When compared to Paul Allen, Mark Cuban is a poverty case. Paul Allen was the co-founder of Microsoft along with Bill Gates. Though I think Les Alexander has been a pretty fair owner and I have no real complaints about him, I'd kill for an owner like Allen.
How about the motivation of an extra half million dollars of salary just for suiting up for a couple of weeks? If a team were to do it truly just to screw the Blazers, then he wouldn't need to be in shape (just able to walk onto a court for free throws). I could see Mark Cuban doing it.
From the original post in this thread Although the Blazers waived Miles in April after an independent doctor ruled Miles' injuries to his right knee were career ending, the suspension is still relevant to the team.. <hr> <hr> Retired Players and the Salary Cap 53. How do retired players count against the cap? Any money paid to a player is included in team salary, even if the player has retired. For example, James Worthy retired in 1994, two years before his contract ended. He continued to receive his salary for the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons, so his salary was included in the Lakers' team salary in those seasons. It is at the team's discretion (or as the result of an agreement between the team and player) whether to continue to pay the player after he has retired. There is one exception whereby a player can continue to receive his salary, but the salary is not included in the team's team salary. This is when a player is forced to retire for medical reasons and a league-appointed physician confirms that he is medically unfit to continue playing. There is a waiting period of one year following the injury or illness before a team can apply for this salary cap relief. If the waiting period expires mid-season (on any date prior to the last day of the regular season), then the player's entire salary for that season is removed from the team's team salary. For example, in March 2003 the Knicks were allowed to remove Luc Longley's entire 2002-03 salary from their books (and since the luxury tax is based on the team salary as of the last day of the regular season, the Knicks avoided paying any tax on Longley's salary). This provision can also be used when a player dies while under contract. Teams are not allowed to trade for disabled players and then apply for this salary cap relief. Only the team for which the player was playing when he was disabled may request this relief. If a player retires, even for medical reasons, his team does not receive a salary cap exception to acquire a replacement player. <hr> For him to be on an active roster and play in a NBA game, he would need to pass a physical. If another team found a Doctor that would signoff and approve Miles to play, don't you think that Portland would call the NBA and cite the physical that has already been done? My guess is that the NBA would then request another physical by an independent Doctor. If the independent Doctor determined that the recent physical submitted by the other team was dubious to fraudulent, then that team would probably be in trouble with the NBA. Too many hoops to jump through to make it worth the effort to try to hinder Portland.
This was the best pic I could find of him -- a little heavier than I recall. What exactly happened to his knee? I know he had micro fracture, but I can't remember why
It doesn't really benefit the Rockets or the Mavs that much since Portland will still be under the cap with Miles contract back on. It's more of a move for an under the cap team in 2009. A team that will be competing with Portland for the premiere free agents.
Except for the last 6 years the dallas mavericks have been one of the best teams in the NBA. A lot of the crap for contracts have been thanks to Cuban. If the blazers do this then we are in trouble.
I think Allen has just recently started to get it as an owner. In the Bob Whitsett GM days he was letting people without much basketball knowledge run the operation. He let the arena go into forcosure because he thought he could negotiate a better deal with the lender. he hired Steve Patterson. All of these were bad business moves. He totally alienated one of the best fan bases in the country. People resented all the money he was paying to the unlikable Jail Blazers. With Pritchard, I think Allen found someone who is a very intelligent GM/ talent evaluator, and they communicate extremely well. The franchise businesswise and basketballwise has turned it around and looks headed back to the top end of the league.
Darius Miles Fails Drug Test, Gets 10-Game Suspension Man, this guy hasn't played in a while and is going to get a suspension when he comes back onto the court. Great job, loser.... http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/1215055511213950.xml&coll=7 Darius Miles, the former Trail Blazers forward who is looking for employment within the NBA, became a little less attractive to teams Wednesday after it was learned that Miles is subject to a 10-game suspension for violating the league's anti-drug program. It is not known for what substance Miles tested positive, but the NBA's collective bargaining agreement states a player can receive a 10-game suspension for testing positive once for performance-enhancing drugs or for his fourth positive test of mar1juana. Miles has not played in an NBA game in two years, so it is not known when, or if, he was suspended five games during that time. Although the Blazers waived Miles in April after an independent doctor ruled Miles' injuries to his right knee were career ending, the suspension is still relevant to the team. The Blazers will pay Miles the remaining $27.25 million of his contract, but his salary does not count against the Blazers' salary cap. If Miles returns to the NBA and plays in 10 games in one season in either of the next two seasons, his salary goes back onto the Blazers' books.
Wow.. does that mean we can threaten to sign Miles to a couple of 10 day contracts unless the Blazers pass over some draft picks to us?
This came up last summer. A couple of years ago I found 3-4 pictures of him that were amazing but I couldn't find them last summer. He looked like Tractor Traylor (no joke). If he ever plays another game in the NBA (which is doubtful), it would be at PF or C, not SG.
Scroll down to the third or fourth story for a picture of Darius. Darius Miles Darius playing Air Hockey <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cjbTyp5mQdE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cjbTyp5mQdE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I want to sign him so he has to sit out a 10 day contract, during which time we play Portland and at the same time screwing their cap.
The problem with signing Miles is you have to play him. The Rockets are trying to win a championship, not think of devious ways to prevent other teams from doing so... The problem with wanting Les to emulate the Mark Cuban / Paul Allens of the world is that those guys models have yet to prove they can lead to a championship. If anybody, we should hope Les acts more like San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt. Hire the right people, draft successfully, be a stand up organization that gets your superstars to sign to relatively friendly cap deals, win 4 championships in 9 years, etc.
