Andre Miller's Agent Confirms Meet With Blazers.

[alex42083]

David Aldridge article on Milller to Portland

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/david_aldridge/07/21/miller/

Interesting tidbit at the end, that I may not quite understand.

Further complicating matters with Miller is that teams might be reluctant to offer him a long-term deal because any contract of five or six years could subject them to the provisions of "Over 36" contracts, in which players who reach their 36th birthday during the life of the contract have their yearly salaries in the last year treated as deferred compensation, with those salaries spread over the preceding years of the contract. Because this can make the salary exceed the amount of the mid-level exception, the overall salaries have to be reduced.

Anyone care to explain it in simple terms?

 

[ironcrotch]

Roy had fouled out of that game. He wasn't on the court on that play.

So.... you're saying Roy is the one that sucks. Get him outta heere!!!

/sarcasm

 

[Minstrel]

Anyone care to explain it in simple terms?

The cap hit of any salaries paid after a player turns 36 is spread over the pre-36 contract years (to avoid abuse of giving "deferred payments" to a player after his playing days are essentially done).

So a team who only had the MLE to offer couldn't offer the full MLE starting out, if the contract took Miller past age 36, because when you added in the post-36 cap hits to the starting years, it would be more than the MLE and thus more than the team is allowed to pay.

This affects Portland, too, in that they can't offer a deal starting at their full cap room, if that deal goes past his age-36 season. Because then any post-36 salaries would be spread (in terms of cap hit) over the initial years, making the "cap value" of his contract greater than the Blazers' cap space.

 

[alex42083]

The cap hit of any salaries paid after a player turns 36 is spread over the pre-36 contract years (to avoid abuse of giving "deferred payments" to a player after his playing days are essentially done).

So a team who only had the MLE to offer couldn't offer the full MLE starting out, if the contract took Miller past age 36, because when you added in the post-36 cap hits to the starting years, it would be more than the MLE and thus more than the team is allowed to pay.

This affects Portland, too, in that they can't offer a deal starting at their full cap room, if that deal goes past his age-36 season. Because then any post-36 salaries would be spread (in terms of cap hit) over the initial years, making the "cap value" of his contract greater than the Blazers' cap space.

Thanks. Sounds like a crazy, weird rule to me.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Roy had fouled out of that game. He wasn't on the court on that play.

Rudy Fernandez was on fire, don't even act like he wasn't the no brainer.

 

[illmatic99]

LMAO. Oh God, and people don't want to get Andre Miller or Ramon Sessions? What a disgrace.

Blake is the king of anti-clutch. That one play solidified his ticket out of Portland in my mind.

 

[PapaG]

Rudy Fernandez was on fire, don't even act like he wasn't the no brainer.

Blake was 4-6 on threes in that game; Rudy was 5-7. I don't consider Rudy a no-brainer in that instance. I don't think he hit any game-winning shots last year, either. Blake just missed the shot. It happens. He had 16 points/10 assists in that game, and you show one play to "prove" that Sessions is a better player.

 

[PapaG]

Blake is the king of anti-clutch. That one play solidified his ticket out of Portland in my mind.

I don't know. He won at least one game with a late 3 last year. He also played much of the season with a shoulder that needed surgery in the offseason, yet he still managed to shoot 43% from 3 for the year.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...hree-pointer-trail-blazers-edge-raptors-98-97

TORONTO, ON (LE) - Steve Blake hit a clutch three-pointer with 8.9 seconds remaining to push the Portland Trail Blazers past the Toronto Raptors 98-97 at the Air Canada Center on Sunday.
Blake finished with 19 points by shooting five-for-eight from three-point range, he also grabbed seven rebounds.

Portland ends a five-game road trip, going an impressive 4-1. The Trail Blazers improve to 8-1 against the Eastern conference this season, and 15-7 overall.

 

[Nikolokolus]

The cap hit of any salaries paid after a player turns 36 is spread over the pre-36 contract years (to avoid abuse of giving "deferred payments" to a player after his playing days are essentially done).

So a team who only had the MLE to offer couldn't offer the full MLE starting out, if the contract took Miller past age 36, because when you added in the post-36 cap hits to the starting years, it would be more than the MLE and thus more than the team is allowed to pay.

This affects Portland, too, in that they can't offer a deal starting at their full cap room, if that deal goes past his age-36 season. Because then any post-36 salaries would be spread (in terms of cap hit) over the initial years, making the "cap value" of his contract greater than the Blazers' cap space.

Which seems to make him an ideal candidate to recieve a 3 year contract for about 18 to 20 million -- that's slightly more than the MLE, but isn't so expensive or long tenured as to be especially burdensome to the team financially (assuming he can at least give you above average play for 2 out of those three years; if he starts to suck in year three he'd at least be a somewhat attractive expiring contract and could have some value that way.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Blake was 4-6 on threes in that game; Rudy was 5-7. I don't consider Rudy a no-brainer in that instance. I don't think he hit any game-winning shots last year, either. Blake just missed the shot. It happens. He had 16 points/10 assists in that game, and you show one play to "prove" that Sessions is a better player.

LMAO. I didn't show anything. Someone else posted the video. It was a horribly executed play in a Playoff game. I didn't say that one play proves Ramon is better, all you have to do is look at their numbers and their PERs. It's not even a question about who's better. Blake ran down the court with the ball by himself and threw up an air ball in a game we could have won. Rudy hit some game winners, I think one in particular was against Miami. I like Blake, but he's no starter.

 

[Sug]

Miller's ability to run the fast break and finish in general make him a great pickup for the Blazers. He can actually create offense, now someone will probably say that Bayless can do the same thing. Well J-Bay has never shown he can do it night in and night our, Andre Miller has.

 

[Minstrel]

Which seems to make him an ideal candidate to recieve a 3 year contract for about 18 to 20 million -- that's slightly more than the MLE, but isn't so expensive or long tenure as to be especially burdensome to the team financially (assuming he can at least give you above average play for 2 out of those three years; if he starts to suck in year three he'd at least be a somewhat attractive expiring contract and could have some value that way.

I'd be pretty cool with Miller on that sort of deal. I still have hope for the eventual Roy/Bayless/Rudy guard rotation and Miller would be a nice bridge while waiting on Bayless.

 

[B-Roy]

LMAO. I didn't show anything. Someone else posted the video. It was a horribly executed play in a Playoff game. I didn't say that one play proves Ramon is better, all you have to do is look at their numbers and their PERs. It's not even a question about who's better. Blake ran down the court with the ball by himself and threw up an air ball in a game we could have won. Rudy hit some game winners, I think one in particular was against Miami. I like Blake, but he's no starter.

Rudy's shot against Miami was not a game winner, we were already up 4 or 6. It basically sealed the deal.

This, however...

[video=youtube;kZuSZmFPcLw]

Skip to 2:07...

 

[Idog1976]

I'm not sure that you can extrapolate Roy's abilities based on how he played with just Sergio. Sergio may not even be in the league in another year. There are probably quite a few NBA players who wouldn't play that great with him.

Besides, it's not that Roy was horrible next to Sergio. He just didn't look quite as good. It may be that he just needed a little more time to adjust, and it never happened because Sergio mostly played backup, and the coach generally liked to pair Sergio with his buddy Rudy.

Anyway, I think people get too caught up in Roy's playmaking ability. Yeah, he has it. Just like he has a nice shot, a nice ability to drive, good defense (when he tries), good rebounding....he's pretty much the best jack-of-all-trades in the league.

You put in guys who are lousy playmakers (Jack, Blake) and he's naturally going to focus on that more. I think if you put in a guy who can make plays, he'll just focus on scoring more.

Most of the time with a superstar, you try to make the other guys fit around that guy's particular skillset. You get guys who can play off the ball around LeBron. You get guys who create space for Dirk to take the midrange jumper. You get perimeter shooters to put around Howard.

The interesting thing with Roy is that he doesn't really have a particular skillset. He does it all pretty well.

With any acquisition, I wonder how they'll fit in with Aldridge and Oden, since those are the other two big workhorses and they aren't nearly as versatile. But with Roy? I think you find the best player to man the position. Let Roy figure out for himself how Roy will fit in.

Freaking thank you! The voice of reason! Roy can adapt. LMA and Oden can't. Besides developing Oden should be A number 1, numero uno priority of this team. Otherwise welcome to 10 more years of repeating the previous 20 with plenty of trips to the post season and no hardware. If Oden doesn't develop into a monster it won't matter if Roy averages 30 10 and 10.

 

[Idog1976]

Blake was 4-6 on threes in that game; Rudy was 5-7. I don't consider Rudy a no-brainer in that instance. I don't think he hit any game-winning shots last year, either. Blake just missed the shot. It happens. He had 16 points/10 assists in that game, and you show one play to "prove" that Sessions is a better player.

Come on man. Rudy had hit a fade away three falling out of bounds with Battier in his face a few plays before that. They actually had to hose him down with fire retardent and issue him an asbestos towel to sit on the wooden bench with. The man was the very definition of En Fuego.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Rudy's shot against Miami was not a game winner, we were already up 4 or 6. It basically sealed the deal.

This, however...



Skip to 2:07...

Sweet . . . I don't understand all the Blake bashing that happens on this board.

 

[Mediocre Man]

All of us know that Blake can shoot.

That video also showed Blake sagging too far off of Kapono when Kapono drained a 3. It also showed what a lot of us have said, that Blake can't create his own shot. He got a pass and hit it.

 

[MAS RipCity]

Sweet . . . I don't understand all the Blake bashing that happens on this board.

All he does is shoot 3's.
Can't defend
Can't penetrate to the basket
Doesn't lead the fast break well
Not a good rebounding pg
Even lately his foul shooting in the clutch has been suspect.


His shooting has won us game and kept us in others and I wouldn't be TOO upset if he stayed, but I'm ready for change. The playoffs really solidified my views as well..he just wasn't a threat to score and Brooks had a great series against him.....don't even mention that awful attempt to tie game 3 ....

 

[Nikolokolus]

I'd be pretty cool with Miller on that sort of deal. I still have hope for the eventual Roy/Bayless/Rudy guard rotation and Miller would be a nice bridge while waiting on Bayless.

Same ... and as much as I like the upside of B-Rex, I think it's a bit premature to pencil him into a 30+ minute a night role, he's definitely trying to adapt his game and show that he can be more of a distributor, which -- while laudable -- is still looking pretty undercooked to me.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Sweet . . . I don't understand all the Blake bashing that happens on this board.

My only beef with Blake is that I think he's miscast in the starter's role, as a reserve point guard or even your third guard (since he seems to play as much shooting guard as point guard on offense) for fifteen to twenty minutes per game, I think he'd be ideal and would provide solid, high percentage basketball -- able to protect a lead or at least not be the guy to give it back.

If the Blazers somehow blow my mind and sign Andre Miller and don't trade blake in the process I'd be happy to have him play backup.

 

[ABM]

My only beef with Blake is that I think he's miscast in the starter's role, as a reserve point guard or even your third guard (since he seems to play as much shooting guard as point guard on offense) for fifteen to twenty minutes per game, I think he'd be ideal and would provide solid, high percentage basketball -- able to protect a lead or at least not be the guy to give it back.

If the Blazers somehow blow my mind and sign Andre Miller and don't trade blake in the process I'd be happy to have him play backup.

Yep.

As a ranking, I believe that Blake is somewhere around 18th-20th in the league as a starting PG, but top 5 as a backup.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Rudy's shot against Miami was not a game winner, we were already up 4 or 6. It basically sealed the deal.

This, however...



Skip to 2:07...

Not that it means anything, but I match you with one of my own!

[video=youtube;mP6Jb2533wI]

 

[oldguy]

]I have read in many other places that he is not liked where he goes, ...[/B]

This is what concerns me. I remember reading the same thing, but I can't provide a link. However, I clearly remember this being discussed on Courtside. 'Tone talked at length about how Miller isn't well liked in the locker room.

Seems risky, but I'll trust the FO on that. I think AM would be an upgrade, but I'd like to see them keep Blake around. As others have noted, Steve is a "C" starter", but would be an "A" backup. (Sorry Jerryd.)

I'd like to see AM signed for 3 years, with the third year a team option. Nic's $18-20M sounds about right.

 

[Nikolokolus]

This is what concerns me. I remember reading the same thing, but I can't provide a link. However, I clearly remember this being discussed on Courtside. 'Tone talked at length about how Miller isn't well liked in the locker room.

Seems risky, but I'll trust the FO on that. I think AM would be an upgrade, but I'd like to see them keep Blake around. As others have noted, Steve is a "C" starter", but would be an "A" backup. (Sorry Jerryd.)

I'd like to see AM signed for 3 years, with the third year a team option. Nic's $18-20M sounds about right.

The worst I've heard about Miller is that he tends to be a very private person and isn't particularly talkative or demonstrative in the locker room or on the floor, in the world of big ego athletics introverts are often mistaken for being unfriendly and "odd fits" in a team setting. Beyond that a writer for the Philadelphia inquirer spoke at length with Brian Wheeler today on his radio program and Tim Guggrich (sic?) of Denver swears by him and all Mo Cheeks had to say about him is that "he's his own man."

For fuck's sake I've lived through Bonzi Wells, Qyntel Woods and Darius Miles, there's just about nothing Dre could do that would top those fucknuts.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

. . . he put up great stats in 2008-09, during a contract year, but his attitude wasn't always the best — whether the Philadelphia 76ers deserved his scorn or not

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ba...t=AoShUT7eaL9cbAzQfBdjRpO8vLYF?urn=nba,177670

. . . if you watched the games, man, this guy sure did take plays off. Quarters off, even. It was obvious he was having no fun working for the Philadelphia 76ers in the final year of his contract, and especially interim coach Tony DiLeo, and either he tried to make it as obvious as possible, or he's really bad at not letting things that are completely obvious come off as supremely obvious.

* * *

I can't tell you with any degree of certainty that the league-wide disinterest in Miller has anything to do with what I saw from him last season. It could be an economics thing, or teams may have been turned off by the way he skipped out on his final team meeting with the 76ers following their first round playoff loss to the Orlando Magic last spring.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Andre-Miller-to-the-Knicks-?urn=nba,177228

Same writer both article . . . so maybe this writer has something out for Miller

 

[oldguy]

The worst I've heard about Miller is that he tends to be a very private person and isn't particularly talkative or demonstrative in the locker room or on the floor, in the world of big ego athletics introverts are often mistaken for being unfriendly and "odd fits" in a team setting. Beyond that a writer for the Philadelphia inquirer spoke at length with Brian Wheeler today on his radio program and Tim Guggrich (sic?) of Denver swears by him and all Mo Cheeks had to say about him is that "he's his own man."

If that's so, I'm ok with getting Miller on a short contract. Not what I've been hoping for, but it should be enough to get the team out of the first round next year.

For fuck's sake I've lived through Bonzi Wells, Qyntel Woods and Darius Miles, there's just about nothing Dre could do that would top those fucknuts.

You are preaching to the choir, brother. I don't miss any of those boneheads, and a few others.

I wasn't saying that Miller was an off court problem, in the sense of getting into trouble. I was saying that Harvey made it sound like he might be an ass.