C.J. Miles reportedly set to opt out of final year of contract

The Indiana Pacers will reportedly receive unfortunate (but expected) news that C.J. Miles will test the free agent market by declining his player option and opting out of the final of his four year contract with the Pacers.

With Miles spending the last three years on a bargain contract and three point shooting an ever increasing premium in the NBA, there’s no doubt Miles would decide to test the free agent market. It will come after a career year three point percentage (41.3%) and free throw percentage (90.3%).

If the Pacers look to drastically upgrade the roster without paying into the luxury tax, it will be difficult for them to afford to keep Miles, but given the direction of the league and the makeup of the Pacers roster, it will be hard for them to afford letting him go.

Indiana was just 23rd in made three pointers a season ago, attempting just 23 a game, which was in the bottom four of the league. Miles was Indiana’s lone three point threat. While Paul George lead the team with 195 made threes, Jeff Teague was the only other player on the Pacers to average 1.0 three pointers a night at just 1.1 per game.

Miles converted 23.8% of Indiana’s total three pointers on the season, and breaking up one half of the East Coast Splash Brothers will make it hard to convince the other to move forward with the Pacers as well. Though Miles’s playoff performances the past two seasons have been underwhelming at best, the Pacers may still need Miles more than he needs them.

For more on Miles’s 2016-17 campaign, check out C. Cooper’s Indy Cornrows Player Review.