C.J. Miles is the type of free agent teams need to counter the Warriors
Even though he’s been in the NBA since 2005-06, C.J. Miles will have an opportunity to sign the largest contract of his career this summer. Following a season in which he averaged 10.7 points per game off the bench for the Pacers on 41.3 percent shooting from the perimeter, Miles opted out of the final year of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent. While he had a guarantee of $4.7 million for the 2017-18 season — what would have been the most he’s ever made in a single season for his career — his skill set as one of the few 3-and-D wings on the open market could help him double or even triple that figure.
Much of it has to do with Miles proving himself as an elite shooter last season. Beyond making over 40.0 percent of his 3-point attempts, he ranked in the 97.9 percentile in spot-up shooting with an average of 1.34 points per possession. That put him ahead of a number of sharpshooters such as Stephen Curry (1.33), Kevin Durant (1.26 PPP), Kawhi Leonard (1.24 PPP) and Klay Thompson (1.17). It made up for 32.8 percent of his offense in total and Miles finished in the top 20 in points scored out of spot-up opportunities on the season.
The bulk of those points came in a catch-and-shoot setting. Miles once again was at the top of the pack in that regard, converting 42.6 percent of his catch-and-shoot attempts from the perimeter to score 484 points in total. His ability to make defenders pay for abandoning him on the perimeter to contain dribble penetration or double a big-time scorer like Paul George is the main reason why the Pacers finished the regular season as a slight negative with him on the bench and a slight positive with him on the court.
Those 3-pointers weren’t all wide open either. 125 of his 163 made 3-pointers on the season were open or wide open, according to NBA.com, but Miles knocked down 34 3-pointers within 2-4 feet of a defender at a decent 34.4 percent clip. That’s along the lines of what he accomplished in the 2015-16 season: 43 3-pointers on 35.0 percent shooting against wide open coverage, 61 3-pointers on 39.4 percent shooting against open coverage and 36 3-pointers on 34.3 percent shooting against tight coverage.
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When Miles plays shooting guard, his height at 6-foot-6 and length gives him an advantage against smaller defenders. He doesn’t need much room to get off his shot and he has another small advantage as a left-handed shooter. He’s particularly scary in the corners, where he made 50.8 percent of his 130 attempts last season.
Being able to space the floor at a high rate will continue to be Miles’ bread and butter throughout his next contract. 63.2 percent of his shot attempts came from the perimeter last season and he can space the floor from a number of positions. Miles has been a “shooting guard” for most of his career, but he spent more minutes at small forward last season and even logged 9.0 percent of his minutes at power forward. Given the nature of today’s NBA, it’s no surprise the Pacers were at their best offensively at a rate of 120.2 points per 100 possessions with Jeff Teague, Monta Ellis, George, Miles and Myles Turner on the court.
Miles has shown growth in other areas of his game as well. He struggled to score off of screens consistently last season — he was in the 39.9 percentile with 0.88 points per possession after being in the 67.5 percentile with 1.01 points per possession the season before — but he’s showcased the ability to make shots in those situations as a shooter when his defender slips under the screen…
…and a driver when they chase him over.
Miles also made 41.4 percent of his pull-up 2-pointers last season and 29.7 percent of his pull-up 3-pointers. Those numbers were down from the 2015-16 season, according to NBA.com, when he made 45.6 percent of his pull-up 2-pointers and 32.9 percent of his pull-up 3-pointers. In total, it gives him the statistical profile of a knockdown catch-and-shoot wing who can make some plays happen for himself off the dribble. He won’t necessarily pull-up and get to the basket in volume, but it makes him a little less predictable when compared to most conventional spot-up shooters.
Miles combines his shooting prowess with the ability to defend a couple of positions. After having success guarding post players in the 2015-16 season before his body started to break down, he held opponents to 18 points on 28 post-up possessions last season. It’s only a small sample size when compared to other players, but Miles allowing 0.64 points per possession in the post put him in the 92.9 percentile.
Miles has some limitations defensively — he’s far more “3” than “D” — but he’s capable of giving teams positive minutes on that end of the floor when he’s locked in. If he’s in the right environment with other solid defenders around him, he should be able to fit it well enough to stay on the floor against teams like the Warriors for short spurts.
All of this is to say that it’s clear what type of player Miles is at this stage of his career, which is why he will be highly sought-after free agent. Having someone who can play in both big and small lineups without being a huge negative on either end is what the Cavaliers, Rockets, Pelicans and Clippers need to compete with the Warriors moving forward. Even if it’s off the bench for 20-25 minutes per game as opposed to starting for 30 minutes per game, Miles can give those sorts of teams the lift they need to make the Warriors respect them offensively and defensively.
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The question is how much those teams will have to commit to Miles for playing that role. $4.7 million in today’s NBA would be a bargain for him, but there aren’t many teams with the personnel to match up with the Warriors who can also afford to pay a 30-year-old like Miles a significant amount of money. It’s why getting him at a discount would be a huge win, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another team lock him up for a lot more money.
Either way, there certainly won’t be a shortage of options for him as he looks to sign his next contract given the shortage of 3-and-D wings available on the open market this summer. Miles made the right decision financially by opting out and we’ll soon find out if it helps him get a step closer to winning a championship.