The Bratwurst – Milwaukee Bucks Blog

The Darius Miles saga has been running in the background this NBA season, but it has some major implications for the league over the next couple of year. Basically, Miles is under contract to the Trail Blazers for two more seasons at $9 million per. Miles had not played for a couple of years, both because he was battling back from a major knee injury and because the Blazers didn’t want him around.

Since Portland couldn’t get out from under his contract by trading him while he was hurt, they instead tried to claim that he was retired due to his medical condition. This way, even though he would still get paid his money, his contract would fall off of the Blazer’s salary cap, pushing them well under the cap after this season.

The problem here is that Miles can play. Maybe he’s not good enough to actually play a significant role in the NBA any more, but he is healthy enough to get on the court. He played 6 preseason games with Boston and 2 games with Memphis. He only played 9 regular season minutes total, but registered two blocked shots and made no trips to the hospital, showing that his knee is at least healthy enough to allow him to play in a game. Unlike the conditions of, say, Sean Elliott or Alonzo Mourning a few years back, where the exertion of playing in a basketball game with their kidney conditions could have caused a potentially fatal complication.

NBA rules state that the Blazers will be able to claim the medical retirement clause on Miles if he plays fewer than 10 games this year. It turns out that the rule includes both preseason and regular season games, so Miles is now only 2 games away from having his salary go back on the Blazers’ books.

The Trail Blazers’ front office doesn’t like that, and so they have decided to try and keep Miles off of the court in the true American Way: by threatening litigation.

According to Yahoo! Sports and other media outlets, the Blazers sent an email to the front offices of the other NBA teams, stating:

Team Presidents and General Managers,

The Portland Trail Blazers are aware that certain teams may be contemplating signing Darius Miles to a contract for the purpose of adversely impacting the Portland Trail Blazers Salary Cap and tax positions. Such conduct from a team would violate its fiduciary duty as an NBA joint venturer. In addition, persons or entities involved in such conduct may be individually liable to the Portland Trail Blazers for tortuously interfering with the Portland Trail Blazers’ contract rights and perspective economic opportunities.

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.

Needless to say, the NBA is already not very happy about one team trying to strong-arm the others into shunning a player, and if I was Darius Miles’ agent, I would have been calling labor law lawyers first thing this morning. in fact, the Blazers are already backing off on their stance, sending out another statement saying that Miles has cleared waivers and can sign with another team.

Now, what should the Bucks do about this? What would I have done if I was in John Hammond’s shoes?

Simple. I would have immediately sent out an email to the other teams, telling them all that if the Bucks lose another game this season then Herb Kohl would crush them all like a bug:

Dear (NBA GM or Owner, especially you, Paul Allen):

The Milwaukee Bucks are aware that certain teams are spending the duration of most games against us in a systematic effort to score more points than us, adversely impacting our ability to win games. The addition of losses to our record has a significant negative impact on our financial standing through revenue loss from such sources including but not limited to playoff ticket sales, arena signage during national television appearances, and local television and radio ratings. Such conduct from said opponents violates their fiduciary duty as an NBA joint venturer. In addition, persons or entities involved in such conduct may be individually liable to the Milwaukee Bucks for tortuously interfering with the Milwaukee Bucks’ contract rights and perspective economic opportunities.

Please be aware that if a team engages in such conduct that results in a Milwaukee Bucks opponent scoring more points than the Milwaukee Bucks and the Milwaukee Bucks incurring a loss, the Milwaukee Bucks will take all necessary steps to safeguard its rights, including, without limitation, litigation, and our owner, who is only a freaking Senator, making sure that whatever business your teams’ primary owner is involved in is legislated out of existence.

Starting today, that’s how the Milwaukee Bucks roll.