Brandon Miller is excited for the 2026-27 season.
Brandon Miller believes the Charlotte Hornets will be "dangerous" next season after the offseason the front office had.
Miller thinks the Hornets added pieces around him and Kon Knueppel to help them "outcompete everybody."
Charlotte was very busy this offseason. The front office traded LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid, sent Miles Bridges to the Phoenix Suns for Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale, drafted Hannes Steinbach from Washington with the 14th overall pick and Texas Tech's Christian Anderson Jr. with the 18th overall pick in this year's draft, re-signed Coby White and acquired Dorian-Finney Smith from the Houston Rockets.
Next season, the Hornets are expected to start White, Miller, Knueppel, Reid and Moussa Diabaté.
Hornets president of basketball operations and general manager Jeff Peterson told Marc J. Spears of Andscape he was comfortable trading Ball because of Miller and Knueppel.
Miller and Knueppel are now the faces of Charlotte's franchise after the Hornets sent Ball to the Timberwolves.
"I’m very comfortable," Peterson said. "[Hornets head coach] Charles [Lee] and I had a conversation with both of them knowing that these trades can be challenging. Sometimes I do think we forget that we’re human beings dealing with this stuff — lives and its emotions. Those guys are friends and they are in the locker room every day. At the same time, Charles and I kind of explained, We believe in you guys, too. You guys are here. We want to continue to see you guys grow. This is going to challenge you guys. You guys got to continue to get better.' We wouldn’t have made that trade if we didn’t feel comfortable with what they can continue to be developing into."
Even though Knueppel didn't win the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year Award, he still had a special season for the Hornets. The swingman averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game and shot 47.5% from the field, 42.5% from 3 and 86.3% from the free-throw line. He led the NBA in 3s.
Miller appeared in 65 games for the Hornets last season. He averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 43.5% from the field, 38.3% from beyond the arc and 89.2% from the free-throw line.
The Hornets can sign Miller to a rookie-scale extension this summer. If an extension doesn't happen, Miller would become a restricted free agent next summer.
Charlotte hasn't made the playoffs since 2016. It will be fascinating to see if the team makes the playoffs next season in Year 1 of the post-Ball era.
