Memphis sabotaging Blazers ??

[Ripcity4life]

According to Yahoo Sports Memphis is close to signing Darius Miles

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... &type=lgns


Is your GM trying to blackmail Pritchard into a deal ??

[rsavaj]

Just saw that...that's interesting.

Maybe he can still play?

[BarbaGrizz]

I hope so.

It´s business, not friendship. Sign Miles and play him in 10 garbage time and it´s done: One contender down in the FA market

[SD2042]

Miles would have to sevre the 10 game suspension for violating the drug policy before he can play the 10 games hich force the Blazers to pick his contract back up.

[grizzleGM]

I wonder if this is a veiled threat by Wallace. If the Blazers don't agree to a trade (which was supposedly heating back up this week), Wallace just signs a player for the minimum and it ends up costing the Blazers $18 million this year due to the fact they are over the lux tax threshold and $9mil next year. WOW!!! This is a move of sheer genius!!!

Maybe Grizz fans will be treated this week to a GM that is willing to do what it takes to put this team in the best position possible even if it means pissing off another GM!

[Cubboo]

I'm with GrizzleGm on this one. This is a chess match, What are the Blazers willing to concede in a trade if we don't sign Miles? This could also be held over their head by others in the league, so it may not be to their benefit to play this game.

If not, then we sign him to two 10 day contracts and play him garbage time. This really hurts the Blazers finances for the future if signing completes.
.
It's not personal, it's business.

[grizzleGM]

The Blazers have until January 24th to decide how important $27million and their cap space is to them.

If I were Wallace, I probably would not be willing to release Miles unless I had an offer from them of say:

Aldridge
for
Conley

That should really piss off Blazer fans. It will be much easier to get Milsap if the Blazers are also not offering him a deal.

[grizzleGM]

Here are the other two articles on the subject

Ron Tillery's
http://www.thememphisedge.com/

Chris Herrington's
http://www.cmimemphis.com/grizblog/

[Wizenheimer]

The Blazers have until January 24th to decide how important $27million and their cap space is to them.

If I were Wallace, I probably would not be willing to release Miles unless I had an offer from them of say:

Aldridge
for
Conley

That should really piss off Blazer fans. It will be much easier to get Milsap if the Blazers are also not offering him a deal.

I responded to your posts in te blazer forum, so I'll just summarize here:

The most that Miles would cost the blazers over and above what he will already cost them is about 9 million (luxury tax for this season). The insurance payments which now pay a bulk of the contract (and may already have been paid in full) will not change.

The Blazers could very easily have a team salary of around 42 million dollars which is about the level that Memphis will have. keep in mind that Warrick's cap-hold, until/if he signs a new contract will be 6.4 million dollars.

And in order for Miles to be added to portland's team salary for next season, not only would he have to play for memphis this season, he'd also have to be under a guaranteed contract for next season as well.

So memphis won't really have any cap-space advantage over portland even with Miles's salary added back to portland's.

Finally, about paul Milsapp...he will be a restricted free agent this summer, not unrestricted. Utah will match any offer he gets.

[Walton'sBeard!]

So memphis won't really have any cap-space advantage over portland even with Miles's salary added back to portland's.

Maybe they won't have a capspace advantage, but Memphis will have the Darius advantage. That kind of mentoring and leadership is priceless.

[Brandon-Clyde]

I predict Darius Miles "just being friendly" on New Years Eve takes OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay out to a strip club in a seedy part of town.A fight then occurs causing both Mayo and Gay to be arrested missing the next month.Grizzlies fans tar and feather Chris Wallace for bringing in such a bad influence

[jefe]

Lotta bitter Blazers fan in this thread: we - the Grizz fans here - haven't done anything to you guys.

[Norm2953]

I've written this before in other threads but why would Memphis want a team cancer
like Miles around young, impressionable players like Gay and Mayo?

I could at least understand it if Miles had signed with a veteran team like Boston but
younger teams like Memphis and Portland don't need guys like Miles around at any price.

[Brandon-Clyde]

Lotta bitter Blazers fan in this thread: we - the Grizz fans here - haven't done anything to you guys.

Jefe we are just warning you about what sort of person Miles is.Look at his history and ask yourself if there is enough potential benefit to ever let him near your young potential stars

[PDXKnight]

The Blazers have until January 24th to decide how important $27million and their cap space is to them.

If I were Wallace, I probably would not be willing to release Miles unless I had an offer from them of say:

Aldridge
for
Conley

That should really piss off Blazer fans. It will be much easier to get Milsap if the Blazers are also not offering him a deal.

You have to be kidding me here. 9 million is salary added to the books isn't nearly enough to convince Pritchard to trade away Aldridge. Furthermore, if the motives behind the signing are true, Pritchard can have the league review the situation and if Darius still shows serious signs of injury, the salary can be waived off of Portland's books yet again.

[jefe]

Lotta bitter Blazers fan in this thread: we - the Grizz fans here - haven't done anything to you guys.

Jefe we are just warning you about what sort of person Miles is.Look at his history and ask yourself if there is enough potential benefit to ever let him near your young potential stars

No doubt he has a history; perhaps, two years out of the league and not being able to make it past training camp has humbled him, who knows? Generally though, Wallace has made good moves in his brief tenure here IMO, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt right now.

[Brandon-Clyde]

Lotta bitter Blazers fan in this thread: we - the Grizz fans here - haven't done anything to you guys.

Jefe we are just warning you about what sort of person Miles is.Look at his history and ask yourself if there is enough potential benefit to ever let him near your young potential stars

No doubt he has a history; perhaps, two years out of the league and not being able to make it past training camp has humbled him, who knows? Generally though, Wallace has made good moves in his brief tenure here IMO, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt right now.

Jefe it was only last March I believe he took University of Oregon qb Dennis Dixon to a local strip club and "made it rain" so his immature behaviour is not as far in the past as you may believe/wish.Furthermoe Miles is VERY,VERY good at behaving himself until he receives guaranteed money.When he was traded to Portland midseason he played hard and was very well behaved.Then he received his new contract and it was pot,strip clubs,drunkeness,racial epithets against the coach and fights.Do not say we didn't warn you

[BballFanAddict]

This is, without a shadow of doubt, a complete ploy and screw job. Why else would a team with a 100 percent chance of ending in the lottery take a flier on a guy who has the potential to harm the youth movement in Memphis?

It would make sense to see a team take a chance on Miles like Boston because they have very strong veteran leadership to put this kid in his place - plus he may be able to provide just enough help in a championship run. But, for a team destined for the lottery like Memphis to pay this kid makes no sense except for the obvious - to screw Portland. What else is he good for in Memphis? To insure a HIGHER lottery draft choice???

If it wasn't Memphis it would be another team. So I personally have no ill will towards Memphis. They got more issues to feel sorry for than to actually be angry towards them.

What would be hilarious as a Portland fan is if the Blazers appeal and his cap indeed comes off whether he plays 10 games or 82. It is possible, too. The clause was implemented so a team could not file for the medical option and then later re-sign the player themselves at a cheaper price - this is uncharted waters and could be overturned.