If I asked you to rank every pro athlete in America by how likely it was that they had used steroids since 2006, your list would probably start off like this.

1. Roger Clemens
2. Barry Bonds
3. 75% of the NFL
etc, etc.

If for some reason you even remembered that Darius Miles was technically on the Blazers' roster in 2006, you'd probably have him ranked #4,739. Or possibly even lower.

But you might actually be wrong. It appears Miles may be facing a 10-game suspension for steroids.

For those of you that aren't aware, Miles didn't play during the 06-07 season or the 07-08 season because of injuries. The Blazers and the NBA actually did a medical evaluation of Miles in April of this year and determined that his knees were so torn up that they were career ending in nature. While the Blazers still have to pay him, the medical evaluation allowed the Blazers to shave the remaining $18 million that Miles is due over the next two years off the salary cap.

But, in order to keep that $18 million off the books, Miles can't appear in 10 or more games anytime in the next two years, otherwise the Blazers get hit with that $18 mil on the salary cap - which is a major problem for them.

So naturally the Blazers don't want Miles to play. But guess what? Miles does. He's had a good workout with Boston and Phoenix is apparently interested as well.

But here's where we get into a bit of an issue. Miles, if he comes back, faces a 10-game suspension. The question is for what.

Well, as Henry Abbott at True Hoop points out, a 10-game suspension is very specific.

There are two ways to get that suspension: For a fourth marijuana offense, or for a first performance enhancing drugs offense.

In the event that a ten-game suspension is for a fourth marijuana offense, it would follow a five-game suspension (for the third-marijuana offense).

Darius Miles has not had a five-game suspension, and the League confirms that if he had had an earlier five-game suspension, we would know about it.

Normally I'd say Miles should be on his 40th marijuana offense by now, but the information says otherwise. While it's not even known when Miles tested positive in the last two years, it appears the only option left of what caused it is PEDs.

What's also bad though is that the NBA recently emailed every team about this suspension, even though Miles was waived by the Blazers in April of this year. That's extremely sketchy, and may be against the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement. In fact, it may be against the Collective Bargaining Agreement even if Miles was still a player. But let's be honest here, why in the hell are you emailing the medical records of an unemployed basketball player to every team in the league and not just the teams he's working out with? (even though that would probably be illegal as well).

Well, I can think of one reason. The Blazers and the NBA really don't want Miles coming back. For the Blazers it's simple. They don't want an extra $18 mil on their salary cap. But for the NBA, it may be far more sinister.

For whatever reason, the NBA has largely avoided the specter of steroids. Most people just assume NBA players don't use steroids. But if you look at the players closely, they've changed quite a bit over the years. That of course is likely because of training and working out, but it could be from other things as well.

Plus, in Miles' case, he was injured for two years but made multiple attempts to come back. If you're really desperate to get back to playing at an elite level, is it so crazy to think you might use PEDs to get there? Just ask Rick Ankiel for his response.

So the issue here for the NBA may be that they don't want anyone in the general public knowing that there are guys in the league who are probably using PEDs. As I said, the NBA isn't even brought up for an instant when you talk about steroids or PEDs, and I'm sure they'd like it to remain that way. If they can keep Miles out of the league, it's one headcase's word against the NBA and no one probably goes digging.

The only problem is, it sure looks like releasing Miles' medical records was illegal. And if Miles never gets the chance to play, you damn well better believe that some of his $18 million he's still owed by the Blazers will be going to a lawyer to sue the pants off of the NBA.

Either way, it should be interesting.

Darius Miles and that drug test [True Hoop]