After an extended hiatus, the Celtics are giving Darius Miles a second chance. Problem is, his career was supposed to be over. At least that was what Portland thought when they waived the rest of his contract after it was revealed that he required microfracture surgery.
Now that the Celtics have brought him back, all he has to do is to appear in 10 games this next season for his salary to come back on Portland's books. At $18 million over the next two years, this would be a significant blow to Portland. Previously they had positioned themselves to potentially have upwards of $40 million in cap space going into next summer.
A surprising team last year, Portland had many competitors concerned that they would become a consistent force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference. In addition to the cap space they had set aside to go after any of the marquee free agents next summer, they also are welcoming Greg Oden to their roster.
A highly touted prospect, Oden was the first pick in the 2007 draft and this upcoming season will be his rookie year, after he underwent micro-fracture surgery this past season.
The Celtics are taking a minimal risk with Miles, most likely signing him to a non- guaranteed contract. If he were to return to form, the Celtics could look to see 10.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.15 blocks per game coming off of their bench as a reserve.
Darius Miles also will be serving a ten-game suspension this season for testing positive for a banned diet pill.
8 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Drew Barton 10 months ago
Even in the event he finds a way to stay off the grass, stay away from the dog-fighting rings, discover a passion for the game, not alienate his teammates, and just generally make a 180 degree character change, the cap hit won't be all that crippling. The Blazers still have Stevie Franchise and Raef LaFrentz coming off and huge room available if needed and there is someone who makes sense for where the Blazers stand at that point. Even without the extra room, unloading that headache was worthwhile and they essentially did it even without thought of the cap space by keeping him away from the team as much as possible.
I wish Miles the best as a person and, as a casual Celtic fan, hope he works out for them. He is a phenomally gifted athletically with crazy hops but he sometimes seems more interested in the fans surrounding the table than in what is going on in the game. He has a tough row to hoe to become a useful player again, though he is young enough to do it and there have been others who have started their careers with attitude issues and turned it around. He could be the next and if Pierce, Garnett and Allen keep him in line this might be the best spot in the League for him.
With all that said, as a Blazer fan first and foremost, I hope he invested his money well, doesn't make the Celtics, and goes off to do something else. Maybe Europe...
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Don Wayne 10 months ago
I guess you're right...Portland is in some pretty serious trouble. That group of young players that they had last year just got lucky, I'm sure. The fact that they will all have another year's experince behind them shouldn't really matter too much.
So what, they bring in that Fernandez guy. I know he scored 22 points in about 15 minutes over the NBA elite - Kobe Bryant in particular, but we all know most of that was luck. Even that dunk over Howard was just a slip...watch it in slow mo. He slipped on the floor and fell up and happened to catch the rim just as he let go of the ball...pure luck.
Oden - hah! I've seen him play. He doesn't bring anything to the NBA that any other 7 foot 300 pounder with 6% body fat center that can run like a deer brings. He doesn't impress me as anything special. So, he can dunk, rebound and block shots at will. So what! How are his ball handling skills? So what if he's really developed a nice offensive game from 15 in, like the reports say. Can he take D Wade off the crossover?
This Bayless guy...so what if he's the fastest player in the West. He hasn't played any real NBA talent yet. Those 30 ppg in Summer league were just because the other teams were always double teaming some other guy...Bayless just benefitted. He'll be lucky to even see the end of the pine.
So, we can all see that the Blazers are going to need to find some cap room - and fast - in order to try and salvage this team. Their hopes for even a mediocre season lie squarely on whether or not they can get a free agent in here...is Luc Longley still available?
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Jim Truesdale 10 months ago
hahahahahahaha..
I could read this post 5 times over.. Hahahahaha
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Paul Nuzzi 10 months ago
Miles won't play 10 games!! won't happen!!
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yay for registering yaybleachreport 10 months ago
Portland - Boston rivalry could be forming if Boston can stay good. Miles was terrible, and his career IS over. Boston will find he's not worth really using, but might put him in during trash minutes occasionally. It's unfortunate the requirement for having his contract with boston count is a mere ten games. If boston recovers well from the summer they should have several games taken care of before the 4th quarter and plenty of opportunities to put miles in.
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Ryan Watson 10 months ago
The 18m doesn't go back on Portland's cap... If he shows up in 10 games then the 18m Portland owes him wont be covered by the league insurance policy but will have to be paid by the team... so whether or not he plays doesn't effect Portland's cap... They will on the other hand have to pay Darius 18m out of their pockets which they really don't want to do.
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Jim Truesdale 10 months ago
NO Ryan, I'm pretty sure you are wrong. 10 games and his salary goes back on our books as if we were to cut him or buy him out. Though, it's my understanding that even after 10 games we can petition it and have it looked at again to determine if he is just playing on a career ending injury? Either way, I don't care too much.
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Kevin spacey 9 months ago
Just saw Darius Miles on NBA tv training camp telecast.. he looks in shit shape..
No way this guy is gonna play for another 3-4 months...
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