# C's get another athletic wing



## ConnerHenry (Jan 9, 2004)

The Celtics signed Darius Miles today, according to the Boston Globe. 

It's a non-guaranteed contract, so no real risk here with potentially a high reward. I expect that this means we won't see Bill Walker in a Celtics uni this season. If Miles can make the team, I think it's a great pick-up. He has always had a lot of offensive upside, but hasn't lived up to the hype. Also, my understanding is that if Miles plays, his previous contract will count against the Trailblazer's cap - ha ha.

I'm pretty happy with the team at this point, although it would be nice to get another vetran PG, to back up Rondo. Any other thoughts on this signing and how the roster is shaping up?


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

I'll take it. If he's a knucklehead, can him. If he sucks, can him.


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## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

if he's half decent

ha-ha portland


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## silverpaw1786 (Mar 11, 2004)

Ya, Portland just got screwed out of a lot of cap space....


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

silverpaw1786 said:


> Ya, Portland just got screwed out of a lot of cap space....


Oh noes, the Blazers might lose the cap space they don't need.

Good luck with "athletic" Darius Miles. A guy with a bone on bone knee, no outside shot, suspect defense (at best) and a piss-poor attitude.


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

Well there's no worries when the contract isn't guaranteed. If he's bone-on-bone, so be it. Get rid of him.


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## Boob-No-More (Apr 24, 2006)

That should be: C's get another _formerly_ athletic wing (who can't shoot). These days poor Darius can hardly walk to the corner Baskin-Robbins for his evening meal.

BNM


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## Boob-No-More (Apr 24, 2006)

silverpaw1786 said:


> Ya, Portland just got screwed out of a lot of cap space....


Not necessarily. This is just a training camp signing. He still needs to make the team, serve his suspension (failed drug test) and play in at least 10 games before his contract goes back on Portland's books.

BNM


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

Boob-No-More said:


> That should be: C's get another _formerly_ athletic wing (who can't shoot). These days poor Darius can hardly walk to the corner Baskin-Robbins for his evening meal.
> 
> BNM


:laugh:


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Jesus, if Wally Szczerbiak Szczuperstar is still in the NBA with his knees, I think Miles will be fine.


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## Boob-No-More (Apr 24, 2006)

ehmunro said:


> Jesus, if Wally Szczerbiak Szczuperstar is still in the NBA with his knees, I think Miles will be fine.


The difference is Wally World has > 5 ft. range on his shot.

BNM


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

ehmunro said:


> Jesus, if Wally Szczerbiak Szczuperstar is still in the NBA with his knees, I think Miles will be fine.


Oh, Wally had microfracture on one of his knees, botched his re-habbed, had it get infected, then had another scope on the knee, gained an assload of weight and had an independent doctor say that his knee was shot and was bone on bone?


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## mediocre man (Feb 24, 2004)

southeasy said:


> if he's half decent
> 
> ha-ha portland



This is a common misinterpretation of Portland's cap space.


Portland will still have 13ish million in cap space even if Miles makes the team, plays 10 games, and the Blazers don't win an appeal saying his medical retirement should still hold up because an independent Dr. ruled on it. 

Your team just got worse.


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## Redeemed (Feb 2, 2008)

I'm rooting for him to succeed again


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

I don't know if they got "worse", per-say..but they didn't get better by signing Darius.


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## Boob-No-More (Apr 24, 2006)

DienerTime said:


> I'm rooting for him to succeed again


I'm sorry, I must have missed it. When exactly did he succeed the first time?

BNM

P.S. Unless you men he _succeeded_ in pulling the wool over John Nash's eyes in getting a ridiculous contract that he didn't deserve. Maybe he can be equally successful in pulling the wool over Danny Ainge's eyes.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Dan said:


> Oh, Wally had microfracture on one of his knees, botched his re-habbed, had it get infected, then had another scope on the knee, gained an assload of weight and had an independent doctor say that his knee was shot and was bone on bone?


Wally's knee is bone on bone. Ask him, he'll tell you.


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## Boob-No-More (Apr 24, 2006)

ehmunro said:


> Wally's knee is bone on bone. Ask him, he'll tell you.


Wally's biggest strength has always been his shooting. Even with a bad knee he can still shoot the ball.

Darius Miles, pre-injury, always relied on his tremendous athleticism and never developed a decent jump shot. Without the athleticism, he's a slow, unathletic small forward who can't shoot - oh and he's lazy insubordinate and has a bad attitude. Other than those minor issues, he should make a fine addition to your team.

BNM


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

ehmunro said:


> Wally's knee is bone on bone. Ask him, he'll tell you.


That's not the same as Darius. When he has a MF, a scope, an infection and a doctor declaring he should retire (etc), it'll be the same.

Until that point, it's just Wally's word.


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

mediocre man said:


> This is a common misinterpretation of Portland's cap space.
> 
> 
> Portland will still have 13ish million in cap space even if Miles makes the team, plays 10 games, and the Blazers don't win an appeal saying his medical retirement should still hold up because an independent Dr. ruled on it.
> ...


The contract isn't guaranteed so we can't get really get worse b/c of this. If things get bad with Darius we can get rid of him no questions asked and thats the end of it.


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## Avalanche (Nov 17, 2005)

:laugh: ahh the hate


you know what, i dont mind it... honestly what was the plan at this point, have pierce and ray backed up by Tony and Giddens... both of who are huge question marks.
Darius is an even bigger question, no one has seen him on an nba court in a looong time so its hard to judge, its easy for portland fans to say hes fat, sucks and will be a team cancer, but then its just as easy to say he has proven himself at the nba level and has obviously worked hard to get himself back into league shape.

In Danny we trust right?


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Boob-No-More said:


> Wally's biggest strength has always been his shooting. Even with a bad knee he can still shoot the ball.
> 
> Darius Miles, pre-injury, always relied on his tremendous athleticism and never developed a decent jump shot. Without the athleticism, he's a slow, unathletic small forward who can't shoot - oh and he's lazy insubordinate and has a bad attitude. Other than those minor issues, he should make a fine addition to your team.
> 
> BNM


They brought him in to give him a chance to show that he can play 12-15 minutes of defense per game backing up Pierce and Garnett. No matter how "slow and unathletic" he is he's 27 times faster and more athletic than the undead corpse of Wally Szczerbiak Szczuperstar, who wasn't exactly a model of hard work or good behaviour here. They're not relying on him to give them anything (as what he got was a non-guaranteed contract), and if he can't do it he can't do it and they'll move on. This is one of those no risk, high reward moves.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Dan said:


> That's not the same as Darius. When he has a MF, a scope, an infection and a doctor declaring he should retire (etc), it'll be the same.
> 
> Until that point, it's just Wally's word.


Wally had cartilage removed during knee surgery in college, and most of the rest of it wore out over the years. When quoted on it he was reporting the results of the most recent MRI he'd had. He's bone on bone. It's actually pretty common in runners (and basketball players are definitely runners). The human knee just isn't designed to take that kind of pounding.


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## Boob-No-More (Apr 24, 2006)

ehmunro said:


> They brought him in to give him a chance to show that he can play 12-15 minutes of defense per game backing up Pierce and Garnett.


Good luck with that. Darius never played 12-15 minutes of defense per game when he was healthy.




ehmunro said:


> No matter how "slow and unathletic" he is he's 27 times faster and more athletic than the undead corpse of Wally Szczerbiak Szczuperstar, who wasn't exactly a model of hard work or good behaviour here.


Doesn't matter. Wally can still do what he does best - shoot the ball. Darius Miles was in the league for one reason, and one reason only - his freakish athleticism. He no longer has that to get by on and never developed any skills that didn't require it.



ehmunro said:


> They're not relying on him to give them anything (as what he got was a non-guaranteed contract), and if he can't do it he can't do it and they'll move on. This is one of those no risk, high reward moves.


The non-guaranteed contract is the smart thing to do. So, yes, no risk, but I'm not sure I agree with the high reward part. No risk, possible small reward is more accurate. Well, the _really_ smart thing to do would have been to not waste your time and just say no thanks. I suspect this is really some sort of favor for Miles' agent. The Blazers recently signed Luke Jackson to a non-guaranted training camp contract. I suspect he has about as much of a chance to make the Blazers roster as Darius does the Celtics roster. Even if Jackson does make the Blazers roster, he will be 15th man and most likely only signed to use to make salaries match in some future trade.

BNM


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## MrWonderful (May 18, 2003)

*Your new guy, Diarrheas*

Here's his portrait:

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/397/dmileswbluntwv5.png


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Boob-No-More said:


> Good luck with that. Darius never played 12-15 minutes of defense per game when he was healthy.


Thankfully his idol suits up for the Celtics and Boston's coach was even able to get Ricky Davis' head out of his *** for a year and a half. If there's ay place he'll succeed, it's here under these conditions (a vet team headed up by his idol that plays lockdown team defense).



Boob-No-More said:


> Doesn't matter. Wally can still do what he does best - shoot the ball. Darius Miles was in the league for one reason, and one reason only - his freakish athleticism. He no longer has that to get by on and never developed any skills that didn't require it.


No he can't. He can do it when your team is 20 points up, or getting blown out, but that's about the extent of it. The Celtics locker room was heard cheering as far south as Philadelphia when they learned that Wally had been shipped out. They cheered nearly as loudly as the Minnesota locker room did. You don't need freakish athleticism to play defense, James Posey certainly was never freakishly athletic in his prime, and he's years past that. Defense is about effort. If he puts out for Rivers he'll get playing time. If he doesn't he'll be on the unemployment line and Boston will look elsewhere for a swing forward.





Boob-No-More said:


> The non-guaranteed contract is the smart thing to do. So, yes, no risk, but I'm not sure I agree with the high reward part. No risk, possible small reward is more accurate. Well, the _really_ smart thing to do would have been to not waste your time and just say no thanks. I suspect this is really some sort of favor for Miles' agent.


Miles is a six nine forward with good length that can pester people's shots if he has a mind to. He's here to backup Pierce and Garnett, so that Boston has someone taller than 6'6" to throw out there in a pinch. Right now their choices are Brian Scalabrine and Brian Scalabrine, who's a heck of a lot less athletic than Miles. So, ummm, yeah, it's high reward because he certainly has the ability to be a key roleplayer. Boston doesn't need offense, contrary to popular belief no team is going to have fifteen guys average double figures. Boston doesn't need stars, they have three of the best in the game. They did need a forward taller than 6'6" with the ability to play some defense at the 3/4. Miles can certainly do it, the only question is whether or not Garnett and Rivers can keep him in line. If they can Boston has a steal. If not, they'll find someone else in trade come midseason.


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## Avalanche (Nov 17, 2005)

Yeh i have no issues giving him a run, if he falls apart or it doesnt work out hes easily removed from the team

Darius needs the celtics to rejuvenate his career, the celtics dont need darius to win a championship


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## Cager (Jun 13, 2002)

Avalanche said:


> Yeh i have no issues giving him a run, if he falls apart or it doesnt work out hes easily removed from the team
> 
> Darius needs the celtics to rejuvenate his career, the celtics dont need darius to win a championship


I agree. Most likely Darius doesn't work out but without Posey and with another year of age on the big 3 the Celts probably need something more than what is on the roster to beat the West in the Finals next year


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## PDXshelbyGT (May 24, 2007)

DienerTime said:


> I'm rooting for him to succeed again




AGAIN?

:lol:


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## LamarButler (Apr 16, 2005)

My opinion on this is decided by his health. I don't know much about joints and stuff, but bone on bone sounds pretty bad. That's why I question this signing. But if his health is good enough to play, then I'm alright with it. I like his height, length and athleticism that allows him to play both forward positions.


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## Avalanche (Nov 17, 2005)

Well his health is obviously the biggest concern, at this point the contract isnt guarenteed and if he cant stay on the court hes an easy cut

however i dont think the team would waste time and a roster spot if they didnt think he could recover, i think his 10 game suspension is for some sort of hgh/regenerative type tablet (feel free to correct me anyone if im wrong) which for me is well worth the 10 games if its going to help in the long term, from the shape he was in say 6 months ago to where he is now, earning a spot hes obviously had to work very hard and to impress in workouts he must be doing something right.

He has good size to play the 3, and can go at the 4 in some small ball line ups like we did with posey, maybe even more effectively.
The coaches will work with him, he has the body to help this team defensively


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## ConnerHenry (Jan 9, 2004)

I read on ESPN.com that the suspension was for a weight loss drug - basically, he was trying too hard to get in shape for his work outs with teams and took a banned stimulant. 

I'm not sure what this says about his playing shape or ability to stay away from stuff he shouldn't be doing, but at least it wasn't a recreational drug. As pretty much everyone else has said here, I see NO risk in this signing and potentially a nice steal.


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## Avalanche (Nov 17, 2005)

Hope they give him a lot of burn in pre-season, pile some minutes up and see if his body holds up


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Wouldn't Bonzi have been a better option?


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

No way. Bonzi's a pain-in-the-*** power forward in a shooting guard's body who isn't nearly the player Posey is (well neither is Miles, but he's a lot closer to Posey assuming he's healthy).


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## Avalanche (Nov 17, 2005)

Miles is no risk of demanding minutes as he knows hes a reach to be on the team in the first place, and less of a risk to slack off then bonzi as he has to work harder to keep his spot

i take miles over bonzi for this team, although wells may contribute slightly more there is more risk involved


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## BlueBaron (May 11, 2003)

I'm sure he'll be happy just sitting on the bench. Someone mentioned dropping Bill Walker... I just don't see that happening.


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## Avalanche (Nov 17, 2005)

Well all the Roster spots are taken
I definately see Scal and Walker as being inactive, from there its a little more difficult, i expect they will keep bill with the team and training so he knows the team in case he does need to step up (miles/tony injury etc)

Pruitt surely needs to be active this season if they intend to have him be the primary point back up, with house playing some 1 and 2

rondo/house/pruitt
allen/allen/giddens
pierce/miles/*walker*
garnett/powe/*scal*
perkins/obryant/davis

so whos the third inactive guy?


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## ConnerHenry (Jan 9, 2004)

Avalanche said:


> so whos the third inactive guy?


I expect that it will come down to, based upon who plays well in camp and preseason, between Giddens, O'Bryant, and Pruitt (assuming Scal and Walker are also inactive). 

It definitely will change throughout the season, with injuries or great/poor play. Miles is probably a real a long shot to actually make the active roster and if Giddens is focusing on defense (as much as he says) it may be tough to leave him off the active roster. But, wing has the most depth on the team, so (if Darius is on the roster) sitting 1 of your 2 true centers or PGs may also be tough. I don't see them sitting Big Baby too much in favor of O'Bryant, unless he really shows something with defense and rebounding. 

It's one of those nice problems to have, heading into a season when it looked like the off season was a complete debacle.


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## Avalanche (Nov 17, 2005)

I cant see them, and dont really want them putting O'bryant on the inactive list... he needs to be on the court to improve


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

If I had my way, it would be Glen Davis. But I expect it to be Pruitt.


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## AudieNorris (Jun 29, 2006)

Who really cares about D Miles anyway? No matter what role he has, it will be insignificant. 

The hilarious thing about this is Ainge's spite. It goes a long way back here in the southern Willamette Valley. He has always acted like someone stole his candy at Halloween. Just a new recent example. Ainge is a funny man.


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

I'm assuming you're a Blazer fan from your post, so my question is -- why do a lot of Blazers fans seem to be pissed about this if its supposedly no big deal and destined to fail?


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## Avalanche (Nov 17, 2005)

AudieNorris said:


> Who really cares about D Miles anyway? No matter what role he has, it will be insignificant.
> 
> The hilarious thing about this is Ainge's spite. It goes a long way back here in the southern Willamette Valley. He has always acted like someone stole his candy at Halloween. Just a new recent example. Ainge is a funny man.


if you think a championship team would waste time, coaching, money and most importantly a roster spot just to spite another team your dellusional

oh and wrong


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## AudieNorris (Jun 29, 2006)

Jacoby_Ellsbury said:


> I'm assuming you're a Blazer fan from your post, so my question is -- why do a lot of Blazers fans seem to be pissed about this if its supposedly no big deal and destined to fail?


Not sure why so many Blazer fans are so pissed about Miles. Or Zbo, or Rasheed for that matter. Its a strange thing with some Blazer fans, they make it seem like they have killed babies. No appreciation for any of them. There are lots of cheesy pseudo-militant things going on in Portland, Blazers are just one of many.

As far as the spite comment goes, I grew up when and where Danny did. I know what he is like. Maybe I am delusional.


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## Baracuda (Jan 10, 2007)

Darius hasn't played for the Blazers in 2 and a half years, and in that time he's gotten married and had a baby, maybe he has matured. Good luck Darius.


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## Avalanche (Nov 17, 2005)

Not to mention, the dudes getting paid anyway... hes got enough money to set himself up for life, hes here for the basketball, which is a good sign IMO


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## AudieNorris (Jun 29, 2006)

Yep. He's getting paid and now the pressure is off. I really hope he makes it back. He was a fun player to watch. 

The cap space issue that his playing creates is minor for a guy like Paul Allen, if he's getting a good return. Which he is (free roster spot). I think the Blazers staff knew it was going to pan out like it has so far. Even if he plays, I think the Blazers think they will prevail because they acted on the Players Union doctor's opinion/diagnosis. Besides, it's not like it's KG's contract.



Avalanche said:


> Not to mention, the dudes getting paid anyway... hes got enough money to set himself up for life, hes here for the basketball, which is a good sign IMO


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## nikolokolus (Jan 29, 2008)

As a Blazers fan I've got no real beef with Darius. I think he kind of unfairly (well some of it's fair) gets lumped in with the "Jailblazers" era teams that ended generating so much controversy and hate amongst the fan base. If anything Darius had a nice half of a season with the Blazers when he got traded here and somehow got Paul Allen to enter a bidding war with himself, netting Miles the fat deal he wanted and his production and effort never quite lived up to the expectations that came with the money he was getting.

Darius playing in ten games certainly doesn't kill any capspace the Blazers have going forward, but it will reduce it from the "ridiculous" category (~$22 million) to pretty good (~$13 million). All I know is that an independent physician appointed by the player's association and the league said he had one of the worst knees he'd ever seen and that Miles will likely need knee replacement in a few years if chooses to play basketball again. For his sake I hope he's turned a new leaf and is able to reclaim some of his former playing form without permanently screwing up his body; the guy squandered a lot of god-given talent early in his career with a lackadaisical attitude and a serious lack of heart. The cruel irony is that it's possible he's now found the passion for the game that always eluded him and his body has failed him.


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

I agree with niko, but I would like to point out that some of the resentment towards Darius is because he did nothing to improve his game over his career. He was a sub-par defender, passer and most importantly, an atrocious shooter when he started, and when he last played.


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## Avalanche (Nov 17, 2005)

Will be interesting, if he does make the team how Doc and Tom intend on using him, when most of the role players main goal is to make open shots/easy finishes and defend.

Will they try and improve an older player in areas hes never been great in, or change the way the team works while hes on the floor


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## #1AntoineWalkerFan (Mar 10, 2005)

i just hope he doesnt pound on his headband like an idiot after every made shot


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## Avalanche (Nov 17, 2005)

lol i never minded that celebration personally


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