Amnesty week approaches for Heat, Miller

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Of all the key NBA offseason personnel dates, including the July 1 start of free-agency negotiations and the July 10 start of the offseason signing and trading periods, the one that most resonates for the Heat figures to come Thursday. That's the start of the annual amnesty window, the seven-day period that this year runs from July 11 to July 17, when eligible teams may designate eligible players for amnesty release. For the Heat, it figures to open a window into how owner Micky Arison plans to approach business going forward, the delicate balance between victory and viability. To refresh: Amnesty was added to the Collective Bargaining Agreement that ended the 2011 lockout. Because of the onerous luxury tax to be phased in, teams were allowed to designate one player over the course of the CBA for release in a manner that his remaining salary would not count against the salary cap and luxury tax. The caveat is that the amnesty provision applied only to players under contract at the expiration of the previous CBA. To add tidiness to the process, there would be a one-week period each offseason for teams to make such annual designations.