The Charlotte Hornets have received a warning regarding a potential contract extension for Brandon Miller.
The Charlotte Hornets just missed out on the NBA playoffs, losing in the play-in tournament after a tremendous second half of the season.
There is a whole lot to look forward to in Charlotte thanks to the Hornets' nucleus of impressive young talent, spearheaded by LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel.
Charlotte already has Ball under wraps through 2029, and Knueppel does not even become extension eligible for another two years.
Miller, however, just completed his third season, so the Hornets will have the ability to extend this summer if they so please.
The former No. 2 overall pick averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists over 30.3 minutes per game on 43.5/38.3/89.2 shooting splits this year while playing decent defense, so you would think Charlotte would certainly want to retain him long term.
But ESPN's Bobby Marks has a pretty significant concern regarding Miller's performance against high-level ballclubs.
Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller. Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images."One area of concern is Miller's consistency shooting against top-10 defenses this season," Marks wrote. "In the 21 games against the league's stingiest teams, Miller shot 39.1% from the field and 34.7% on 3s. The 23-year-old is eligible to extend until the last day of the offseason. The Hornets have $81 million in committed salary in 2027-28, the first year Miller's extension would start."
It's obviously natural for players to perform better against weaker teams, but there is no question that Miller's shooting splits against top-10 defenses is worrisome.
It's also not like Miller is the most efficient scorer as a whole, as he managed a modest true-shooting percentage of 57.4 percent this season and owns a lifetime mark of 55.9 percent.
Perhaps Charlotte will want to wait another year before deciding what to do with Miller for the long haul, but the problem with that is that the Hornets would then be contending with other squads making offers to the 23-year-old in free agency.
It seems pretty clear that Charlotte really likes Miller, and he seems to have a great rapport with Ball and Knueppel. So perhaps the Hornets will approach the University of Alabama product with extension talks this offseason.
But it also wouldn't be completely shocking if Charlotte waited it out.
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