Portland threatening to sue teams (Memphis sign Miles)

[AkelaLoneWolf]

There is another angle.
Portland could have told Memphis to sign Miles and then not play him for the rest of the season in exchange for possibly a pick or something like that.

All Miles has to do is play 2 more games.. Whats to stop him from doing it next season, the season after, the season after that? I don't think he's going to retire until he has those two more games, for the rest of his life..

I thought that clause was only valid for this season. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[ak06ma]

There is another angle.
Portland could have told Memphis to sign Miles and then not play him for the rest of the season in exchange for possibly a pick or something like that.

Well he only signed a 10 contract and he was originally waived to avoid having his contract guaranteed. I think Memphis will just play him for the 2 games to **** Portland's cap situation.

[evilRyu]

I have just gained a ****load of respect for Memphis.

I was dying to see which team would tell Portland to suck it... kudos to them.

same here... what a story this has been.. go Miles, go Memphis..

[Kakapato]

Come on Memphis!!!! Let him play!!!!

[Kakapato]

There is another angle.
Portland could have told Memphis to sign Miles and then not play him for the rest of the season in exchange for possibly a pick or something like that.

Don't know if it's legal. In this way it seems a mafia thing.

[Tom Baker]

I'm going to actually start watching Memphis games on streams just to see Miles play.

this move wasnt made to play him

Of course it is. He has to play in two games to screw over Portland. Signing him alone accomplishes nothing at all.

I think Memphis is now my new 2nd favourite team. Now they just have to move back to Vancouver and it would be perfect. Woot!

[Morena R]

LMFAO I love Memphis

[brownbobcat]

There is another angle.
Portland could have told Memphis to sign Miles and then not play him for the rest of the season in exchange for possibly a pick or something like that.

Well he only signed a 10 contract and he was originally waived to avoid having his contract guaranteed. I think Memphis will just play him for the 2 games to **** Portland's cap situation.

Yup, it would just reek of collusion to guarantee his contract and then not play Miles after having waived him to avoid just that.

[inrapscity]

hahahahah, what did I say? Knew some Western conference GM wouldn't give a **** about what Portland said and would sign Miles.

[Marvin!]

There is another angle.
Portland could have told Memphis to sign Miles and then not play him for the rest of the season in exchange for possibly a pick or something like that.

Collusion - the League would never allow a deal like that to pass.

[Marvin!]

This very same thing happened with Alvin Williams, except I don't think we were insured to the extent that Portland was with Miles and that 10 game stipulation wasn't a factor. Same with Zo - we couldn't get insurance, even though he went on to play with Miami. Hell - even Hakeem ended this way, didn't he?

I don't think the Raps had him declared Medically Ineligible though, did they? With Alvin it wasn't a matter of getting Salary Cap relief from what I remember (although I could be wrong).

The big picture issue here is this - Portland tried to get an advantage relative to their Salary Cap position. For this season, it means they were/are able to stay well under the Luxury Tax threshold and for Next Season it means they have cap space to sign FA's in the summer.

If Darius goes back on the books, both those things disappear.

And in my mind it's simple - If he really can play then his salary should go back on the books - those are the rules and all the teams have to play by them.

[seanied]

Somebody figured out that the extra luxury tax Portland will pay will be worth $250,000 for each non-taxed team, so a money loser like Memphis has a financial incentive to re-sign Miles. Now the question is, was Portland bluffing on the legal stuff. If they don't sue, they will look stupid indeed!

Not necessarily.

If you go by the letter of what Portland said, They only threatened to take legal action against any franchise that signs Miles for the purpose of adversely impacting the Portland Trail Blazers’ salary cap and tax positions.

“Our purpose here was not in any way to keep Darius from being able to play,” Miller said. “If he can come back and help a team to win and play at a level on the court that helps the team, we have no problem with that at all.

“We were hearing a lot of rumblings and rumors that there were teams out there planning to sign Darius Miles specifically and maliciously to hurt our organization,” Miller said. “This was our way of responding to that and letting folks know that we were not going to take it sitting down.”

[alexintoronto]

I know hate Portland and like Memphis

[AB_21]

There's no way Portland has a case. Memphis waived him to make his contract non-guarnteed and then want to see him again. Regardless of their intent, they seem to actually be interested in Miles and unless Allen can stumble upon some email gold mine ("Let's just get him to get them over the cap"..."All I want is for Paul Allen to pay more money. I could care less about Miles") it looks like they'll be on the hook for his salary and in addition to that may see Miles come after them for trying to threaten teams who sign Miles. I really think the Blazers overlooked and are now trying to cover up the "Miles still wants to play" factor.

[emfive]

Does anyone know how to get a copy of that best seller by Paul Allen ... How to Win Friends and Influence People?

[Fairview4Life]

There's no way Portland has a case. Memphis waived him to make his contract non-guarnteed and then want to see him again. Regardless of their intent, they seem to actually be interested in Miles and unless Allen can stumble upon some email gold mine ("Let's just get him to get them over the cap"..."All I want is for Paul Allen to pay more money. I could care less about Miles") it looks like they'll be on the hook for his salary and in addition to that may see Miles come after them for trying to threaten teams who sign Miles. I really think the Blazers overlooked and are now trying to cover up the "Miles still wants to play" factor.

Even if they found that email chain...so what?

[AB_21]

There's no way Portland has a case. Memphis waived him to make his contract non-guarnteed and then want to see him again. Regardless of their intent, they seem to actually be interested in Miles and unless Allen can stumble upon some email gold mine ("Let's just get him to get them over the cap"..."All I want is for Paul Allen to pay more money. I could care less about Miles") it looks like they'll be on the hook for his salary and in addition to that may see Miles come after them for trying to threaten teams who sign Miles. I really think the Blazers overlooked and are now trying to cover up the "Miles still wants to play" factor.

Even if they found that email chain...so what?

They could make a case that their sole intention was to financially damage a partner in the CBA.

[Buyaka]

I am glad somebody called on Portland's bluff. Love it!

[Avenger]

Does anyone know how to get a copy of that best seller by Paul Allen ... How to Win Friends and Influence People?

this is the downisde of ultra rich owners in pro-sports. You guys have genuine people who have a passion for the team like Mark Cuban but then you have guys like Paul Allen who's bringing in his dirty business philosophy