Andre Miller's Agent Confirms Meet With Blazers.

[brsinepyce]

76ers president and general manager Ed Stefanski and agent Andy Miller met yesterday, but nothing changed with Andre Miller.

"We are still in the sign-and-trade mode," Stefanski told The Philadelphia Inquirer about his talk with Andy Miller.

According to the newspaper, the 76ers have not received a lot of sign-and trade offers for Miller.

# Knicks president of basketball operations Donnie Walsh confirmed that he has had "conversations" with both Andre Miller and Andy Miller.

"We've had conversations, but with no resolution -- that's the extent of it," Walsh told the Philadelphia Daily News. "We're interested enough to talk, but we're not in any kind of deal mode at this point, and I'm not sure where it will go. I do think Andre is a good player."

Andy Miller told the newspaper: "We're definitely looking at New York as an option. We've talked about a couple of other things, both internally and with Ed [Stefanski]. We're still sorting through it all. I don't know if I can say Andre's time in Philadelphia is over, but it seems as if a sign-and-trade is primary at this point."

Andy Miller also confirmed that Andre Miller recently visited with the Blazers.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/features/rumors

 

[ODENISGOD]

get it done now

 

[Shooter]

How come Andre Miller doesn't excite me at all? Is it because he's old and washed up?? Hmmmm.

 

[BlazersBlood]

Well Andre would be a huge addition for at least a season or maybe two. Shooting wasn't our problem last year, it was penetrating the lane and having a playmaker besides Roy on the floor. Even if he can't bring it for 35 minutes a game, having another element to the offense would be huge for us. He's basically Sergio with the ability to finish for himself.

 

[ebott]

How come Andre Miller doesn't excite me at all? Is it because he's old and washed up?? Hmmmm.

It's more likely that you don't see him enough to appreciate what he would add to the team.

 

[RoyToy]

It's more likely that you don't see him enough to appreciate what he would add to the team.

A lot of that goes on here.

 

[SodaPopinski]

Does anyone ever stop and wonder why Philly has expressed zero interest in resigning Andre Miller? For a guy who supposedly "made that offense go" and had "one of the best statistical seasons of his career" don't you wonder if the Sixers' brass knows something everyone else doesn't?

No thanks.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Does anyone ever stop and wonder why Philly has expressed zero interest in resigning Andre Miller? For a guy who supposedly "made that offense go" and had "one of the best statistical seasons of his career" don't you wonder if the Sixers' brass knows something everyone else doesn't?

No thanks.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$

That is the answer

 

[maxiep]

Does anyone ever stop and wonder why Philly has expressed zero interest in resigning Andre Miller? For a guy who supposedly "made that offense go" and had "one of the best statistical seasons of his career" don't you wonder if the Sixers' brass knows something everyone else doesn't?

No thanks.

 

[Tyler_Hansbrough]

Does anyone ever stop and wonder why Philly has expressed zero interest in resigning Andre Miller? For a guy who supposedly "made that offense go" and had "one of the best statistical seasons of his career" don't you wonder if the Sixers' brass knows something everyone else doesn't?

No thanks.

Because they want to give the keys to Luis Williams.

 

[OddEnormous]

It's more likely that you don't see him enough to appreciate what he would add to the team.

Taking us from the 2nd youngest to oldest team in the league with a swipe of his pen?

 

[Idog1976]

Why would we be talking to Miller and not even offering an MLE sized piece of our magical "cap space" to Sessions? I just don't get it. I swear I will slap a fool who mentions 3pt shooting. Miller and Sessions both suck at it. I would hope we would at least talk to the younger guy. As far as 3pt shooting goes is Bayless any better then Sessions?

 

[mook]

Does anybody ever wonder why the Bulls expressed zero interest in re-signing Scottie Pippen? Sometimes the team needs just don't align with a particular player.

I'd be pretty happy to see Miller come in and replace Blake, provided the deal was reasonably priced and relatively short (not beyond three years, preferably two). The length matters more to me than the price.

At this stage of his career, Miller is an average or slightly above average starting NBA point guard. Blake is in the bottom 25%. Miller is starting to decline, so at the end of two years I can easily imagine him being as bad as Blake. Hopefully by then another solution comes up.

 

[Shooter]

At this stage of his career, Miller is an average or slightly above average starting NBA point guard. Blake is in the bottom 25%. Miller is starting to decline, so at the end of two years I can easily imagine him being as bad as Blake. Hopefully by then another solution comes up.

Geez, it's depressing to think that all of our off-season plans have come down to this . . .

 

[B-Roy]

Why would we be talking to Miller and not even offering an MLE sized piece of our magical "cap space" to Sessions? I just don't get it. I swear I will slap a fool who mentions 3pt shooting. Miller and Sessions both suck at it. I would hope we would at least talk to the younger guy. As far as 3pt shooting goes is Bayless any better then Sessions?

Perhaps it has more to do with usage rate?

Sessions and Miller are ball dominating guards in the purest sense.

Sessions and Miller have usage rates of ~22%.

Roy has a usage rate of ~27.5% and his backcourt partner Blake has a usage rate of ~16%.

Maybe the FO believes that Sessions/Miller, with their lack of shooting, are useless without the ball and would take away from Roy.

 

[mook]

Geez, it's depressing to think that all of our off-season plans have come down to this . . .

Yeah, it sucks. But I'm starting to take the long view.

A year from now I doubt I'll be aggravated that much about the Summer of Futility. Oden will be better. Aldridge will be better. Rudy will be better. Batum will be better. Roy will be Roy. Somebody will come along and replace Blake.

Most of us will look back on this summer as "that year we were nearly buried under a bad Turkoglu contract. Thank god that didn't work out." It's the Trenton Hassel debacle on steroids.

Compare this summer to the frustration of watching Damon Stoudamire overdribble, whine to the media, completely give up on defense, take way too many shots at a low percentage, yet continue to get starters minutes and stupid big contracts for year after year after year after year.

It doesn't seem so bad now, does it?

 

[BBert]

Maybe the FO believes that Sessions/Miller, with their lack of shooting, are useless without the ball and would take away from Roy.

That's a real possibility. I think this is a more important concern than their (lack of) shooting. KP is looking for 'fit.' It seems that Bayless, who does not appear to have the 'it' that makes a guy a true point guard, might have the 'fit' to take some PG duty pressure off of Roy (defense, ball handling) without taking the ball out of Roy's hands.

 

[BlazersBlood]

Perhaps it has more to do with usage rate?

Sessions and Miller are ball dominating guards in the purest sense.

Sessions and Miller have usage rates of ~22%.

Roy has a usage rate of ~27.5% and his backcourt partner Blake has a usage rate of ~16%.

Maybe the FO believes that Sessions/Miller, with their lack of shooting, are useless without the ball and would take away from Roy.

But wasn't the problem that Roy dominated the ball too much? I think the team would be much more effective if we had at least 2 players that could handle the ball throughout the game.

 

[BBert]

Compare this summer to the frustration of watching Damon Stoudamire overdribble, whine to the media, completely give up on defense, take way too many shots at a low percentage, yet continue to get starters minutes and stupid big contracts for year after year after year after year.

It doesn't seem so bad now, does it?

Aahh! Thanks! That actually did have a calming effect. Everything is relative, isn't it? What I especially liked was all those post-game interviews where $amon was obviously stoned; and his utter inability to talk about any game in any team context -- rather, everything was always all about him.

 

[BBert]

But wasn't the problem that Roy dominated the ball too much? I think the team would be much more effective if we had at least 2 players that could handle the ball throughout the game.

Personally, I'd much rather have a true distributor PG (what we used to hope Sergio could become) and force Roy to learn to play off the ball. But I'm not in charge. (OK, save the sighs of relief.)

Edit: I didn't mean Roy should play exclusively off the ball; but if we had a true PG who could run an offense it would take some pressure off of Roy to carry the load and take a beating every night.

 

[mook]

Aahh! Thanks! That actually did have a calming effect. Everything is relative, isn't it? What I especially liked was all those post-game interviews where $amon was obviously stoned; and his utter inability to talk about any game in any team context -- rather, everything was always all about him.

Yeah. The beauty of this summer is that it will eventually end. We'll go back to being excited about all our nice young talent.

Damon Stoudamire was on our team for 8 seasons. How bad could this be?

Hey, I think I found my new "Serenity now!" phrase.

 

[mook]

Personally, I'd much rather have a true distributor PG (what we used to hope Sergio could become) and force Roy to learn to play off the ball. But I'm not in charge. (OK, save the sighs of relief.)

Edit: I didn't mean Roy should play exclusively off the ball; but if we had a true PG who could run an offense it would take some pressure off of Roy to carry the load and take a beating every night.

I tend to agree with you. Roy is a pretty good distributor for a shooting guard, but he's not really a point. I'd rather see him focus on scoring and let somebody else manage setting up the offense.

 

[Blazer4life]

I'm not really sure why everyone is so opposed to potentially signing Miller via a sign in trade for most likely Blake and or Outlaw. The money for which Miller was looking to sign for is not being offered. Now he has reserved himself to the mid-level type deals or slightly above. I think a bargain for a starting level PG. Also, while he is a bit older he also is a bigger guard who can get in the lane, draw fouls and distribute (something Blake doesn't do at all). He is also a much better defender then Blake. Sign him on a 2-3 year deal and have Bayless be the primary back up and if it all works out he takes over in 2-3 years. Plus by doing a sign and trade we save our capspace for a potential upgrade to our roster at another position, maybe even in a lopsided trade. In short, I think this would be a great deal for the Blazers.

 

[B-Roy]

Personally, I'd much rather have a true distributor PG (what we used to hope Sergio could become) and force Roy to learn to play off the ball. But I'm not in charge. (OK, save the sighs of relief.)

Edit: I didn't mean Roy should play exclusively off the ball; but if we had a true PG who could run an offense it would take some pressure off of Roy to carry the load and take a beating every night.

The problem with Sessions and Miller is that they are purely distributional point guards. Without the ball in their hands, they are not very useful at all. In the end, would you rather have Roy handling the ball or Sessions?

 

[Shooter]

Yeah, it sucks. But I'm starting to take the long view.

A year from now I doubt I'll be aggravated that much about the Summer of Futility. Oden will be better. Aldridge will be better. Rudy will be better. Batum will be better. Roy will be Roy. Somebody will come along and replace Blake.

Most of us will look back on this summer as "that year we were nearly buried under a bad Turkoglu contract. Thank god that didn't work out." It's the Trenton Hassel debacle on steroids.

Compare this summer to the frustration of watching Damon Stoudamire overdribble, whine to the media, completely give up on defense, take way too many shots at a low percentage, yet continue to get starters minutes and stupid big contracts for year after year after year after year.

It doesn't seem so bad now, does it?

Nice post.

 

[Erroneous Subterfuge]

The problem with Sessions and Miller is that they are purely distributional point guards. Without the ball in their hands, they are not very useful at all. In the end, would you rather have Roy handling the ball or Sessions?

I thought the major problem in the playoffs was that we relied too much on Roy and we needed another guy that could create plays (like Hedo), so Roy would love him. Miller is good at finding guys in traffic, so Oden & Joel would love him. He's better on defense and quickly turning defense into offense on the fastbreak, so Lamarcus and Rudy would love him.

Plus, he's a much more efficient shooter than someone like Blake. He's great at posting up other PG's, nice mid-range game.

I think it would be a clear cut upgrade and if we signed him for only two years and kept our capspace I'd be pretty happy. Although I'd rather trade Bayless than Blake.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I thought the major problem in the playoffs was that we relied too much on Roy and we needed another guy that could create plays (like Hedo), so Roy would love him. Miller is good at finding guys in traffic, so Oden & Joel would love him. He's better on defense and quickly turning defense into offense on the fastbreak, so Lamarcus and Rudy would love him.

Plus, he's a much more efficient shooter than someone like Blake. He's great at posting up other PG's, nice mid-range game.

I think it would be a clear cut upgrade and if we signed him for only two years and kept our capspace I'd be pretty happy. Although I'd rather trade Bayless than Blake.

Agreed, although I'd rather trade Outlaw than Bayless.

 

[B-Roy]

I thought the major problem in the playoffs was that we relied too much on Roy and we needed another guy that could create plays (like Hedo), so Roy would love him. Miller is good at finding guys in traffic, so Oden & Joel would love him. He's better on defense and quickly turning defense into offense on the fastbreak, so Lamarcus and Rudy would love him.

Miller/Sessions would create, but then Roy wouldn't. If you have both Roy and Miller/Sessions on the floor at the same time, one of the players will have their strengths mitigated. Either Miller/Sessions creates or Roy creates. Neither player is good playing off the ball, so I don't think it would work very well. I think Hedo would have worked because not only is he able to create for others, but he's also able to work off the ball with his shooting.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Miller/Sessions would create, but then Roy wouldn't. If you have both Roy and Miller/Sessions on the floor at the same time, one of the players will have their strengths mitigated. Either Miller/Sessions creates or Roy creates. Neither player is good playing off the ball, so I don't think it would work very well. I think Hedo would have worked because not only is he able to create for others, but he's also able to work off the ball with his shooting.

Both work well off the ball. Roy has a deadly mid range game that would flourish on kickouts from a PG.

 

[B-Roy]

Both work well off the ball. Roy has a deadly mid range game that would flourish on kickouts from a PG.

Roy is pretty bad off the ball. When Roy played with Sergio, he barely ever touched the basketball. He just stands in a corner and waits for the ball so he can create for himself. It's something Roy himself has acknowledged but hasn't changed.