Are we there yet? (Portland Trail Blazers and Free Agency)

It appears that the Portland Trail Blazers' free agent odyssey may be coming to an end today. According to various sources, and confirmed by his agent, Andre Miller has agreed in principle to don Blazer colors next year. The 3 year deal would guarantee somewhere between the mid-level exception and $7 million/year for two years with the third being a team option. Although Pritchard claims that "as of now no deal is done", this is likely just a hedge considering recent free agent luck.

If the Blazers were out of the picture, Miller would likely have gone to a team at the $5.85 million mid-level exception for a multiple year deal. Or he could even have stayed with Phily for their one year offer of the same before they withdrew it today. Portland was one of only 2 teams that could offer more, but insofar as they wanted to do so to differentiate themselves and assure a pick-up, I am not completely opposed to the idea. Personally, I have already expressed my support for a reserved off-season with no major moves but I feel this is somewhat of a compromise. It is certainly nowhere near the $50+ million 5-year contract that was offered to Turkoglu.

Yes, Miller is 3 years older than Hedo but I feel that with both being over 30, the shorter contract accomplishes nearly the same thing but with more flexibility. And although I would have preferred Millsap, this deal seams fairly realistic in comparison with his $32 million 4-year offer. (It's important to note that the Millsap offer also helped significantly change the division landscape, keeping the Jazz from retaining both Boozer and Millsap). Again, I would have chosen youth first but I suppose there are advantages to adding a veteran to the squad. It would certainly fill the Blazers' desire for a veteran point gaurd that has led them to pursue everyone from Kidd to Hinrich over the last couple years. I have to say I'm glad to see JKidd safely back in Dallas...

Although he's older, Miller is durable and has missed only 3 games over his 11 seasons. And for a little perspective, some other NBA players of comparable age (I'll say 32+) or older include Duncan, O'Neal, Nash, R. Allen, Garnett, Carter, A. Jamison, and Billups. Regardless of matching up talent-wise, at least we see that players still contribute significantly at that age. In terms of age, I feel relatively unpassionate either way on this issue.

As a side note, if the contract were any longer it would have subjected the team to the "over 36" contract provision that allows players who turn 36 during their contract to have the last year's pay treated as deferred compensation and distributed over earlier years of the contract. This could potentially create problems for the team financially, however if it indeed became an issue the 3rd year team option should provide relief.

Just like the financial and age sides, I am similarly lukewarm (but positive) regarding the skillset that Miller offers the Blazers. On one hand, he is a veteran who for the last two years helped coach his team to the playoffs despite significant injuries. He is a physical, post-up guard who has good slashing/passing skills and he would also be an upgrade as far as pick & roll offense and midrange scoring/efficiency. Perhaps even more importantly, he would be an addition that, like Turkoglu, would relieve pressure for Roy to create the majority of offense.

That said, Miller is a liability from 3-point range. There is really no other way to put it as he is one season removed from consecutively averaging 5.3 and 8.8 percent from behind the arc. Even though these numbers are outliers, for his carrer he comes in at a whopping 21 percent. Let's put it this way, even Kevin Garnett shoots significantly better from 3.

In the end, I would probably have favored the Blazers to keep their cap space and look for more options as other teams try to slim down for the Lebron/DWade/Bosh/etc free agent class of 2010. However, depending on the final contract numbers I don't mind this move that much and remain relatively excited about the prospective results next season.