wastro

I read a lot of the potential trade threads, and they're interesting on occasion.

Besides shipping out Jarrett Jack, the most common scenario I see in all those "outgoing" sections is Darius Miles.

Please, I'm going to make an impassioned plea here. Please stop thinking we can trade Darius. Until we buy him out, he retires or he's in the final year of his contract, Darius is a Blazer. So please stop thinking we can trade Darius for even a bag of hammers.

Let's look at the arguments.

First, Darius has a history of issues since coming to Portland. Remember the Maurice Cheeks tirade? The whispers about him reeking of alcohol during rehab? The overall bad attitude? Yeah, GMs haven't forgot, and they won't. And I guarantee there are issues that we haven't heard about yet.

Then, let's not forget his injuries. He had an injured knee before the microfracture surgery. Then, the microfracture knocked him out all of last season and all of this season so far. Does that not set off all kinds of alarms? Why take a flyer on Miles and hope that his knee will get better, when he's had a history of knee problems over the past two years now?

Then, there's his salary. He'll make $8.25 million this season $9 million over the following two seasons. That is a ton of money for a guy who hasn't played since 2006.

And that's way too much money for a "GM to take a chance on," which is what many of you are hoping. And that's way too much to be "filler" or "throw-in" money in a trade. No matter how you slice it, $9 million is going to be a major part of a trade.

Darius relied on his explosiveness for success early in his career, and it's demonstrated that microfracture, save for rare instances (Amare Stoudemire), takes away that explosiveness. Now, a player can compensate for that with high basketball IQ (Jason Kidd), but do you really see Darius playing THAT smart?

And during Darius' recovery, his weight has obviously fluctuated. Remember him showing up at Roy's Rookie of the Year press conference? He was huge! He's lost some weight, but he's gained some of it back. That doesn't bode well for his return, does it?

Let's say Darius returns and gets into shape. To get into the rotation, he needs to surpass Travis, Martell and James. And he'll need regular, productive minutes to get any kind of trade value. Then, he'll need to find a team willing to take a chance. Considering the scenario to this point, as well as all the arguments I've made so far, do you really think someone will trade for him now?

So there you go. Darius is a Blazer, for better or worse.

MrJayremmie

I haven't seen someone say we can trade Darius, that wasn't saying it as a joke.

wastro

You're still pretty new to the board. Give it time.

MrJayremmie

^you got a point. I agree though, a Darius trade is impossible, unless he comes back, and plays well, enough to attract attention from around the league. But i doubt he will get any play time on our team, which, like you said, makes him impossible to trade.

Oh well, maybe he is a good guy in the locker room, and is a part of the chemistry the blazers have, ya never know.

LameR

You haven't seen much of darkhelmit or resume huh?

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ProfitByProphet

With the Devin Harris deal likely going down Darius will be the third SF by default. Miles has said he's been ready and there's been buzz in the national media that the training staff has been intentionally keeping him out. Miles has been a good sport about and was being quiet about it, but the Blazers know something eventually needs to be done, and the team knows, like wastro knows, Miles isn't going anywhere.

I'd imagine if this trade goes through that means the team thinks Miles is ready to get some playing time at the end of the rotations. Miles being quiet while the team is succeeding tells me he's sincere in his desire to be a part of this team and fit into the system and team mentality. Maybe Miles can develop into a solid vet off the bench.

I hope the fans show some class when he comes off the bench for the first time and applaud him for working hard to come back and play.

Quoted and emphasized incase anyone missed it.

deanwoof

it's not impossible to trade darius. it's just very very very difficult.

****, i thought nobody would be stupid enough to trade for jason collins. but it happened too.

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