A Closer Look at the Portland/Miles Conundrum
On the heels of a Yahoo! report that the Darius Miles/Portland Trail Blazers clock is down to just two games – the Blazers sent out a message to the rest of the league threatening litigation if any team signed Miles “to a contract for the purpose of adversely impacting the Portland Trail Blazers Salary Cap and tax positions.”
“Please be aware that if a team engages in such conduct, the Portland Trail Blazers will take all necessary steps to safeguard its rights, including, without limitation, litigation,” says the letter from Blazers President Larry Miller.
More Trailblazer Drama!
on Jan 9th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
It’s not threatening anyone who signs Darius with a lawsuit–it threatens any team who violates the terms of the NBA’s joint ownership venture by signing him FOR THE PURPOSE OF SCREWING THE BLAZERS and receiving hundreds of thousands in luxury tax payments for themselves.
When a GM says in the national media that any team could hurt Portland’s cap situation plus earn luxury cap dollars for themselves, that’s an invitation to bad faith. In a joint venture you cannot do anything explicitly to harm someone else’s fiduciary and competitive situations, particularly when to do so enhances your own.
Miller was smart to do this.