yosemiteben wrote:MasterIchiro wrote:The new owners, the hero consultants, the acting GM all consider Miles a part of the core, playing the 4 (Miller the 3) and leaned towards this choice (Miles long term 4 over PJ) even before signing PJ.
I find that theory extremely unlikely. They resigned PJ while Miles was still actively suspended from the team. It seems like a major stretch to assume that they had made definitive plans to keep Miles before they saw evidence of how he would respond to his legal situations / make sure his off-court behavior was fully resolved and addressed.
Assuming your theory has any merit at all, I think signing PJ was at a minimum Miles insurance in the event that he had another off-court situation and allowed them the ability to defer the Miles vs. PJ debate until they got to know him better and saw evidence of how his off court stuff would be different going forward.
They were leaning Miles. PJ was restricted so they controlled him and signed him to a tradeable contract. If Miles fell through, PJ is the backup plan. Miles did not fall through. The team rumored to pursue him as a restricted free agent ultimately traded for him, and sent a player the front office was rumored to pursue in his restricted free agency plus the son of a Hornets icon who calls the games.
Hornets could've pivoted to either player at any time. It only makes sense to lean towards the better player.