C.J. Miles elects to enter free agency

C.J. Miles will decline his player option and is set to become a free agent on July 1, the Pacers’ versatile forward confirmed to VigilantSports.com on Tuesday. This move was entirely expected considering he was set to pull in $4.772 million for the final year of a four-year deal he signed in 2014 worth $18 million. The news was first reported by Ben Gibson of 8points9seconds.com. “If it does come to opting out, it’s not because I want to leave. It’s just solely a business decision,” Miles told VigilantSports.com last month. “It’s just solely because it would be in the best interest of myself, my family, and the people that I have around me.” Just last offseason, Miles saw Solomon Hill ($58 million) and Ian Mahinmi ($64 million) move on from the Pacers to sign lucrative new contracts elsewhere. With New Orleans and Washington, respectively. Miles, meanwhile, has earned an estimated $34.265 million over his 12 seasons in the NBA, according to Basketball-Reference.com. He was drafted 34th overall by Utah in 2005, and spent his first seven seasons in Salt Lake City. He then played two years in Cleveland, and the last three in Indiana. Miles turned 30 in March, (and his birthday surprise party included ‘the illest cake of all time’.) The Pacers have six players guaranteed to be under contract for the 2017-18 season: Paul George, Thad Young, Monta Ellis, Al Jefferson, Myles Turner, and Lance Stephenson. The organization has decisions to make on Glenn Robinson III, Rakeem Christmas, and Joe Young by July 1; Georges Niang by July 15; and Kevin Seraphin by August 1. WATCH: C.J. plays the piano in NBA All-Star Talent Challenge