The Blazers finally nailed down their small forward position yesterday with the official signing of former Clipper, Darius Miles in a six year deal.  The deal was reportedly spurned on by the fondness Blazers owner,  has for the young player.

"Paul Allen saw something that a lot of GMs and a lot of owners didn't see in me," Miles said.

"It's more than I thought I could get when the season ended," Miles said. "It's a whole lotta money."

Miles will be competing with Shareef Abdur-Rahim for the starting small forward position, although it may not be much of a competition as Abdur-Rahim refuses to play for the Blazers unless he starts at power forward, a spot reserved for the Blazer?s leading scorer and future, Zach Randolph.

The Blazers are showing no signs of trading Abdur-Rahim, and GM John Nash envisions a three man forward rotation with each playing around 30 minutes.  With Ruben ?sky-pilot? Patterson scrapping for any minutes he can off the bench.

John Nash is standing by his vision saying, "we have had discussions with both Darius and Shareef about the situation," Nash said. "I think they understand what the situation is, but I don't know that either is comfortable with it. Initially, it would seem to me that they would play the same number of minutes. Who starts and who finishes is open to discussion.