Miami Heat Rumor: Mike Miller Would Be Great Target for Amnesty Clause

One of the major additions expected to be included in the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement is the so-called "amnesty clause." This provision would allow teams a mulligan on an untenable contract, removing all salary-cap and luxury-tax hits for a single player if the team pays off his remaining contract and releases him.

Unsurprisingly, one team potentially interested in the financial flexibility stemming from the amnesty clause is the top-heavy Miami Heat. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, one prime target for the Heat to release is veteran SG Mike Miller.

Dropping Miller would make a lot of sense for the Heat, given that he’s due to make $5.4 million next season (and is under contract for three more years after that). While Miller’s deadeye long-range shooting is an asset to Miami, it’s not worth that price tag to a team that needs every dollar of cap room it can get to revamp the aging supporting cast around the Big Three.

Miller will turn 32 in February and has battled injuries over the last two seasons. While his health problems have done little to damage his shooting touch—in 41 games with Miami he shot 36.4 percent from beyond the arc—the rest of his game has suffered, making him even more one-dimensional than he once was.

Finding a designated shooter who brings nothing else to the table is not a difficult task, even in a lackluster free-agent pool. Miami would have no trouble replacing Miller’s production for an appreciably more palatable salary cap number.

The Heat have much bigger fish to fry this offseason than worrying about their spot-up shooters. Mario Chalmers is a vital restricted free-agent, and a viable solution at center must be found.

Given all of those issues, relieving themselves of a $5.4 million burden for an injury-prone scorer seems an entirely reasonable move to make.