This blog post isn’t about Darius Miles. I promise. But it is about how wallowing in the Miles mire now is an obstacle Portland must overcome quickly.
That first big hurdle could arrive in the coming weeks with the NBA trade deadline fresh on everyone’s mind. You think the rumors going around the league are bad right now, just wait another 15-25-35 days when it gets real crazy.
As someone who covers the league, I couldn’t but help think about Portland’s position in all of this the past few days – well, at least since Friday.
How hard will it be now for Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard to work the phones – knowing what has transpired regarding Darius Miles (that’s the last time you will hear Miles’ name mentioned, I swear) – and not feel that will play a factor into how other front offices respond? He won’t be communicating via e-mail. This much we know.
All sports is that way. Heck, sportswriting is that way.
In his book Falling Hard, a must-read boxing book by Chris Jones that recounts his rookie year covering the fight game, Jones says it perfectly:
“The meeting represented my first lesson as a would-be reporter: journalism is founded almost exclusively on contacts.”
I buy that. I also believe building “relationships” is the key to any success – business, marriage and even in basketball. And just as any team in the NBA hopes for success, that accomplishment is largely predicated on those “relationships” and your ability to establish common ground with others or your “contacts.”
I’m just not sure how far such rapport goes under Portland’s recent off court circumstances.
pic via:criadvantage
Very nice article on Hoopsworld. I wondered myself what kind of fallout there would be from the memo at the inter-personal level between KP and other personnel guys around the league. It’s going to be a very interesting next couple of weeks, but alas I tend to agree with you that the Blazers are not much of a regular season mover and shaker and I suspect will be fairly quiet when all is said and done.
By the way, I appreciate your much more “even handed” treatment of this issue than the somewhat sensationalist approach John Canzano chose to follow in his column in yesterday’s oregonian: http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf?/base/sports/123172170980290.xml&coll=7
– not to say there aren’t some pissed off “joint venturers” out there who resent the Blazers, but it was nice to have something to contrast with the impression he gave.
thanks nj…..everyone is going to have their own opinion on the matter. think we all know about john’s column history on miles -and blatant dislike for darius. yesterday he attempted to paint pritchard in that tainted picture.
like it or not, that’s what a columnist does. he puts it out there knowing he’ll get a rise. in this case canzano pulls no punches. i only know john from passing interaction, so i can’t fault the guy for what he writes. i don’t agree. but i’m not going to put him on blast. those that know him simply say that is “john being john.” and i get that.
as for me, i’m more interested where the blazers go from here on the court and on the open market, knowing this kind of distraction could hurt their chances at making a move in the coming weeks. broken relationships are one thing – miles appearing in two more games over the next week is a different story as it pinches portland’s once deep pockets.
you know what i mean?
Interesting thoughts. Do we have any practical past examples to look at how poor behavior by managment has affected intra-management relations? Are GM’s reluctant deal with Utah and kinder to Cleveland because of the Boozer fiasco? Are GM’s more willing to deal with Toronto since they got the short end of the stick in the Mourning and Carter affairs? Or less willing to deal with New Jersey or Miami?
Most serious people seem to think that this had to do with Portland setting itself for an appeal to the league for relief from this unprecendented situation.
I wish Darius Miles well, but if the doctors are correct and further palying on his knee could be crippling, how are we going to look at the cynical moves of Chris Wallace and Miles’s agent? Its Chris Wallace, GM, not MD, mind you
Yeah but you could look at it the other way and say if the Grizzlies play him for 2 games and 2 games only they obviously had it out for Portland even if they never admitted to it. Other GM’s should realize that the Grizzlies would step on your throat if you were down. Course that’s a big “IF” so there is no real validity to anything i just typed. Good work though Maxey.
good question dave….had that conversation with someone recently and we had trouble coming up with an example. in the past, it’s been more player centric than team based.
like you said, boozer and carter….we can even through trenton hassel’s name in there, as he committed to portland only to opt for minnesota back when he left chicago.
this appears a first to me. but if anyone can overcome this sort of setback, it’s kevin pritchard.
and i’m with you….this isn’t about miles. memphis waived miles with every intention of bringing him back two days later. unfortunately the blazers’ paranoia got the best of them before the ink dried on the deal.
what’s up will? yo, i thought you were done with this whole topic my man?
zing!
let’s not forget who we are talking about here. these are the up and coming portland trail blazers, a team in all likelihood a couple players (a solid back-up to lamarcus and an all-in-one point guard) away from being truly a legit contender out west.
maybe not now. but certainly in the near future.
if other teams can get a jump on portland or keep them down, they are going to. as a league executive told me yesterday, “i want portland to lose every game and i want to win every game.”
we all know – at the end of the day – the “b” in nba stands for “business.”
So you are gonna put me on blast but not Canzano??? lol jk. I don’t know enough of this story and the legality of it all to argue effectively but i have my opinions. And i think your all-in-one pg is my man Bayless.
@ Will
Bayless looks like he’s all bottled up and about ready to explode given the burn. The Detroit game was a definite L without him energizing the team and the crowd. I have high hopes for the guy.
sorry will….it was just too good to pass up.
nothing but love for ya….
not winning any fans by saying this, but i am not sold on bayless – as a point guard that is. believe the blazers feel the same. not sure if he can run the point on a playoff bound team and he is undersized to play the two.
the key here though is playing time. now with brandon back the rotation is going to be tighter. nate mcmillan said as much the other night. hence him getting limited time against golden state.
but there could be minutes available if sergio’s game suffers. if so, bayless needs to take advantage.