Do you agree with this take about Brandon Miller?
NBA analyst Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report believes Brandon Miller is the Charlotte Hornets player "with the most to prove" next season.
Miller is entering Year 4 of his NBA career. The Hornets traded LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves this summer, so Miller will have an increased role next season.
"The LaMelo Ball trade moved Brandon Miller up at least one spot in the Charlotte Hornets' pecking order, perhaps even positioning the 23-year-old wing to take over alpha status," Hughes wrote. "Ahead of restricted free agency in the summer of 2027 and in the wake of a career defined as much by frustrating injuries as obvious star potential, Miller enters this season as one of the biggest swing players in the entire league.
"If he improves on last year's 20.2 points and 38.3 percent shooting from deep while upping his own facilitation numbers and, most importantly, proving he can generate his own shots without Ball's setups, he'll establish himself as the guy around whom Charlotte can build. A shakier performance could reveal the Ball trade as a mistake and leave Charlotte without a clear direction."
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 will become a restricted free agent next summer.
Miller has career averages of 19.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He was the second overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Hornets president of basketball operations and general manager Jeff Peterson told Marc J. Spears of Andscape that he was comfortable trading Ball because of Miller and Kon Knueppel.
Miller and Knueppel are now the faces of Charlotte's franchise after the Hornets sent Ball to Minnesota.
"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."
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.
