Blazers had tried to claim Miles off waiver?!?

[Chuck Taylor]

So the NBA is saying that if you waive a player because their independent doctor says he will never play again, and then he makes a comeback, you can't re-sign him!?!? That is crazy.

The other thing that sucks is that at this point, it would have been more advantageous to keep Miles stashed in the D-league so we could keep his contract as a trading piece when it becomes expiring. Instead, his contract will likely go back on our books, but we don't have the rights to trade it to a team needing cap space.

In short, if you take the NBA's independent doctor's advice and cut a player whose career is over, and then the player makes a comeback...you can't get the player back, nor the rights to his contract, but you will still lose cap space??? They need to re-think those rules.

 

[Boob-No-More]

I'm with you on the preseason games, but I think 200 minutes is too high. There are plenty of players that have a career that don't get very many minutes at all. Personally, I would keep the 10 games as a measuring stick, just don't count the preseason games.

200 was just a number I picked out of the air, but over the course of an NBA season, 200 minutes isn't much. Raef LaFrentz played 291 minutes for the Blazers last season. The point is using number of games as the deciding factor in whether or not a player is physically able to resume his career leaves open the very real possibility that a team will pick up a player on a couple 10 day contracts and play them 1 or 2 meaningless minutes for 10 games just to screw another team. And, that goes against the intent of the rule - to show that the player is physically able to resume his NBA career.

BNM

 

[mgb]

Does anyone really think Miles would have accepted a contract from the Blazers and come back to sit on the bench like he did the last time he was here? He obviously wants to play so there is no way he'd do that. The Blazers would know that which is a good reason to think this is bogus.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Does anyone really think Miles would have accepted a contract from the Blazers and come back to sit on the bench like he did the last time he was here? He obviously wants to play so there is no way he'd do that. The Blazers would know that which is a good reason to think this is bogus.

I don't think he would have a choice in the matter - if the Blazers has successfully claimed him off waivers.

A player does not become a free agent until they clear waivers. When you pick a player up off waivers you, and they, are bound by the terms of their previous contract.

BNM

 

[Natebishop3]

I don't think he would have a choice in the matter - if the Blazers has successfully claimed him off waivers.

A player does not become a free agent until they clear waivers. When you pick a player up off waivers you, and they, are bound by the terms of their previous contract.

BNM

What he said.

 

[mgb]

I don't think he would have a choice in the matter - if the Blazers has successfully claimed him off waivers.

A player does not become a free agent until they clear waivers. When you pick a player up off waivers you, and they, are bound by the terms of their previous contract.

BNM

So they could have tied him up for 10 days? They couldn't force him to play the whole season for them could they without Miles agreeing to a longer contract, right?

 

[noknobs]

So the NBA is saying that if you waive a player because their independent doctor says he will never play again, and then he makes a comeback, you can't re-sign him!?!? That is crazy.

Totally my thoughts. Lost in all this discussion of how the Blazers may appear to look desperate & perhaps hypocritical, is just how much these rules are hypocritical and how much the Blazers are getting shafted in all this.

I really don't think the backlash has been that bad, and I don't think it will get any worse with this little story. They were simply trying to do all they could to keep Miles from playing & save capspace -- which I don't really have a problem with. If the league doesn't like it, they need to take a closer look at some of their rules. And if any other team claims they wouldn't do the same then they are either lying, or not good at their jobs.

 

[Boob-No-More]

So they could have tied him up for 10 days?

Nope. His current 10-day contract came after he cleared waivers and became a free agent.

They couldn't force him to play the whole season for them could they without Miles agreeing to a longer contract, right?

The contract Miles was on when he was waived was a non-guaranteed contract that would have automatically become guaranteed if someone had picked him up - which is why the Grizz waived him in the first place and why no one else tried to claim him off waivers. If any team had claimed him off waivers they would have had him under guaranteed contract at the veteran's minimum salary for the remainder of the season.

BNM

 

[e_blazer]

So the NBA is saying that if you waive a player because their independent doctor says he will never play again, and then he makes a comeback, you can't re-sign him!?!? That is crazy.

Not only that, but the team is still required to pay him the money owed the player under contract the that he signed before he was injured. AND, now they are forced to sit back and watch some other team play him minimal minutes at a low-ball salary that will eventually be more than offset by the luxury tax dispersal that the Blazers will get nailed with because Miles is no longer retired.

The Blazers did the responsible thing and accepted the doctor's opinion that it isn't in Miles' best interests from a health standpoint to continue to play NBA basketball. They're paying him his money without any complaint and now they're getting hosed by a crappily written CBA clause that the rest of the league is only too happy to abuse in order to screw the Blazers' cap situation.

I hope the Blazers follow through on a legal challenge of this whole stinking mess.

 

[thedude9990]

the players union was proabaly responsible for this. they understand what the blazers were trying to do by picking him up, and its obvious they wouldn't play him, so the league had to protect their employee.

 

[alex42083]

Yeah.. poor Miles having to collect his $9 mil this year and next year, while playing 2-3 mins in garbage time every game.

 

[thedude9990]

well technically he isn't collecting anything other than whats on his 10 day contract right now. you guys are upset because its affecting your favorite team but imagine if your union stopped protectin you

 

[e_blazer]

well technically he isn't collecting anything other than whats on his 10 day contract right now. you guys are upset because its affecting your favorite team but imagine if your union stopped protectin you

The Blazers are paying him $9 mil per year. The pittance he makes on the 10 day contract is in addition to that.

 

[elcap15]

If a team waives someone and recieves cap relief ONLY if he never plays again, then yes, said team should not be able to resign him and control his fate.

I think Miles has a good case in a law suit againt the Blazers organization for that email.

 

[thedude9990]

The Blazers are paying him $9 mil per year. The pittance he makes on the 10 day contract is in addition to that.

as of rigt now the blazers aren't paying him anything

 

[thedude9990]

If a team waives someone and recieves cap relief ONLY if he never plays again, then yes, said team should not be able to resign him and control his fate.

I think Miles has a good case in a law suit againt the Blazers organization for that email.

exactly, if he wants to play, them signing him will not allow him to play.

 

[alex42083]

well technically he isn't collecting anything other than whats on his 10 day contract right now. you guys are upset because its affecting your favorite team but imagine if your union stopped protectin you

Why isn't he collecting his $18 mil?

 

[BrianFromWA]

as of rigt now the blazers aren't paying him anything

You are incorrect, sir. The Blazers are paying 20% of the 18M owed on his contract. Insurance covers (tax-free, iirc) the other 80% of his contract. PA doesn't get out of paying him b/c his knee blew up...he gets out of paying the part the insurance covers.

Miles makes more being on insurance than he does if he'd been playing at an AllStar level

 

[oldmangrouch]

as of rigt now the blazers aren't paying him anything

Where is this disinformation campaign coming from? The Blazers (and their insurance company) are paying Miles $18 mil!

 

[Boob-No-More]

as of rigt now the blazers aren't paying him anything

You are wrong, completely, totally wrong.

Miles will still receive the full amount remaining on the contract he signed with the Blazers. He received his $8.25million last season, is receiving his $9 million this season and will receive his $9 million next season.

Currently, insurance is paying 80% and the Blazers 20%. If Miles plays the CBA stipulated 10 games, the Blazers will be responsible for his full $9 million this season and next.

But, this has never been about paying Miles his salary. It's about cap space and luxury tax.

BNM

 

[Boob-No-More]

Insurance covers (tax-free, iirc) the other 80% of his contract.

Not sure on the tax free part. It depends on who purchased the insurance. If the insurance was purchased by his employer, he has to pay taxes on it, just as if he was still being paid by his employer. If Miles had purchased his own disability policy, his payout would be tax free.

Since his contract was guaranteed, there would have been little reason for Miles to have purchased the insurance. It's far more likely that the Blazers purchased the policy to protect their investment. I wouldn't be suprised if this was standard procedure. In fact, I'd be surprised if it wasn't. With all NBA contracts being guaranteed, a team doesn't want to be stuck paying a bunch of players several million a year when they can't even play due to injury.

BNM

 

[BrianFromWA]

Thanks BNM...I thought it was the other way around, but what you said makes sense.

Either way, I guess, Miles gets every cent of his contractual amount.

 

[NattaNerNuttaMan]

So the NBA is saying that if you waive a player because their independent doctor says he will never play again, and then he makes a comeback, you can't re-sign him!?!? That is crazy.

The other thing that sucks is that at this point, it would have been more advantageous to keep Miles stashed in the D-league so we could keep his contract as a trading piece when it becomes expiring. Instead, his contract will likely go back on our books, but we don't have the rights to trade it to a team needing cap space.

In short, if you take the NBA's independent doctor's advice and cut a player whose career is over, and then the player makes a comeback...you can't get the player back, nor the rights to his contract, but you will still lose cap space??? They need to re-think those rules.

1. The Doctor was APPROVED by both the League AND PORTLAND...so if they agreed with the doctor they were gonna use....the independent doctor argument goes out the window...the doctor was agreed upon by both parties.

2. It's wasn't so much that the league won't let you sign a player back....it was the REASON of why they wanted to sign him back...they had no intentions of entertaining Miles' comeback, but to protect thier capspace...so in the best interests of the PA in regards to thier employee....they want to give him the opportunity to sign with a team that will let him see the floor.

Now I don't blame the Blazers for trying to protect thier capspace, but to send out an e-mail threatening to sue teams when you were going to sign him for the sole purpose saving money....that's just crazy! When they were denied waivers on Miles....they should have just sucked it up and planned ahead, with his cap draining contract in mind. Hell, when it all comes down to it....they signed him to the monster deal....they went along with the word of a doctor they agreed upon with the league....so they have to live with the situation at hand. Sure it sucks and injuries are part of the game....

 

[oldmangrouch]

If a team waives someone and recieves cap relief ONLY if he never plays again, then yes, said team should not be able to resign him and control his fate.

I think Miles has a good case in a law suit againt the Blazers organization for that email.

Miles last played (40 games) in the 05-06 season. Since then, he has been collecting $9 mil a year from the Blazers to sit on his butt. The Blazers are still paying him this season, and will still be paying him next season.

Attempting to paint Miles as some kind of "victim" here, is beyond absurd.

 

[thedude9990]

oh i didn't know that I'm sorry.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Nutterman: I feel like the Happy Gilmore game show host right now after "Puppy Who Lost His Way".

I have no idea how you're spinning that the league- and Portland-appointed doc has any bearing against Portland. The doc said he couldn't play and met the requirements for the cap space exception. Then, when Portland saw that teams were deliberately screwing with Miles to put the cap space back on (what I would call "bad form" and other legal minds may call "fiduciary duty" ) they attempted to use league rules to rectify the situation and get him back off of waivers (since no team was willing to claim him, I don't understand how the league could stop it or the NBPA could let them). Where's the grievance saying that Miles had a team willing to give him guaranteed money, but the NBA League Office stopped it? (Side Note: Proof # 344 that Billy Hunter is the most undeniably stupid union rep in my limited area of knowledge. And it's not close) Instead, Miles gets a vet-minimum, pro-rated 10-day contract (worth, if my arithmetic is correct, 1/110 of veteran's minimum * number of games he plays on the 10-day), instead of the fully-guaranteed rest of his contract. That seems like it's close to 500k.

 

[elcap15]

Miles last played (40 games) in the 05-06 season. Since then, he has been collecting $9 mil a year from the Blazers to sit on his butt. The Blazers are still paying him this season, and will still be paying him next season.

Attempting to paint Miles as some kind of "victim" here, is beyond absurd.

So what? It doesnt matter how big a douche bag he is, (Miles is a huge one) the Blazers threatened to sue anyone who hired him. Im no lawyer, but Im sure there is a legal precedence here.

 

[Boob-No-More]

So what? It doesnt matter how big a douche bag he is, (Miles is a huge one) the Blazers threatened to sue anyone who hired him. Im no lawyer, but Im sure there is a legal precedence here.

No, they didn't threaten to sue anyone who hired them. The threatened to sue anyone who hired him specifically with the sole intention of harming the Blazers financially (cap space and $9 million in luxury tax payments). They said they were fine with a team signing him to actually play him, but they weren't OK with a team signing him just to screw the Blazers out of millions of dollars in cap space and millions of dollars in luxury tax payments. Do you not see the difference?

BNM

 

[Norman Dale]

Isn't it interesting that the league would reject the Blazers from picking up Miles off of waivers to protect their cap space, but let other teams in the league pick up Miles to screw with the Blazers cap space. Additionally, to say that the league didn't allow the Blazers to pick up Miles because of the way they were going to use him, how can they prove that? Probably the same way the Blazers could prove that other teams are only signing him to screw the Blazers' cap space.

 

[MARIS61]

Isn't it interesting that the league would reject the Blazers from picking up Miles off of waivers to protect their cap space, but let other teams in the league pick up Miles to screw with the Blazers cap space. Additionally, to say that the league didn't allow the Blazers to pick up Miles because of the way they were going to use him, how can they prove that? Probably the same way the Blazers could prove that other teams are only signing him to screw the Blazers' cap space.

Actually, by trying to pick him back up on waivers the Blazers have publicly declared they believe him able to play and not someone with a career-ending injury. Pretty stupid.

They have shot themselves in the foot, and should take their punishment rather than continue to sink into a legal abyss of deceit and lies.