Posted by Dustin Chapman in The world champion Boston Celtics have announced that they’ve signed free agent forward Darius Miles; terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed.
Miles, a six-year NBA veteran, underwent microfracture knee surgery in December of 2005, and hasn’t returned to the court since. At one point in time, the right knee damage was viewed as career-ending, but Miles’ recovery has gone quicker and more successful than originally expected. Despite a two-year layoff, he now finally has a chance to make an NBA roster this fall.
The career-underachieving forward has spent time with three NBA teams - Cleveland, Los Angeles [Clippers], and Portland - since being drafted third overall in 2000. Throughout his career, Miles has appeared in 412 games, where he’s held accumulative averages of 10.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and two assists per game. His best stint of basketball came in November of 2005, just before the knee surgery, where he put up 18.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, along with a 49.1% shooting clip, though 14 games.
After waiving Miles this past April, the Trail Blazers were set to pay the remaining $27.5 million of Miles’ contract, signed in 2002, and hold the luxury of that salary not counting against their cap. However, here’s the dilemma for Portland: if Miles appears in 10 regular season games within any of the next two NBA seasons, his salary will count against the cap.
Should Miles proceed in making the Celtics’ roster, his debut couldn’t come until November 15 when Boston will be hosted by the Milwaukee Bucks, as Miles has been ordered to serve a 10-game suspension issued by the league for violating the NBA’s anti-drug program (it was later found out that the substance was a weight loss drug).
Well, I did not like the thought of signing Miles when I had heard that the Celtics worked him out twice, and my opinion hasn’t changed. Miles hasn’t played in the NBA for two years, he’s a notorious coach killer, and his attitude is awful. For some reason, I’m not so sure I can picture Darius Miles being a pro-Ubuntu type of person.
With that said, it is a low-risk signing, and any funny business, he will simply be cut. I can’t imagine that this deal is for anything more than one year at the veteran’s minimum, so it isn’t a financial hit. Also, maybe this is the stage where Miles reflects on his mistakes and finally starts growing up. He’s good friends with Paul Pierce, so maybe our current group can keep him in check.
We’ll see, but I’m skeptical.