Congrats to Memphis

ohara · Post #1 » by **ohara** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 4:06 pm

I want to congratulate Memphis on standing up to the idiots in Portland and resigning Miles. If only to screw with Portland and the luxury tax, I love the move. I cant believe they could not come up with something better or more original than to send the other teams an "I'll sue you!" letter. What jackasses. They get what they deserve. I only wish Charlotte would have been the ones to sign Miles, and play him for 1 minute at the end of 2 games. I guess when one billionaire threatens to sue another billionaire, it becomes a pissing contest as to "who has the bigger set of -alls."

ohara · Post #2 » by **ohara** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 6:23 pm

The more I think about this, the more I believe Portland basically forced Memphis to make this move. Memphis had just released him, and then that letter from Portland comes out threatening other teams if they sign him. With others complying, that is a perfect case of Collusion and no wonder the Player's Union was looking into it and the NBA FO said they would back any team wanting to sign Miles. Just a really stupid thing for Portland to send that letter. It made Memphis look like they released him only after talking with Portland and all the other teams agreeing with Portland not to sign Miles. Memphis is just covering their butts and also the rest of the owners - except for those jackasses in Portland!

chrbal · Post #3 » by **chrbal** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:33 pm

Bravo to the Grizzlies. Portland basically begged someone to do this.

The Grizzlies were probably like "Miles was OK, lets see what else is out there". Then Portland sends out the threat, and the Grizzlies are basically "!&%$ you, Portland". I love this game.

W_HAMILTON · Post #4 » by **W_HAMILTON** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:05 pm

Yeah, I was happy to see Memphis pick Miles back up. I still think Portland should be punished by the league for doing what they did. I suggested that they have Miles count against their cap, regardless of whether or not another team signed him, but that's moot now. I would probably take away some of their draft picks. I wouldn't go overboard, but if it were up to me, I would probably take away one 1st rounder + one 2nd rounder.

But I have to admit, this story has kept my interest the past few days. I didn't realize the whole situation until Portland issued that memo threatening to sue other teams if anyone signed Miles.

This was posted in one of the threads on the General Board, and it still makes me laugh:

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/6380 ... 978uk3.jpg

August Us Seazr · Post #5 » by **August Us Seazr** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:00 am

W_HAMILTON wrote:Yeah, I was happy to see Memphis pick Miles back up. I still think Portland should be punished by the league for doing what they did. I suggested that they have Miles count against their cap, regardless of whether or not another team signed him, but that's moot now. I would probably take away some of their draft picks. I wouldn't go overboard, but if it were up to me, I would probably take away one 1st rounder + one 2nd rounder.

But I have to admit, this story has kept my interest the past few days. I didn't realize the whole situation until Portland issued that memo threatening to sue other teams if anyone signed Miles.

This was posted in one of the threads on the General Board, and it still makes me laugh:

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/6380 ... 978uk3.jpg

That was absolutely hilarious Ham.

And as further punishment, the picks that they take away should be for the 2010 draft. This year's draft will be a little down, so not as much in the punishment department.

Post #6 » by **BigSlam** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:55 am

W_HAMILTON wrote:I would probably take away some of their draft picks. I wouldn't go overboard, but if it were up to me, I would probably take away one 1st rounder + one 2nd rounder.

Screw that, make it even worse. Put a bounty on their head.

Don't forfeit their picks - have the NBA put a presser out that says whoever signs Miles GETS the Blazers picks as well - for nothing.

They are trying to scare 29 other teams away from signing him? Make 29 teams beat down his door to sign him.

Rich4114 · Post #7 » by **Rich4114** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 4:54 pm

The Blazers have a history of being complete douche bags in this business. If you think about it, it's mainly their fault they've got two other teams in their conference that are in their way of a championship (NO and Utah) because they were greedy in the 05 draft. Now I hope the Hornets and Jazz are always in front of Portland.

bobcatters · Post #8 » by **bobcatters** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:04 am

If I was Portland, I would have said nothing. They should have sat back and watched to see what happens. If Memphis has him play 2 or so games and then dump him, I would sue.

Wait to be damaged prior to making threats. And yes, I do think they would have a cause of action if Memphis played him for 5 minutes over two games and dumped him. However, if he is on the roster the rest of the year and plays minutes, there is no cause of action. As such, the threat only hurts Portland because Memphis may keep him around for awhile to avoid litigation.

Post #9 » by **fatlever** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:22 am

i'm no darius miles fan, but i would hope no team would simply use him to screw the blazers. that's just slap in the face to miles. "hey, we think you suck and your knees are toast. in fact, if you were a horse i'd shoot you in the face. however, we think the blazers are a bunch of spoiled rich d-bags and we want to use you to get back at them. so, were gonna sign you, put you in for a couple of minutes in two games and then cut you. sound good?"

or maybe miles is spiteful of the way the blazers treated him... although he should be sending them daily thank you letters for the amount of money he stole from them.

Post #10 » by **Walt Cronkite** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:55 am

I generally like most blazers moves, so I think Paul Allen signed off on this for the lolz. Dude is down with technology, he had to know how this would turn out.

W_HAMILTON · Post #11 » by **W_HAMILTON** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:58 am

There's no rule that says a team couldn't pick up Miles just for the sake of hurting Portland's cap room. That's why Portland was in the wrong. I'm sure the league does not look too fondly on one of its teams threatening legal action against any other team for doing something they have every right to do. This type of stuff happens all the time. Waiting for a player to clear waivers to sign them so you aren't responsible for their current contract (even though you had every intention of signing them to begin with), waiting a few extra days to match an offer to a restricted FA that you have every intention to keep (just to tie up the other team's cap space), etc. It happens all the time.

Portland would have been fine if they just went public, and said something along the lines that they hope no team would sign Miles just to hurt them financially. But when they did what they did, issued an official memo threatening legal action if any other team signed Miles -- that went too far. There is already too much strong arming going on in the NBA, both by players and some of the big market teams; the NBA should step in and penalize the Blazers for their actions.

It sounds like they aren't going to punish them at all, which is inexcusable. It sounds like they were thinking about a fine, which would also be perfectly appropriate (maybe moreso than taking away draft picks, or something more harsh). But one of the wiretap articles said the league was leaning towards not even issuing a fine.

chrbal · Post #12 » by **chrbal** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 2:55 am

I think Darius Miles has something left, and I also think that the Grizzlies are (even just a little bit) doing this just to spite the Blazers.

Hes still only 27 years old (god that seems to little) and is a worthwhile low risk player.

We're talking about a team that has Darko Milicic, Stromile Swift, Hamed Haddadi, Greg Buckner, and Steve Francis on its roster. Thats not exactly a dream group.