Andre Miller: Man of Mystery

[The Guilty Party]

According to Phil Jasner's column today....

In an attempt to update point guard Andre Miller on developments with the team, Stefanski learned that Miller has left agent Lon Babby and has not yet come up with new representation.

I've come to realize that Andre Miller is a guy who marches to the beat of a different drum but I have to say that it's sort of concerning that at the Elton Brand Press Conference, Ed Stefanski said that he has had all of two conversations with Miller since he has been with the Sixers. Now we come to find out that Ed's way of contacting Miller has been through his agent and in making an attempt, he finds that Miller has now switched agents for what seems like preparation for next summer when Miller is a free agent.

We all saw the comments on sixers.com by Miller which seemed positive, but none of those comments talked about beyond this season. Of course, I still have a bad taste in my mouth from Andre Miller's interview on 950AM with Jody Mac back in March in which Miller really seemed uncomfortable talking about the idea of staying in Philly.

So anyway, here we are. We're in the summer of 2008 and Miller has one more year left on his deal. To me, Miller was our best player and MVP last season but he did seem a bit gassed come playoff time. Before we signed Brand, a lot of people wanted Miller moved this summer. Now that we have Brand, a lot of people want him to stay. I, however, am on the fence. I love the way Miller played last season but I think there has to be a red flag raised if our GM has barely spoken to a key cog of our team.

It doesn't seem as though Stefanski is going to get any sort of commitment or extension out of Andre Miller this summer. I wouldn't move the guy unless I got equal value in return but what are your thoughts on this? Are you concerned about Miller's future with this team? Should we just play through the season and see how LouWill progresses as a PG or would you like to see a move made before training camp??

I know where some of you stand on this but I'm curious to see what the overall feel is.... thoughts?

[Fire BK]

Great post.

I agree with everything above.... Man, I've been all over the map with this soft-spoken enigma....

Entering last season, I figured a trade was inevitable.... Then, seeing how Andre Miller performed changed my entire outlook... He is invaluable to this team.... And as an underrated 32 yr old player in final year of contract, this is a situation where IMO the possibility for equal value doesn't exist...

You might get a late first round pick, that's about it. We likely wouldn't even get as much as Artest, who is the closest comparison in terms of veteran player on final yr of contract in 8-10 mil range.... Therefore, without equal value, I say "no" to the trade route.

Further, I believe Eddie knows the shrewd move is to let Miller play out the string of his contract here.... It allows the Sixers the most flexibility, in the end.... At the very least, Miller walks at age 33, and you receive $10 mil in cap space.... And become major players in FA for the second straight summer. That worked pretty well this summer.... And Eddie specifically hinted at his plan to stagger the cap space over the course of a few years. Brilliant. There's very little doubt in my mind that he'll let Miller expire.

And letting him expire doesn't preclude the possibility of Miller re-signing here next summer as an UFA... I could see Eddie offering something in the 3 yrs $30 mil range....maybe 4 years tops. But he'll probably want his big, 5 yr deal... especially from a West coast team, so he can ride off into the sunset, literally.

Yet I think Miller is truly intrigued by the Sixers right now.... In a feature article in a recent Slam magazine (not available online), Miller expresses a real, true desire to play for a contender.... In the interview, he says he's never had the chance to play with a star-studded team, and believes he could do special things if surrounded by major talent... It's clear that the Sixers are a team on the rise, and nobody knows how good they can be this year.

After Miller & Brand both make the All-Star team this year (my prediction), and say the Sixers win their 50+ games and reach the East Finals.... I believe Miller will have every reason to re-sign here.

If he doesn't, then let Lou Will take over the reigns, and use your cap space wisely in FA... Clearly, a lot depends on Lou Will's development this year as a ball-handler, team-leader, maturity and decision-maker.... If Lou blows up and shows drastic improvement, all bets are off, and I could support shipping Miller at the Feb deadline for the right value.

But I just don't see that happening, even if LouWill shines... The Sixers hold too many options next summer w/ $10 mil in cap room, a young stud combo guard at a mere $5mil per, and boasting the attraction of a contending team that packs its stadium as a luring factor for Miller to re-sign. Sorry for the length... it's just a complex situation with several factors. Cheers.

[Sixersftw]

Great posts guys. I'd lean towards moving him at the deadline. However, Miller was the engine that makes us go and I don't see lou being ready to run the point full time yet. And as pointed out, we aren't gonna get alot for a 32 year old pg. It's going to be a bit of a problem down the road.

[sixers hoops]

I wouldn't move the guy unless I got equal value in return but what are your thoughts on this? Are you concerned about Miller's future with this team? Should we just play through the season and see how LouWill progresses as a PG or would you like to see a move made before training camp??

I know where some of you stand on this but I'm curious to see what the overall feel is.... thoughts?

I am very open to trading Miller, but as you said, I can only make that decision on a deal by deal basis. I would rather take one year of Miller and see what happens than taking a clearly inferior player or a bad contract.

I have advocated a Miller for Billups trade; however, it depends on the filler needed to get the deal done. Nevertheless, I think Billups would be a huge upgrade over Miller. He can run an offense well, in addition to being an excellent defender and shooter.

Miller for Hinrich. I haven't seen Hinrich play in a long time, but I would definitely have interest. I am a huge proponent of having a defensive team and Hinrich was a member of the all-defensive second team. His salary decreases each year which is also attractive. As far as what he could bring to the team offensively, I haven't seen enough to make that determination.

These are some of the teams who could be looking to move their high salary point guard to go in a different direction, and I think these players could be worth looking at. If I can get a point guard, who can shoot and defend better, in addition to making more than a one-year commitment, then I would have to consider it.

[sixers hoops]

I'd lean towards moving him at the deadline.

I think if you think our team is going to contend, getting a new point guard at the deadline would not be a good idea.

If you don't think we are going to contend, then why keep Miller for next season anyway?

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

You'd have to gather a few more expirings. As of right now, we're AT the cap. Assume Iggy does sign for his 12.5 million, and we're 4.5 Million OVER the cap. When Andre expires, we'll have an MLE(6 million).

If you want to make the most out of Miller's expiring, you'll need another expiring to pair up with Miller's to get into major FA Market. However, that is not my interest. I hope Ed Stefanski has come to grips(and I hope you all have two)

"You won't get equal value" "Untouchable". So, is Andre Miller bound for the hall of fame? Andre Miller's value is at it's MAX. As a capable PG with an expiring contract. The best way to use Andre Miller is to trade him outright. Listen, diehard Miller fans. Even Ed will understand that you don't extend 33 year old PG'S. If Miller begins the decline and you still(foolishly) extend him, you wasted a good deal of money.

[bebopdeluxe]

sixers hoops:

Miller-for-Billups? At first blush, it sounds interesting...but he has a lot of contract left (even without the team option in 2011-12), and I wonder if - after a year or two - if we have some of the same issues with Billups that we had with Miller (i.e. running out of gas in May/June)...although giving Lou more burn at the point can help both of those guys stay fresher in the playoffs. I also wonder if Dumars would trade Billups to a team that he will be knocking heads with for a while.

I am on record supporting a deal for Hinrich - his salary matches up perfectly with Miller, and gets more palatable as the deal goes on...as you cited, he is a good defender and he has the outside shot that I think we need at PG with Iggy at the 2. I think that - right now - the best chance for that deal to happen is at the trade deadline (when, hopefully, Chicago will be out of the playoff hunt and will be looking to make sure they stay out of lux tax land next season)...and while there are always risks with making an in-season move of that magnitude (changing your PG), I think that Hinrich is an established enough player that it would not be as disruptive move as it could be. Besides, I still view this year as a learning/transition year...with '09-10 the year I target to make a major ppush to get back to the Finals.

As for the initial post, I agree with much of what you said, tgp...and I can't say that I am totally sold on committing to Miller yet. At the very least, we wait until next summer to see if Lou has the potential to take over the reins...and if a deal for Hinrich or Billups presents itself at the deadline, then so be it. If - by that point - we are prepared to just let Miller walk after the season, we should consider getting whatever we can for him, as we won't have anything more than the MLE to spend next summer anyway (assuming that Iggy gets signed soon).

[sixers hoops]

sixers hoops:

Miller-for-Billups? At first blush, it sounds interesting...but he has a lot of contract left (even without the team option in 2011-12)

I thought he only had two years left, but as you noted it is three guaranteed.

I think Dumars wants to make a free agent splash in a year or two, so an expiring Miller for Billups may be a deal he'd be interested in. Rasheed will also expire. He could shed Billups, then rebuild with Prince, Rip, and take a shot at a free-agent signing in a year or two.

It would be a tough call, but I would do it from our perspective.

[Philly_King]

"You won't get equal value" "Untouchable". So, is Andre Miller bound for the hall of fame? Andre Miller's value is at it's MAX. As a capable PG with an expiring contract. The best way to use Andre Miller is to trade him outright. Listen, diehard Miller fans. Even Ed will understand that you don't extend 33 year old PG'S. If Miller begins the decline and you still(foolishly) extend him, you wasted a good deal of money.

I'm not sure I follow. Miller isn't a hall-of-famer(nor is that relevant) but he is a vital part of this team and will give us a great chance in the East this year. Unless you can get another PG of equal value(Billups) there's no reason to trade him because we're in win-now mode with Brand.
Besides, who are you going to trade him for? We'd have to get a PG in return since Lou isn't ready to start. Could we trade him to Milwakee for Mo Williams? Yes but we'd be stuck with Mo's big contract and a shoot-first bad defender PG.
Could we trade him for someone like Nelson or Hinrich? Probably. You get the picture here, we'd be getting a worse PG with a bad contract and unless you truly believe that PG is good enough to lead us to a title there's no point in doing it.
The best thing to do it let Miller play the season out and draw up all the cards in the summer. Maybe Ed finds a way to offload Green or Evans for cap space? That would give us 10m in cap space. Maybe we just re-sign Miller to a 1 or 2 year deal and draft a PG. Maybe we manage to sign Felton or Sessions or even AI for the MLE or in a S/T. There's a lot of options which would be much better than trading Miller for the sake of it now and getting worse in the process.

[bebopdeluxe]

sixers hoops:

My concern is that while the Sixers may be interested in a Billups-for-Miller deal, Dumars may not want to trade him to us - as all that would do is make us that much tougher over the next 3-4 years.

BTW, McDyess also expires this year, if I am not mistaken...

[Sixersftw]

I'd lean towards moving him at the deadline.

I think if you think our team is going to contend, getting a new point guard at the deadline would not be a good idea.

If you don't think we are going to contend, then why keep Miller for next season anyway?

I guess i should have phrased my message as I'd lean towards moving him but I don't think lou is ready and I don't see any replacement that is available.

[geiger]

Pistons have absolutely no reason to trade Billups for Miller. They are trying to win now and not free up cap space for next year. If that's what they are trying to do, then by all means. We get a better defensive player and a guy who is a better fit here in terms of ability to shoot the 3. I just don't see Dumars being willing to do it. Then again, you never know when cap space comes into play and when you think you have a young PG of the future in Rodney Stuckey.

[Sixersfan87]

I am by no means calling Andre Miller equal to Jason Kidd, but looking at what NJ got in a midseason swap from a team in the opposite conference looking to go from contender to favorite, he will definitely have some value this season. Obviously it didn't work out like anyone in Dallas planned, but it does send the message that Miller might have a lot of value at the trade deadlineto a team looking to make a run, and depending on the progress of Lou Will as a distributor, it's something we should definitely consider. The only teams that would realistically want the 32 yr old in his final contract year would be teams that feel they have a shot at the title. The Sixers aren't going to want to make teams like the Heat, Knicks, Magic, or Cavs better because those are the teams they will be competing with over the next few years. For that reason, if a deal gets done, the Sixers are most likely sending Miller back out west. With that in mind which teams could find themselves looking to acquire an experienced PG coming off a career year, with relatively little risk since he's in the final year of his contract? Denver, Houston, and the Lakers are really the only teams that have a shot to get to the Finals that lack an elite level PG. The Lakers probably won't give us anything of value (unless Odom's exp contract & Farmar for Miller & either WG or Reggie). Houston has some good pieces as well, but I really think if he's going anywhere, it's back to Denver for some combination of expiring contracts, picks, and a young player like Kleiza or JR Smith. I agree with the majority of the board in that we should keep Miller, see how far we can go in the playoffs, and then decide whether to keep him, let him walk and use the cap space, or sign-and-trade him. Remember we can offer him an extra year or higher annual % raises than other teams can.

[barkley34]

I think we end up extending Miller for a couple years. I think he is just the type of guy that likes to do his own thing in the summer and not be involved with basketball during that time. He is just a quiet reserved type of person. I expect us to have a very good season next year and see him wanting to stay around.

[The Guilty Party]

Excellent posts, guys... excellent!

I don't know that there is a right answer right now because this could play out any number of ways. Let's talk about next summer for a second. Let's say Iguodala signs a 6 year/$75MIL deal, doesn't that mean that we would only have somewhere between $6-$7MIL in cap space? If so, that's not enough to really make a play for a starting PG that would be an upgrade over Miller.

If that's the case and Miller does walk then that means that we will have to either have to turn the PG duties over to Lou or trade some of our assets to obtain a PG. I don't envy Ed's position that he is in. I do think that he should try and talk to Miller as much as possible in order to gauge his interest in remaining here.

[Sixersftw]

7 million is a little low because I'm guessing we would have to lure someone away. (not an outright ufa signing). Calderon did sign w/ the raps for 7.4 million, though he hooked them up with a discount. Hopefully Lou puts an end to our concerns and shows some improvement at pg.

Other than that we might be able to lure a ring chaser or 2 next year but I'm not too enthused about that. I really think this could end up being a bit problematic for us. Miller hasn't shown any long term interest and on top of that he's getting up there in age

[The Guilty Party]

Well... this is from phillyburbs.com...

He also said he still hopes to talk to Miller, who is under contract for $10 million this season, about an extension later this summer. More pressing business — such as signing Brand, as well as free agent guard Royal Ivey and Kareem Rush — has pre-empted those discussions, although the two have text-messaged back and forth.

“His texts are basically saying he's following everything, he's very happy with all the moves so far and he's in the gym working out,” Stefanski said.

I like this Stefasnki fellow. I'm sure he knows he needs to talk to Miller as much as possible to figure out what Miller may want to do next summer so he's resorted to acting like a 13 year old girl and is now text messaging Miller.

[Sixerscan]

DO U LIK FILY 1 4 YES 2 4 NO

[The Guilty Party]

DO U LIK FILY 1 4 YES 2 4 NO

LMAO! You are pure comedic gold, my friend. That made my day.

[underpressure]

Well, if we explore all West coast teams, which might be able to pay Miller the right salary: They are none. So Miller has to forgo at least a couple of millions if he wants to be at a West coast team. I don't see that happen.