Cleveland surrendered Andre Miller and Bryant Stith for Darius Miles and Harold Jamison, leaving the other team with a clear realized-value win.
Cleveland sent Andre Miller and Bryant Stith to the Clippers in July 2002 for Darius Miles and Harold Jamison. Miller was coming off a breakout season as one of the league’s top assist men, while Miles was a 20-year-old former No. 3 pick whose athleticism still carried major upside. The Cavaliers chose youth and projection over the proven production of their starting point guard.
Miles received a large role in Cleveland but never turned the opportunity into the franchise-level development the Cavaliers were seeking. His scoring and rebounding rose only modestly, and his Cleveland stint lasted less than two seasons before another trade. Jamison did not become a meaningful NBA piece for the Cavaliers, leaving the return dependent almost entirely on Miles breaking through.
Miller spent only one season with the Clippers, so Los Angeles did not turn the deal into a long-term franchise win either. He was still the most accomplished player in the transaction at the time and remained a high-level NBA point guard for many seasons after leaving Los Angeles. The Clippers at least converted Miles into a proven lead guard; Cleveland surrendered that stability without getting a comparable lasting payoff.
Miller's later NBA career makes this look like a landslide at first glance, but those later seasons belong to the organizations that employed him after his Clippers stint. For Los Angeles, the direct result was one year of a proven starting point guard rather than a decade-long franchise anchor. Cleveland controlled Miles for less than two seasons and did not find the long-term primary option it was seeking. Those narrower windows are the proper comparison. Stith and Jamison also belong in the transaction ledger, but neither changes the central Miller-versus-Miles decision or supplies Cleveland with an overlooked compensating asset. The Clippers get credit for acquiring the stronger verified player during the period they held him, while Cleveland's lower grade reflects the opportunity cost of giving up an established playmaker without securing a lasting replacement.
Clippers Win — Los Angeles B+, Cleveland D. The Clippers received Andre Miller, the best established player in the deal, while Cleveland’s gamble on Darius Miles never developed into the long-term cornerstone it needed to justify moving Miller. Miller’s Clippers tenure was brief, which keeps the grade below elite territory, but Cleveland’s return produced even less durable value. Harold Jamison and Bryant Stith did not alter that balance.