6 Oklahoma City Thunder players who turned their back on the franchise
No. 5: Mike Miller
In the summer of 2013, the Miami Heat had just won its second championship in a row, coming back to defeat the San Antonio Spurs one year after taking down the young Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals.
With an aging supporting cast around their three stars, the Heat elected to save some money by casting free veteran wing Mike Miller using the amnesty provision recently written into the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The 13-year veteran was one of the most accomplished shooters in the NBA and certainly available to the cash-strapped Thunder. They courted the wing to join them, and multiple reports confirmed that the two sides were on the cusp of a deal.
Mike Miller, who cleared amnesty waivers and is a free agent, is telling friends he's likely to sign with OKC, league source says.
— Ken Berger (@KBergNBA) July 18, 2013
It was a match made in heaven to give the Thunder an ideal role player...until it wasn't. Miller changed his mind at the last moment and signed a deal to return to the Memphis Grizzlies, where he had played for the better part of a decade.
The Thunder were unable to find another significant player on the market and instead signed Ryan Gomes, a journeyman forward who played in Germany the year before. Gomes played just five games and 34 total minutes for the Thunder before his NBA career ended.
Miller, on the other hand, played all 82 games for Memphis, hitting 45.9 percent of his 3-pointers. He would have been an elite piece in the rotation for a team that won 59 games and made it to the Western Conference Finals; do they win the title with Miller?