Let me see if I have this right. The Cleveland Cavaliers decided they couldn't pay their best player so they traded him. OK, got that. I don't get it, but I got that it happened.

But what exactly do they think is going to happen when the newly arrived Darius Miles becomes eligible for the same pay raise that Andre Miller sought? Do they think the ever-accommodating David Falk is going to feel their pain? Do they think Leon Rose is going to do the same for Dajaun Wagner a few years hence?

	Darius Miles may present another max contract dilemma for the Cavs in two years.

It's never a good thing to start trading your assets -- in the case of Miller, it could be argued he was Cleveland's only asset -- because you can't or won't pay them. Then it becomes a gradual, annual, reshuffling of the deck where every decision is based on money, not talent. The Celtics saw this during Rick Pitino's lamentable reign as a series of money-based deals sent away Ron Mercer, Danny Fortson, Popeye Jones, Calbert Cheaney, Chris Herren, Dana Barros and Bryant Stith for what turned out to be Eric Williams and a No. 1 pick (Kedrick Brown.) That's one of many reasons why Pitino is in Louisville.

When it gets to that point, the owner of the team has an obligation to the players, fans and city to get out. Simply, if you can't pay, or can't play, then it's time to get out and find someone who can and will. Not everyone has to be Mark Cuban. But when you have an undisputed star -- and Miller is not only a good player but he's a good guy -- and you won't pay him, well, shame on you. That is not how you build a good team. The way you build a good team is to retain your stars and build around them. Somehow that got lost on the Cavs.

You keep your good players. You pay your good players. You even overpay your good players because they are worth more to you. You identify your good players and then you set them aside and you don't overpay the worker bees. There can't be any dispute that Miller was the single best player on the team. None. So, of course, trade him?

The last we checked, the Cavaliers, who were balking at Miller's request for a maximum salary deal (although they didn't balk at Zydrunas Ilgauskus' same request), wanted two young stars from the Clippers. That made sense. You could throw the two in there with Wagner and, well, you could argue that you were building for the future.

At one point on draft night, the Cavs thought they were close to landing Lamar Odom and Caron Butler for Miller. But they also were dealing with the Clippers, who have a long and sordid history of backing out or changing the rules. The deal fell through, but the message was clear: Miller was history.

The talks continued and both sides compromised. The Clippers, who supposedly were not going to part with Miles, did just that. But that second young star the Cavs demanded they must have as part of the deal? Uh, how does Harold Jamison sound? Didn't think so.

And, while we're at it, how good is Miles? Yes, he's had that burdensome word "potential" hanging around his neck since he came out of high school. Yes, he's ultra-athletic, which, in this day and age, is almost obligatory at every position. But has he done as much as Miller? Not even close. Does he play an important position like Miller does? Not really.

In the two years Darius Miles has been in the NBA, he is best known for one thing: that knucklehead gesture he and Quentin Richardson popularized last season. (To add to the mystery, neither fellow would explain the deep meaning of the forehead taps. The hoop world still stands breathless.)

But he has a chance to be a star now that he's in Cleveland. Never mind that Miller already is a star, leading the league in assists on a team that couldn't shoot and couldn't score. Miles is young, gifted -- and he's still an utterly clueless hunk. Sure, he could turn into something good; the NBA is a speculation business these days and Miles is one of the more well-known futures. But Miller is a proven commodity. No, the fans weren't coming to see him play. Or his loser team. But the fans would come to see him and a better, winning team. And how many think the Cavs are better off now?

	Miller spent three years playing selflessly for a losing team, never whining about his teammates or the franchise's commitment. ... But when it came time for the Cavs to reward him, they balked. In reality, they passed the buck.

There still is a possibility that Cleveland will move to address its open pit at point guard. The last we checked, Miles had no game from outside 15 feet, so someone is going to have to get him the ball. Bimbo Coles might raise his hand, but he's a backup's backup. Wagner might be viewed as Miller's positional replacement, but he is much more of a Marbury-esque guard based on what we've seen so far. And he's a rookie. The rumor of Antonio Daniels going to Cleveland is maybe a slight upgrade. Remember, he couldn't beat out a 19-year-old from France.

It's a shame. Miller spent three years playing selflessly for a losing team, never whining about his teammates or the franchise's commitment. All he did was establish himself as one of the elite point guards in the game. But when it came time for the Cavs to reward him, they balked. In reality, they passed the buck.

Now they can go out and lose 65 games this season and position themselves for Ohio high school phenom LeBron James, which is, of course, every bit as idiotic as it is unrealistic. Let's hope that that thought hasn't even registered. (Just ask the Celtics how going 15-67 got them Tim Duncan.)

No, the real problem is at the top, because, in the end, the Gunds have to sign off on everything. They just signed off on trading their best player since the pre-lockout Shawn Kemp, and they did so because they would not recognize that to make a buck, you have to spend a buck. Or two. They must have learned that basic business tenet somewhere along the way to becoming the millionaires they are today.

The NBA is no different. You want to win, you get the best players and you keep them. If you have to spend more than you'd like, that's the cost of not only doing business, but of building a winner. Maybe Miles will bring his knucklehead act to Cleveland and maybe he will blossom and maybe, maybe, maybe. That's all we know about him.

We know a lot more about Miller, and the fans of Cleveland know it as well. They have a right to feel jilted. And they can only wonder what will happen if Miles develops as people think he might. Where will he have to go because he, too, won't be recognized for what he is and paid accordingly. That is a slippery slope that can only be stopped and reversed by making sure that you, not someone else, keeps your best players.

Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.