So you're the General Manager of a small-market team. You've been pretty bad for several years, and even when you were a one-and-done playoff team, the fans weren't exactly clamoring for tickets. In a town where the college basketball team rules all, you have to get a little inventive to make a buck, especially in a recession.The Memphis Grizzlies are using a veteran with injury issues on the cheap, particularly in a way that is bad for other teams. Let me explain.
Or rather, let David from David's Memphis Grizzlies Blog explain.
So by now, everyone's aware of the warning from the Portland Trailblazers regarding Darius Miles, which may or may not result in fines for them, and which may or may not result in a lawsuit from the NBAPA. And you're also probably aware that Memphis thought Portland could, in the words of the immortal Limp Bizkit, take their cookie and stick it up their yeah. They signed Miles, putting the heat back on the Portland cap if they play him twice more.
Everyone's reaction to this move was two-fold. Obviously, this is a professional environment, and as Memphis had already picked up Miles for a stint, and continue to suffer on the boards with Darko Milicic out, this just made the best sense for them. Two, say what you want about Memphis owner Michael Heisley, but he's not the kind of guy to get bullied.
But as David points out, there's an additional twist. Once you assume that the Grizzlies need to sign someone to fill the roster spot, you've got this nifty little addition for a small market team that is light years away from the luxury tax.
"Once Miles appears in two more games, his previous contract with the Portland Trailblazers, which had been removed from Portland's salary cap when Miles' career was said to be over by team doctors, will be back on the Trailblazers' books. That will put Portland over the luxery [sic] tax threshold for this season, which means the Blazers will owe all NBA teams under the threshold (like the Grizzlies for example) some percentage of the penalty."
So essentially, the Grizzlies aren't just flipping the bird to the Trailblazers' intimidation techniques (even if Kevin Pritchard wasn't involved), they're making bank off a necessary acquisition by shoving a Western Conference competitor over the tax, which is money that they'll get back.
Killing three birds, one stone. Not bad for a franchise that's often mocked, despite their promising young talent, bright draft outlook, and about a bajillion dollars in cap room.
