According to multiple reports, the Miami Heat will amnesty Mike Miller.
Although earlier reports said the Heat would not be exercising its amnesty clause this year, it looks like it's officially going to be Miller, AKA Let It Fly, AKA Teen Wolf, AKA Mystic Wolfman, AKA Pet Sematary, AKA Shoeless Mike.
It would be completely appropriate if we all just wore one shoe for the rest of the workday today.
It's a sad day to be sure, but Miller had two years and $12.8 million remaining on his contract.
This means the Heat will now be saving around $17 million in the luxury tax with Miller off the books.
According to ESPN's Tom Habestroh, the Heat is saving more than $40 million in tax payments over the next two seasons by using the amnesty on Miller.
Basically, under the amnesty provision, a team has a one-time opportunity to release a player through the waiver process without the player's salary counting toward the team's salary cap or -- especially in the Heat's case -- luxury tax.
So it makes good business sense for the Heat, overall.
But it sucks the balls seeing one of the all-time Heat heroes go out like this.
Miller exemplified the heart of a champion -- or at the very least, the heart of a man who refused to die -- by flopping out onto the court night after night while dealing with busted knees, a bad back, and, at times, being diagnosed as clinically dead.
It physically hurt to watch Miller hobble out onto the court during the past couple of postseasons, watching the man waddle up and down the floor like his nuts had been stapled to his thighs.
Yet even through pain, Miller blew the opponent's ass to smithereens with his sharp shooting and his relentless energy.
His seven three-pointers in the 2012 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder have immortalized him as a Heat badass until the end of time.
And who can forget when he hit that magical three against the Spurs in this year's finals while wearing only one shoe?
Godspeed, Teen Wolf.
And thanks for all the awesome.
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