When the Blazers signed Andre Miller to a three-year deal at about seven mil/year, I knew it was a bad decision. While he has maintained decent assist numbers throughout his career, he is a horrendous shooter and, I've concluded, there may not be a single team for which his style of play would be helpful. Apparently, Portland agrees with me.
The Blazers, in particular, were poised to open up this season with a guard rotation of superstar Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez, Steve Blake and last year's top pick, Jerryd Bayless. That quartet is formidable in and of itself, but then throw in wing players Nicholas Batum, Martell Webster and Travis Outlaw, and you have seven players who have shown they play at a high level together. A level so high that they were the fourth seed in the Western Conference last season.
With essentially seven non-big men deserving playing time, you would think that adding another guard to the mix would be counterintuitive. Even if you wanted to argue that Miller is a good player, which I would not, a better case could be made that he simply doesn't fit.
I was going to write about how Kevin Pritchard really surprised me with such a contract that didn't make much sense. But, true to form, he is back to being the stud GM that he is and, having realized his mistake, he will probably get some picks or nice pieces for Miller and his three-year deal.
To be honest, I have sympathy for Pritchard. I was excited when the Clippers acquired him a few years ago, and it became apparent that he is one of those players who is worse than his numbers suggest, even when his numbers suggest he isn't even that great. If they have indeed, decided to move on from the ill-fated Miller experiment, I say hats off the the Blazers, as addition by his subtraction will be in full effect. Any return more than that will just be icing on the cake.
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