Will 2017 be a year of redemption for Shelby Miller?

The sports world has been abuzz this week following a trade in the NBA that might end up being one of the most ill-advised trades in recent sports history. The trade of DeMarcus Cousins from Sacramento to New Orleans could be seen as a head-scratcher at best, self-sabotage at worst, and brazen highway robbery for the Pelicans. It's actually reminiscent of the infamous trade that saw the Braves somehow receive a package of Dansby Swanson, Ender Inciarte, and Aaron Blair from the Diamondbacks for Shelby Miller.

This was a bad deal for Arizona in every sense of the word, as it carried consequences both immediate and long-term. Swanson ended up making his major league debut in that season and is now a prime candidate for Rookie of the Year, and Inciarte won a Gold Glove (and passed the stats test with excellent defense) while also showing signs of improving with the bat. Meanwhile, Miller ended up toiling in the desert and was even demoted to Triple-A at one point -- a trip that coincided with the Braves visiting Arizona with both Swanson and Inciarte in tow. Go figure.

However, if Miller's recent conversation with Ken Rosenthal is any indication, the 26-year-old righty is determined to make sure that he can return to the form that convinced Arizona -- reportedly, against now-former GM Dave Stewart's "gut feeling" -- to give up a king's ransom for him. Miller admitted that the expectations from being the centerpiece of the trade weighed on him and played a role in his underperformance in 2016. This could just be yet another case of a player claiming to be in the "Best (Mental) Shape of His Life," but Miller's got every reason in the world to want to step things up for 2017. That trade will never be considered even, but it makes sense that he'd be trying to make it even a little less lopsided for Arizona.

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