Portland, Ore. ? Aaron Miles is hanging out at his Oakland, Calif., apartment, working out daily at the Golden State Warriors’ training facility and waiting for a call from his agent, telling him where to head next.

The rookie point guard out of Portland’s Jefferson High and Kansas University was waived Jan. 5 by the Warriors, presumably because the NBA club was facing the deadline after which player contracts are guaranteed for the season.

By releasing Miles, the Warriors saved about $243,000 of his one-year deal worth $398,762.

Miles, 22, made Golden State’s roster as an undrafted free agent after a stellar college career with the Jayhawks.

As third-string point guard behind veterans Baron Davis and Derek Fisher, Miles saw limited action, averaging 0.8 points and 1.3 assists in 6.2 minutes in his 19 appearances.

“I could have played better,” Miles says. “I’m never satisfied with what I do. But I felt like I was growing and learning a lot as a player.”

Miles says he wasn’t told why he was released when the message was sent through Chris Mullin, Golden State’s executive vice president of basketball operations, and general manager Rod Higgins.

“Chris and Rod never said anything negative about my play,” Miles says. “They said, ‘We’re not cutting you loose because of your play.'”

Miles says he was “a little bit surprised” by Golden State’s decision.

“I knew it was a possibility,” he says. “It really hurt initially. Dang, I had made some good relationships with the coaches and people in the organization. But I came to grips with it and realized it’s a business.”

Speculation is that Miles’ situation is tied to Golden State’s interest in acquiring Ron Artest through trade, and the Warriors’ need to drop some salary in order to make a potential deal work through salary-cap restrictions. Miles has heard that and other trade scenarios through his agent, Chris Emens.

“If something happens trade-wise, teams may be in need of a young point guard,” Miles says.

So far, though, no bites.

“If all else fails, I’ll have to go to the NBDL (developmental league) for a while,” Miles says. “I’m going to wait a little while to see what happens.”

It’s not impossible that the Warriors will re-sign Miles at some point.

“Aaron is a great kid,” Golden State coach Mike Montgomery told Bay Area reporters. “I wish him well. If he’s able to work his way back to us, that’s great.”

Meanwhile, Miles hopes to continue his gig with the ESPN2 morning show “Cold Pizza,” on which he has been a semi-regular since the start of the season. Miles and the program’s hosts talk every few weeks about life as a rookie who doesn’t see a lot of action.

“I’ve enjoyed it,” he says. “Everything except getting up earlier than I would like.”