by Bayless. Now, if Livingston is coming in and getting himself back to as near 100% as possible, he could be a valuable asset in the future to fill in due to injury or in a trade. I think a lot of NBA teams would be willing to pay for Rodriguez, so if we do sign Livingston, expect Rodriguez gone within the week. If he is not gone, expect his comments about playing elsewhere turn into a demand to play elsewhere.
The Bottom Line:
Signing Livingston is really not that big of a deal. Sure, it is in September, but come opening night, he will be occupying Darius Miles’ spot behind the bench, joking with LaFrentz about Batum’s funny accent. In the future, Livingston could help the Blazers, but he will have no real immediate impact. And, if he is the type of player who KP believes is healthy and good enough to make a big impact, then this debate is a no-brainer. The biggest effect of a Livingston signing will likely be a Rodriguez departure.
Put in your two cents, place a comment below!
The Boston Globe gives us this story via Real GM:
“I’m excited about Darius Miles,” Allen said. “He hasn’t played in a while, and he’s excited to be here and help this team.
“When people see him play, he’ll be a fan favorite. People say he hasn’t played in a couple years, but at the same time he has a lot of basketball left in him. He’s only 26 years old, and to be able to have him at this stage of his career is going to be great for us.”
So I’m just wondering, are people getting more and more worried about the Blazers’ cap space with all this goodwill and positive news about Darius Miles? I’m still not in the crowd that never wants to see him play basketball, but hey I’m a Blazer fan first and I want only good things for this team and Miles contract back on us again is not a good thing.
