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August 22, 2008
Perfect ! Celtics Sign Darius Miles
We all really should have seen this coming. It was screaming "Danny Ainge".
Not a 3rd return of Antoine Walker.
Not a Reggie Miller resuscitation.
Not Diana Taurasi becoming the first WNBA player to play in the NBA and for the Celtics.
Not finding an 8 foot Bigfoot, and teaching him to play this game.
No. This is not anywhere that dramatic. But it is a patented surprise Danny Ainge move.
The Portland Trailblazer media guide says Darius Miles 'patterns his game' after Kevin Garnett. We'll see just how close their games are as Kevin gets Darius for a team mate. He has immense talent, but Darius could be considered the exact opposite of intense, driven Kevin Garnett, another high school to pros story altogether.
One thing I've learned this past season of watching players up close and personal and interviewing them is that sometimes the accepted 'media image' is completely different from what I'm experiencing myself.
The Roll of the Dice
As announced by the Boston Globe, the Celtics just signed controversial 26 year old, 6' 9" 225 lbs., forward Darius Miles to a non-guaranteed contract. Darius will be 27 on October 9. Celtic GM Danny Ainge is going to give him a few months to see if he can make the team. This is the same Darius Miles that was long rumored to not even really like playing basketball, even when he was healthy. It was just a job for him, not a passion, not even a career.
As infamous for off court histrionics, as he was for enormous on court talent, Darius is 'medically retired' from the Portland Trailblazers due to what was considered a career ending injury involving cartilage damage to his right knee requiring microsurgery in late 2006. If he makes any NBA team and plays more than 10 games, he becomes 'unretired' from the Portland ledger and his $9 mil. salary is added back onto the books. Either way he gets paid.
Danny too is playing on house money...until and unless he gives him a roster spot and commits a certain amount of precious Celtic salary as the new season embarks.
Miles of History
MacDonald's All American, 19 year old Darius was the 3rd pick overall in the 2000 draft by the Clippers. Back before the Celtics, Atlanta and a few other teams went with youth, the Clippers fielded a team of 4 drafted rookies. Miles (3rd), Keyon Dooling (10th), Quentin Richardson(18th), and Marko Jaric (31st) were all plucked and played their first NBA seasons together along with NBA sophomores Lamar Odom and Corey Maggette.
Going from 31-51 in 2000-01 to 39-43 in 2001-02 with the Clips, Darius was traded with Harold Jamison to Cleveland for Andre Miller and Bryan Stith. The Cavs were a dreadful 17- 65 in 2002-03 with Miles, Ricky Davis, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Carlos Boozer.
Darius played just 37 games with rookie phenom LeBron James the next season, when he was traded to Portland because it was believed he would be a negative influence on James' career. He was traded to Portland for Ruben Boumjte-Boumtje and Jeff McInnis on Jan 21, 2004.
Joining the Portland team in the notorious Jailblazer era, Portland went from 41-41 in his partial first season to 27-55 in 2004-05 and then 21-61 in 2005-06 when he played in just 40 games in his last season, averaging 14 points, a career high. Looking at the records of teams he has been on, one thing Darius would never be praised for is making his team mates better.
There are all levels of commitment when it comes to NBA players. But only a rare few have ever been rumored to 'not even like playing the game'. Now...to be fair, those were rumors. But there is usually something that gets a rumor going. Huge money for a very young man can do strange things to personal motivation. Heck, it can do strange things to any man's motivation.
Maybe it had something to do with this quote I found in a very good article by ManchVegasBob on Celtics17.....
In a February 26, 2005 game, Miles had five turnovers in 21 minutes, including three in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, leading coach Maurice Cheeks to bench him. Post-game, Miles said, ”I look at it as a job; it ain’t fun no more. It’s work.”
It is a classic Danny Ainge move, if there ever was one. If Danny used the Brain Doctor on himself, I wonder what would turn up. Risk taker or low risk gambler?
If he was at the casino, once he steps up to the table, the croupier would announce "Ainge in action". Time to watch the former baseball player roll the dice. Eyes gravitate to the man with the dice. Danny blows on the dice, shakes them up his hand and lets 'em roll. The question is how much is bet each time he rolls. This time it looks like a lottery ticket was purchased or a long shot bet was placed. Low Risk/high reward.
Beyond what is already stated, the reason Darius gets this shot is because the Celtics are missing a long small forward. He won't play Posey defense, but he could surprise if he commits to that end of the court. Not a 3 point shooter at all, Miles works best inside the arc and around the hoop.
Why take the risk?
After having folks like Mark Blount, Marcus Banks and Ricky Davis, Danny talked about respect for each other, the coach and the game.
With the powerful troika of discipline he has in the thoroughbreds in his stable, he knows he can afford to try to add a maverick...or two. JR Giddens and now Miles are players with questionable attitudes and behavior who have the chance of their lives to turn things around.
From RealGM, here is Danny's take on the whole situation...
“Darius has been in twice for workouts with us and has impressed us with his progress, health, and attitude;” said Danny Ainge, Celtics Executive Director of Basketball Operations/General Manager. “Darius will have the next couple of months to prove to myself and Coach Rivers that he can help us win.”
Last year Danny's unusual idea was to try to get Reggie Miller to unretire. This year, he going against previous stated philosophy, with talented players with questionable pasts, hoping that the total opportunity that the Celtics offer, coupled with the discipline that Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce would require might give the Celtics something for nothing again - just as it did with James Posey, Sam Cassell, and PJ Brown last season.
While the things I've read about Darius disturb me, Danny hasn't committed anything to Miles but a chance. The Celtics get a free look before they buy. The need at that position and his talent merit a look.
As I mentioned things aren't always exactly as the media portrays them. Here is his explanation to Jason Quick of the Oregonian in 2006, of an oft reported clash with coaching good guy Maurice Cheeks...
"Cheeks was so frustrated with folks upstairs, and I was frustrated with the folks upstairs too, but Cheeks started bring it down on all the players. But everyone loved Cheeks and we still love Cheeks to this day. We knew what type of person Cheeks was and what he was going through.
But he got into it with D.A. Got into it with Damon, everybody. But I made the mistake of when he got into it with me, of responding back. That's where I made the mistake. It wasn't like he said something to me and I responded back. I let him talk, for a good 10 or 15 minutes. Just him bashing, bashing, bashing, and it got to a point where I responded back.
When all said and done, everybody made it like I'm such this bad person, we're beefing, but me and Cheeks laughing and joking every practice. He could see it was weighing on me, the pressure was so much on my shoulders, that he had to come out himself, I didn't ask him to say that. He said it wasn't all my fault."
Remember, people can change, kids grow up, and injuries heal. I'm not saying that is what has happened here. But it's worth the look.
Posted by Tom on August 22, 2008 4:10 PM
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Comments
Thank you for a very informative article.
Posted by: Mon at August 24, 2008 8:08 AM
I can't really see any down side. If Darius is not healthy or gets into trouble he's down the road. If he's healthy and behaves then we may have a steal.
He's not Posey, but we provides one thing the Celts really don't have - an offensive rebounding force. Seems to me watching him he got a lot of his offense on the boards - let's face it his shooting is horrible.
Posted by: badax at August 24, 2008 11:14 AM
Thanks for reading, Mon.
badax - thanks for the thoughts. Darius did get a lot of offensive rebounds earlier in his career. By the 2006 season (his last) he had pretty much stopped - 0.6 of 4.6 total boards were offensive in that season compared to 1.5 of 4.56 in 2003-4. For whatever reason, that is a pretty fair drop off.
No telling what he will be able to do now. A lot will depend on what Rivers asks him to do - role-wise. I'm guessing it will be more about defense to start with. No?
T
We will see.
Posted by: Tom Halzack at August 24, 2008 2:28 PM
