C.J. Miles Is Ready to Fill His Role

C.J. Miles’ first half-season for the Indiana Pacers has been a struggle. Signed to a four-year contract in free agency at a time when Paul George was still whole, Miles was supposed to, in tandem with Rodney Stuckey, fill the void left by Lance Stephenson at shooting guard.

While Stuckey was a slasher and ball dominator in the same vein as Stephenson, Miles was signed to stretch the floor in a way Lance never really did. The 27-year-old shot 39% from 3-point range from 2012-2014 with Cleveland.

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Starting even in training camp, however, Miles has been on the injury report.

Migraines caused him to fluctuate in and out of the lineup early in the year, then he missed time again with a strained groin late last month. While becoming a member of this year’s Pacers team surely hasn’t been good for his luck or his health, injuries have been one of the most consistent parts of Miles’ career. Since the Jazz drafted him out of high school in 2005, he has played 70 games or more in a season just twice.

Having missed 11 games already, it looks like Miles is doubtful to hit that mark this season either, but he certainly hasn’t been the only Pacer battling injuries. Indiana has been happy just to have Miles on the floor to give them some bodies despite his inconsistent results to this point. Once the team weathers this storm of injuries, the Pacers must be excited about the chance to see how Miles fits in with this team at full-strength, especially since his role is best-suited for spot-up shooting and other, more team-dependent opportunities.

Miles does have nine years in the league, though, so the book is out on the guy. Between that, his first 43 games for Indiana, and the knowledge of how the Pacers used Stephenson, you can construct a pretty clear picture of how Miles fits in for Indiana going forward, including a potential playoff push.

The biggest asset Miles brings to the table is one that comes at a premium in today’s NBA: shooting.

The swingman’s ability to stretch the floor with his smooth stroke, especially on corner 3s, is valuable given the league’s current defensive trends. And it’s a skill the Pacers have lacked, really, since the good Mike Dunleavy left town. Against teams that play aggressive defenses, having a decisive, knockdown shooter can be a trump card, and Miles fits that bill.

Despite shooting just 31% from three this year — some of which could be chalked up to the migraine issues and Indiana’s general lack of offensive punch — Miles’ career suggests that he should be a valuable shooting threat going forward. This interesting post from Nylon Calculus recently showed how 3-point shooting takes about 700 attempts to stabilize, meaning that many attempts are required to be able to determine whether the players’ accuracy was meaningful. In the case of Miles, just ball-parking the sample sizes, he shot 33% on his first 751 attempts and 36% on his next 802 attempts before joining the Pacers this summer and falling into his mini-slump.

Considering the significance of those sample sizes, the rise in efficiency from the first batch of attempts to the second suggests real, meaningful improvement in C.J. Miles’ shot, which in turn suggests that his current clip should improve.

Miles’ wide-open shot attempts tell the same story. Per NBA.com, he has shot just 25% on shots deemed open 3s and 29% on wide-open 3s this season compared to 45% on both types of shots last year. Since all basketball players enjoy a good open shot, this, too, should fix itself in time.

Outside of his spot-up 3-point shooting, Miles does a solid job of keeping defenses off-balance. He has been an especially careless passer for the Pacers this season, but otherwise, he moves the ball well and understands how to use his shooting to set up other parts of his offense, such as driving off hard closeouts. Miles finishes well at the rim, where he has shot about 63% this season, and has a decent pull-up game from about 10-15 feet.

That’s about the extent of his repertoire, though, which both explains why he has struggled as a #1 or #2 option for this team, and why he could end up being an ideal cog on offense when the Pacers finally get back to full health. Role players who understand their roles are crucial, and with that ability, Miles would fit perfectly alongside Indiana’s playmakers like Paul George or even George Hill.

When things are going well, envisioning Miles’ offensive niche on this team is simple.

His recent 26-point outburst in Indiana’s win over Cleveland showed that best. He got hot and hit a pair of go-ahead 3-pointers in the final minutes, both off simple, movement-based passing from other offensive threats. As the Pacers continue to welcome back healthy talent, hopefully Miles’ opportunities will continue to improve.

On the other end, Miles does not, on an individual level, measure up to the physicality of Lance Stephenson, but he is a solid defender.

Jon Washburn pointed this out several weeks ago when comparing the two players, who are similarly sized (though Lance does have a much longer wingspan and more muscle). So while he won’t be bodying anyone up as the team’s key defender, Miles has a good understanding of team defense and uses what wingspan he does have to disrupt passing lanes well.

The Pacers don’t need much more than that from Miles, considering Vogel’s squad has the luxury of boasting two other good perimeter defenders in George and Hill, plus the behemoth underneath, Roy Hibbert. After a rough start, Miles has been up to the task of funneling his man toward Hibbert, and the defensive tracking stats back up the fact that Miles’ has defended his position well since early December. He just needed to get acclimated to putting defense first again each night, something he hadn’t done since playing for Jerry Sloan in Utah.

The Pacers’ situation has been unsteady since Miles joined the team, so there’s a bit of missing context in any assessment of how exactly he fits into this team at full strength. Questions, like whether he should start or come off the bench, can’t be answered until everyone returns.

After playing in almost 50 games with Indiana, “Mas Fresco” has demonstrated a straightforward skill-set for a spot-up, floor-stretching wing. After the failures of recent free-agent signees like D.J. Augustin and Gerald Green, simply getting what was advertised is a welcome change, and although Miles hasn’t been everything the Pacers had hoped, he has played hard and contributed, and the big-picture numbers indicate that he’ll have more to offer once his role becomes solidified.

Just as importantly, Miles has fit in well with Indiana’s team culture, an issue that allegedly had a great deal to do with Lance leaving town. Versatile, low-key players like Miles aren’t the most exciting replacements for a high-wire act like Stephenson, but after everything the Pacers have dealt with during the last year, the slow and steady presence of Miles, along with his shooting, will hopefully be a nice change going forward.

**All stats courtesy of NBA Stats and Player Tracking.**

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