Most Wizards fans wouldn’t mind seeing Mike Miller on the team next year, but know there is virtually no chance of it happening, despite Miller’s offer of loyalty immediately after the last game of the season, and more recently telling Comcast’s Chris Miller, “the Wizards landing the number one pick changes everything,” and that he would “love to play with John Wall.”

We know Mike wants to play for a championship contending winner, desperately. His hunger was only increased by the sour taste of 2009-10 with the Wizards. And the 2010-11 Wizards won’t quench his thirst either.

We also know Mike is boys with LeBron James. We know Mike went so far as to name his son, Maverick, after the close friend and adviser of James, Maverick Carter … or so LeBron claims. We know that the 2010 NBA Free Agency dominoes are held hostage by Mr. James. Mike Miller knows this too.

“That’s when everything will start,” Miller recently told Stu Whitney of the Argus Leader, “LeBron and those guys will start making their decisions, and that will open the floodgates for some of the second-tier guys.”

Whitney profiles Miller in a piece entitled, “‘I’m looking for a winner’: Free agent Miller seeks yet another fresh start in NBA,” for the Sioux Falls publication out of Miller’s home state of South Dakota.

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{via Ball Don’t Lie}

LeBron James likes wearing his own name-bearing shoes that fuel his ego. He wears MVP shoes. He wears New York Yankees shoes.

One upon a time Mike Miller wore LeBron James shoes to practice. This created a minor hubbub in Wizards Nation. In hindsight, the blog-worthy occurrence was probably a distraction. Not a distraction that amounted to much, but when added to everything else … exactly.

Sure, team captains Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler chimed in about not liking it. But DeShawn Stevenson … Mister 50/50, I Can’t Feel My Face … the Wizards’ protagonist in their rivalry with the Cavaliers (or antagonist depending on what side you’re on) … was the most vocal about Miller’s shoe selection, drawing scorn for his antics.

Of course, those were the days when the rivalry still had very faint signs of life. It’s over now. DeShawn Stevenson said so. Well, DeShawn in the past talking about a once unimaginable future.

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Before the final game of the season, Flip Saunders was queried a fair bit about a player, who in just 26 games (18 starts) since signing with the team in late-February, is the free-agent Wizards fans, and likely the organization, would most like to bring back. If you think Shaun Livingston is anything less than a keeper then you haven’t been watching. And that’s okay. But we’ll get to Livingston’s situation soon down the road.

In talking about what factors might influence Livingston, or any other free-agent for that matter, Saunders said, “When players have decisions, it’s based on money … money and opportunity. That’s pretty much what it is.”

That brings us to Mike Miller. He’s amongst the handful of the Wizards’ own free-agents that the team has some level of interest in retaining. The chances of keeping Miller may not be as high as Livingston, or even Josh Howard, in my opinion, but they are certainly higher than the chance of seeing Randy Foye in a Wizards uniform again. Basketball management thinks highly of Miller’s ability and character, and sources have indicated that Ernie Grunfeld refused to include Miller in trade proposals leading up to February’s deadline, including spurning strong interest from the Miami Heat.

Free-agency obviously depends on a number of factors. One, as Flip mentioned, is money. Priorities two and three might be money as well. But not necessarily for Miller. Even before the frustrations of 2009-10 started to show in his on-court emotions as the season wore down, it was easy to sense that Miller desperately desires to play for a winner. In 20 total career playoff games over five seasons (two with Orlando and three with Memphis), Miller has only two post-season wins to show, obviously never making it past the first round.

For these reasons it’s been often believed that Miller would head for greener winning pastures this off-season, perhaps to play with his buddy LeBron, or even Dwight Howard, as he once said that he would “love” to go back to Orlando … if you want to read into that a ton.

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[Mike Miller's final shot versus the Atlanta Hawks, March 11, 2010]

Your average gambling addict is probably keeping track of every game on every night, including a Wizards game. But last Thursday against the Hawks, even the most casual sports gambler was probably paying attention to the Wiz.

Even though there was a full slate of college basketball conference tournament action that night, there were only three NBA games on the schedule … the Bulls at Magic and the Warriors at the Blazers in addition to the Hawks at Wizards, which was a snow make-up game.

Heading into the night, Atlanta was favored by seven points. And with time running out in the fourth quarter, it looked like the Hawks were going to cover. Up 104-97, Marvin Williams was fouled by Mike Miller with nine seconds left. At this point, the clock could have run out, causing a push. And at this point, someone was probably thanking Miller for the foul, possibly allowing Atlanta to cover the spread.

Free-throw #1 … a miss. Free-throw #2 … a make. Hawks up eight, 105-97.

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As the Post’s Michael Lee reported before the game, Gilbert Arenas has filed paper work to change his jersey number from #0 to #6, and the NBA has given its approval.

What does it all mean? The death of Agent Zero? The birth of Agent Six? With Gilbert, who knows. What we do know is that a current Washington Wizard wears #6, and that would be Mike Miller, who probably had to file paper work himself.

Miller was asked about the number change after the game. {more below the jump}

Although this move achieved a certain level of knowledge by late Friday in the least, the February 26 deadline to submit paper work to the NBA (also exactly a month prior to Gilbert Arenas’ sentencing date), there are whispers that Arenas’ intentions have been known for longer.

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Mike Miller doesn’t want to be your team’s leading scorer. And he doesn’t want to listen to others who have implored him to be more aggressive on offense, including his coach.

This season, almost as much as Miller has said, “It is what it is,” if not more, he has pragmatically relayed, “I pick my spots,” as if it were ingrained into his basketball dogma.

Miller should be lauded for his selflessness, on top of his constant willingness to be first off the bench to support his teammates coming into a timeout or him being a primary proponent of hustle on the court. Passing is the “right way to play basketball” says Miller. Nothing wrong with that school of thought. Dude is honorable.

But as good as his intentions are, Miller’s methods have, at times, served as a detriment to his team. The drives ending right at the rim only to kick the ball backwards to the perimeter. The passed up open shots where Miller, the best shooter on the team, makes the extra pass just to get the ball “poppin’.” Players with his skill shouldn’t be such delegates.

Is it a coincidence that in Saturday’s game against the Knicks where Miller scored a season-high 25 points on the most shots he’s attempted and made (9-15) as a Wizard — also the most threes he’s attempted and made (7-10) — he also dropped a season-high eight assists?

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Before they lost to the Thunder and before Flip Saunders got extremely perturbed, bumping a 40-game evaluation period down to 30 games when it was originally 20 games, I asked various Wizards what was their favorite present that they gave someone else for Christmas/the holidays. Several of them, such as Dominic McGuire, Fabricio Oberto, Mike James, Mike Miller, JaVale McGee, Nick Young, Andray Blatche, Caron Butler, and Gilbert Arenas answered.

It’s just Wizards being Wizards y’all.

At 10-20, with more than a record’s reason to be distraught, i.e., read this piece on Hardwood Paroxysm by Matt Moore, people ask me if it’s hard covering the team. I say …

1) I’ll always love the Wizards.

2) For the reason(s) below, being around this team will continue to be fun. {And we must remember, even though they get paid a lot^4 more money than you and me, they are people too. Not basketball playing robots. That being said, I wish the Wizards would start earning their goddamn salary. (So does Flip Saunders, more from Thursday’s practice to come.)}

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This season, the Wizards have some of the better commercials I’ve seen be produced for the team in a long time … perhaps ever.

One of the well-shot cityscape spots features Antawn Jamison at the Stead Recreation Center, another with Caron Butler under Whitehurst Freeway. There’s one with Andray Blatche doing something, can’t recall what at the moment.

Then there’s the most recent spot featuring Mike Miller, seen on the Comcast broadcast of the Miami game. The commercial shows ‘It is what it is’ Mike driving through the city and jogging in the shadows of D.C. landmarks as he talks about proving himself in a new city. He has … when he’s been healthy.

At the end, Miller shows how serious he is about the well-being of the franchise, staring into the camera as if to say, “Wizards Holiday Packs are the heart and soul of kindred spirits behind the mean-mug expression of concern I am so eloquently and thought-provokingly providing you with at this frozen moment in time.”

Miller is more serious about holiday packs than he was for social networking. His look reaches from the inner depths and pleads to the recipient, “Hey little bro, trust me, I’ve done all of those unsavory things that you wanna try. Now don’t … but do go buy a Wizards Holiday Pack. ”

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Well, it’s not the end of the world, but it isn’t exactly what Wizards fans want to hear either … especially after a loss.

Miller originally injured his left, non-shooting shoulder less than a minute into the third quarter and looked to be in a lot of pain. He sat on the bench for a couple minutes while being looked at by a trainer and eventually made his way back into the locker room. Early reports indicated that it was a mild shoulder sprain and that Miller would return.

With 3:50 left in the third, Miller checked back in. He seemed to slightly favor the shoulder, but looked okay as he played through. Unfortunately, just under three minutes into the fourth quarter, he injured it again on a hard drive to the basket. Scoring the hoop and the harm, Miller stayed in the game and made the And1 free-throw, which didn’t give the Wizards a chance to call a timeout.

This time, Miller was clearly heavily favoring the shoulder. The Heat subsequently went down the court and Quentin Richardson missed a three pointer. However, the Wizards did not call a timeout to get Miller off the court. On the next offensive possession, the ball actually ended up in Miller’s hands, or hand, as he caught it and only dribbled with his right hand. And then the most amazing part which got Miller a standing ovation, he zipped a pass to Andray Blatche right under the basket for a dunk and his third assist of the game.

The Heat then called a timeout and Stevenson was able to check in for Miller who went straight to the locker room where he would be declared out for the rest of the night. In his post-game presser, Flip Saunders said that Miller would be out for 7-10 days with a “mild 1 sprain of his shoulder.”

You can read the AP story here via ESPN.

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First action item: ESPN CHAT

I’ll be chatting/answering questions about the Wizards on ESPN.com today along with J.A. Adande.

The session starts at 2 pm EST, you can click here to go to the live chat page.

Second action item: PODCASTING

Mike and Jake of Bullets Forever, along with myself, took part in a Wizards variety show/preview Podcast with Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm … which is part of the ESPN TrueHoop Network and one of the premiere general NBA blogs on the web. It gets slightly choppy a couple times with a delay, and I actually got cut off from the conference call twice … hey, those are the breaks. But the Podcast was a lot of fun to do and may thanks goes to Matt for putting it together.

One thing I’d like to clear up … when I got cut off the second time, after I was dialed back in, Matt made a joke about how he was telling Mike and Jake that they were better bloggers than me. Then you hear a voice say “I don’t agree.” That wasn’t me in some LeBronsian moment of self-touting douche-baggery (as sometimes it was hard to tell who was talking). That was actually, I believe, Mike Prada. And I would, in turn, like to disagree with Mike. He has built an absolutely stellar community of Wizards fans … I mean, Bullets Forever is ‘the’ original Wizards blog. Although on occasion Mike and I don’t see eye-to-eye, I always enjoy his analytical train of thought and reasoning. Mike and the whole crew at BF do absolutely excellent work.

Anytime you want to talk Wizards (without the often times irrationality of some of the commenters on the WaPost’s Wizards Insider — no offense to Michael Lee who’s a great writer … what the commenters say isn’t his fault), just head over to Bullets Forever and comment on a post, or start your own discussion with a Fan Post. Read more »

Mike Miller is keeping his LeBrons …

Okay Mike, I get it and it’s cool with me. Although I may think what I think about LeBron James, I’ve got no beef with you.  LeBron’s shoes are your most favoritest in the whole wide world … and you are BFF with the guy who chose to have a tattoo artist ink ‘Chosen 1′ on his back.

I’m not sure who LeBron thinks actually “chose” him to be whatever it is that he thinks he is (maybe Sports Illustrated is god to him — whatever the case, it’s kind of arrogant).

On a side, but related note: It’s funny … when an athlete is good and some sort of athletic freak-of-nature, he is said to have “god-given talent” (aka chosen). But when someone is born with a disability, it’s called a “being tested.” Oh well and whatever, I’m digressing way beyond my worldly means of comprehension.

The point is, Mike, you named your son after LeBron James’ friend and now you want to keep wearing his shoes. They are light and no other shoe will ever, ever hold you with the same embrace. You say you’ll wear them until they hurt you. Basically, LeBron’s shoes are like a girl you’re seriously dating (but not necessarily one who’s achieved ‘girlfriend’ status … yet).

But here’s the problem, this girl you’re dating (or what the shoes represent: LBJ and the team he plays for, the Cleveland Cavaliers), has had “issues” … not only with at least one of your current teammates/friends, but she has left bridges burning all over the city in which you live/play.

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A scene from glorious Grand Rapids, MI - {flickr/OZinOH}

Listening to basketball on the radio is hard … damn hard. Hard like drinking warm milk and eating boiled eggs in the hot July sun while getting bit by mosquitoes and suffering from a tequila and red wine hangover.

Ok, well maybe it’s not that bad. Wizards radio guys Glenn Consor and Dave Johnson do a helluva job keeping team faithful updated with developments.

Still, when I hear Consor officially declaring Gilbert Arenas to be “back”, indicating that he hasn’t felt this way about the guard’s preseason cameo appearances up until now, I feel pretty deprived from not being able to see the moving pictures.

But the Wizards’ second unit held on late to win 101-98, and Arenas scored 24 points in just under 28 minutes (along with 5 assists to 6 turnovers). This team is getting their ‘LA Looks’ on and starting to gel. And hey, looks like they figured out a way to play some okay defense without Brendan Haywood (Fab Oberto led the Wiz with a plus-13).

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An update from Thursday’s practice …

Mike Miller Playmaking Role

Mike Miller just wants to be apart of a winning team. This is clear from the selfless attitude he has taken. When asked about his role on Thursday, he said he knows he’s not going to get 15-16 looks on offense anymore … and he’s fine with that. Of course, some might contend that he didn’t shoot enough with the Timberwolves last year and that he needs to be more aggressive on offense this season. But increased offensive assertiveness doesn’t necessarily mean shooting the ball.

In comparing his two potential roles for this team, starting versus coming off the bench (which is looking more and more like what he’s going to do as Flip Saunders today said that DeShawn Stevenson will probably start at shooting guard tomorrow), Miller said, “The second unit has me more of playmaker … making other guys around me better. We have enough playmakers in that first unit, so I’m playing there, it’s going to be more of a shot maker and a guy who rebounds … still making plays for people, but not nearly as much as on the second unit.”

He went on to reiterate that he just wants to make his second unit teammates better, saying they will be playing a completely different style than the first unit. Dare I dub Miller as a ’6th Man of The Year’ candidate (which would be his second time receiving the award)?

We will see. But bringing a veteran playmaker with diverse skills off the bench, someone who Saunders can trust, might be the way to go.

Suggested Reading: Randy Foye gets “in the flow” when paired with another ball-handler [Bullets Forever]

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Back in late May, Mike Miller professed his ‘man-crush’ on LeBron James via Twitter. When coming across this sometime in early September, I thought, ‘okay, let’s give this guy the benefit of the doubt.’ For one, his proclamation occurred way before he joined the Wizards. And let’s be honest, despite my hatred of LeBron, the guy is a damn fine basketball player.

Unfortunately, Miller just doesn’t seem to know any better. It’s kinda like the greasy-faced tween-age boys who have crushes on Megan Fox. Grown men know better. Sure, most so-called grown men wouldn’t kick Fox out the bed, i.e., wouldn’t mind LeBron James on their team. However, neither of these happen without compromising personal beliefs (and cheating on whomever you’re with/your team … especially if you’re a Wizards fans, but a distaste for LeBron is growing around the league).

My point: LeBron getting “Chosen One” tattooed on his back is just as douchey as Fox getting Marilyn Monroe tattooed on her forearm. (Cavs fans, I know you’re wondering, where does getting Abe Lincoln’s face tattooed on the front of your neck fit in? I’m not sure, and I won’t even begin to explain.)

Also, Fox’s hissy-fits on the set of Transformers easily compare to LeBron’s temper-tantrums when peddling his self-serving movie that essentially highlights the fact that the French translation of ‘team’ has an ‘i’ in it.

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In the past weeks, NBA TV has been showing top games from 2008-09. I happened to catch several, one being Tony Parker’s career-high 55 point game, which came on an early November night in Minneapolis. That’s right, Mike Miller and Randy Foye had the privilege of being on the court to witness. Naturally, I perked up to pay attention, and take some notes on what I observed of the two new Wizards.

Word of Minnesota’s offense slowing down at the unspoken decree of Al Jefferson (approved by Randy Wittman) were confirmed. But at least Big Al was willing to take charges, such early in the third quarter when Miller chose a horrible angle to close out on Michael Finley at the three point line. Miller had no balance, and his hands were neither active, nor high. The 35-year old Finley easily blew by, but lost focus during his open path and plowed into Jefferson for the offensive foul.

The very next time down the court, Miller found himself helping off Finley, who was again spotted up at the top of the key. Tony Parker was curling off a Tim Duncan ball screen on the wing, so yes, Miller had to help stop the penetration. But once the ball was kicked back to Finley, Miller hesitated on the close-out, letting Finley’s previous drive to the hoop get into his head. Finley only needed that split-second of space to start drooling. The wide-open three was easy money for a shooter like him. Miller was never in a good position to even give a half-hearted contest.

Clearly, Mike Miller is not too swift on his feet … but this is something we all figured. His defense might be an issue, but not because of a lack of effort.

Back to the relationship between Miller, Jefferson, and Wittman’s offense. One of the more telling plays came shortly after Miller’s bad close-outs in the third. I’ve illustrated in the screen shots below.

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