Darius wants to play!

[DeezXXnutZ]

Miles should be on the Blazers bench as a 11th or 12th man..Get the guy some garbage time and see what happens..

[listerine]

I can't believe how optimistic some of you guys are that we can get anything for Miles.

Making him the 12th active man and playing him garbage minutes in order to boost his trade value crosses beyond "hopeful" and "optimistic" into just plain blind lunacy (sorry, that was harsh).

The fact is that garbage minutes will not make any other teams interested in Miles' fat contract unless we include attractive pieces.

But here is the REAL REASON why we will never see Miles play this season. If the team activates him and plays him garbage minutes, it takes away the chance that he will seek medical retirement.

Let's face it, the team would have bought out Miles long ago if they weren't banking on him retiring and his contract coming off the books. That's the plan. That's why he'll never play for us again. BECAUSE HE'S WORTH MORE IF HE DOESN'T PLAY.

That's where his value is. His potential isn't valuable. His athleticism isn't valuable. Whatever minutes he can give the team aren't valuable. But the 9 mill a year that might come off the books is valuable. The fact that NBA insurance is picking up a substantial portion of his salary because he's not playing is valuable.

Don't root for a Miles comeback. Root for a Miles retirement. It'll help the team more than anything. And you can bet that it's KP's plan as well.

[kumquat]

C. Frye
F. Lee
F. Randolph
G. Webster
G. Telfair

I just threw up in my mouth a little there.

[d-train]

I'm sure Nate has had a good look at Miles in practice and if Nate thought Miles could help the team he would play him. Miles wouldn't have to beg to be activated if he is ready to play at a high level. I suspect Miles needs more time to rehab, or it

[Norm2953]

I'm sure Nate has had a good look at Miles in practice and if Nate thought Miles could help the team he would play him. Miles wouldn't have to beg to be activated if he is ready to play at a high level. I suspect Miles needs more time to rehab, or it

[zzaj]

I am actually kind of worried about this situation. Admittedly, I don't know all the fine details of the medical retirement, but i'm pretty sure the team won't be able to basically force him into retirement if he is even capable of getting into shape.

Miles would want to play for the Blazers because, 1: they are a bright young organization now, 2: He still gets paychecks from them. --He would not want a buyout because he knows that with some other team he won't get anywhere close to the amount that he is getting here...if he even gets a job at all.

As much as i'm sure KP and company don't want anything to do with miles, I don't see what leverage they have legally to do anything about it.

I'm sure it's been brought up before (as a matter of fact I think I remember reading it) but what is the exact language of the "medical retirement" cutoff for a player?

I see Miles bringing on legal woes, being bought out, or being traded...in that order.

[Butter]

Unless Miles can come into practice and completely beat out all of the Blazers other SF's, I see no reason to even factor him into the rotation this year. It just makes no sense to include him in any format this year.

Personally, I think the Blazers may make some kind of move this off-season with their SF situation. There is a chain reaction that will effect multiple players when Oden comes back. Recently at the end of games, LMA has been playing center, while Travis has been playing PF. When Oden comes back, LMA will play the PF spot, and Outlaw will either have to improve his ball handling and 3 point shooting from the SF spot, or he might get lost in the rotation.

If the Blazers really think that Martell is the future at SF, and LMA is the future at PF, Outlaw might be the odd man out, who consequently has sky-rocketed his value. And yes Outlaw fans, I realize you'll probably me for saying that.

So bottom line. Leave Miles at the practice fascillity running suicides all day, shooting jumpers all day, and developing his ball handling (specifically his left hand). If Outlaw does get moved, Miles can try to earn some minutes at SF/PF in the vacated spot. Sit him this year, play him some next year, his contract will be close to over, and he'll be much easier to move.

[Mr Odd]

-= original quote snipped =-
Miles will have to earn his minutes. I don't see how he leapfrogs Martell, Jones, or Travis. That guy will be sitting.

+1

Maybe if Miles doesnt get mins he'll yell
some more racial slurs at the coach!!
Which would be funny because unlike
the other coach I think Nate would
probably kick the everloving crap
out of Miles, haha!! Then again if
Miles isnt showcased its going to
be tough to trade him.. .but if any
GM could trade a player without
showcasing him its prob Pritchard!!

[UGotThrilled]

I'm sure Nate has had a good look at Miles in practice and if Nate thought Miles could help the team he would play him. Miles wouldn't have to beg to be activated if he is ready to play at a high level. I suspect Miles needs more time to rehab, or it

[UGotThrilled]

Portland F Darius Miles, who hasn't played since 2005-06 after microfracture knee surgery, was wearing a protective boot after suffering Achilles' tendinitis while rehabbing.

This was in the notes of the Portland vs Houston recap on ESPN. I dont know how serious Achilles tendinitis is, but it sounds like his body may not be up to playing at game speed right now.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=280125022

[The Sebastian Express]

Miles only had one microfracture surgery.

[kumquat]

don't know if that vid has been posted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5BxOcpqRXs

[d-train]

Miles is going to have to be patient even if he doesn't want to. He's part of a team that has gotten along without him for 2 years. If he wants to be a part of the team, he needs to wait until Nate feels the team needs his contribution. Understandably, this is a new concept for Miles because he has always been a player that contributed by playing a big role on the court. Rather he likes it or not he is like a rookie joining an established team. No team is going to bend over backwards to accommodate the new rookie.

[DeezXXnutZ]

don't know if that vid has been posted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5BxOcpqRXs

I saw this on channel 12 a couple weeks ago..It seems like Miles is really interested in getting back with the team and interested in winning..The biggest problem with Miles is how in the past he never wanted to give 110% and become that go to guy we all thought he would be when he got here..He seemed really sincere in wanting to be a part of the organazation and team again though..

The way I look at it is he can't be any worse then LaFrentz or Green as our 11th or 12th guy..We might as well give him the chance to sit on the bench and see if he can be part of our team again..Plus he doesn't have any bad influences around him on our team to swade him in the wrong direction again.....

[mojomarc]

If that dunk in the video is any indication he still has a bit of explosiveness after the surgery. I'm cautiously impressed.

If his head is truly in the right place and he can give the effort, he is much better than Green or McRoberts for us. Still a big "if," but it could happen.

[Mr Odd]

Even if Miles gets back to 100% I dont
think its enough to get infront of Outlaw,
Jones or Webster. All 3 of those players
are waaay better shooters then Miles, all
3 can play better defense then Miles. Miles
at 100% is more athletic then Jones and
maybe slightly more then Webster.. .But
no matter how I look at it, even putting
aside the crap he has pulled in the past
and just going by his game, I dont see
him being played over those other three.

I mean his best season stat line was.. .
14.0ppg 1.8apg 4.5rpg 2.5to .534ft% .2003p% .461fg% 32.2mpg
I know, stats arent everything, but he wasnt that good.. .
He was the 2nd or 3rd best player on a really crappy team.

[Napoleon7]

IF...........
Miles is healthy the only way I could see us taking a chance and giving him playing minutes this year is if we can trade some of our current players.

Specifically I am a proponent of trading for Kidd.
If we could trade LeFrentz, Webster, Jack, 2008 #1 (Top 3 protected) for Kidd then I could see Miles getting some backup minutes to Jones at the 3 position.

N7