The Portland Trail Blazers have reached an agreement with forward Mike Miller on a contract buyout, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. He will become an unrestricted free agent once he clears waivers.
Miller, 35, was acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier in the summer, along with center Brendan Haywood who was also waived before his contract could become guaranteed.
Since Miller was recently traded by the Cavaliers, he is not allowed to re-sign with them this year, but of course, he has the freedom to sign anywhere else.
According to Ira Winderman, the 15-year veteran is unlikely to return to the Miami Heat where he won two championships. Nonetheless, Miller can be a serviceable three-point shooter for championship contenders, which should be teams he highly considers.
Throughout his career, Miller has played for six different organizations, including the Orlando Magic, Memphis Grizzlies, Washington Wizards, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the aforementioned Heat and Cavaliers. He has career averages of 11.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists on 46.0 percent shooting from the field and 40.7 percent shooting from deep range.
However, last year for the Cavaliers, the long-time veteran played just 52 games, earning 15 starts while averaging merely 2.1 points per contest.
By agreeing to a buyout, the Blazers will shed $3.2 million off their pay roll, inflating their salary cap further more. With Portland headed toward mediocrity as they are rebuilding with young pieces, it wasn’t problematic for them to waive Miller, especially since Al-Farouq Aminu and Allen Crabbe are expected to swallow up all the minutes at the small forward position.
Within the next 48 hours, teams with cap room have the ability to claim Miller off the waiver wire. If he goes unclaimed by Tuesday, Miller can then sign with any team he desires, which, as mentioned above, is expected to be with a contender.
