Brandon Miller Isn’t Playing Like a Rookie…

Brandon Miller Isn’t Playing Like a Rookie…

The Charlotte Hornets drew a lot of criticism for drafting Brandon Miller with the second overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft but lately Miller has been showing the world why he deserved to be drafted that high over the last 10 games we’ve seen Brandon Miller start to

Explore his game a little bit more and shoulder more of an offensive burden and the results are really impressive he’s averaging 23.6 points on 18.2 shots a night he’s shooting 48.4% from the field and 39.5% from three and that’s on AP .1 3point attempts per night the 21-year-old 6’8 Wing out of Alabama

Looked comfortable as a complimentary piece early on in the season for the Hornets but where a lot of people seem to get hung up on Brandon Miller is the idea of whether or not he had a ton of upside relative to some of the guys drafted after him yes he may have upside

But is he going to develop into what some of the other guys that he was going against in the draft were projected to become the idea was that he might be perfectly fine as a starting caliber player in the NBA able to contribute at a high level but with the second overall

Pick don’t teams usually want to draft a star well if you’ve watched Brandon Miller play Lately you’d have a hard time finding any shortage of upside and he’s shutting down a lot of the noise that he’s just going to be a high-end starter in that he doesn’t have star

Potential like I mentioned he’s been shouldering a large share of the offensive burden while lamelo ball has been in and out of the lineup and it’s allowed him to Showcase all the stuff that he has at his disposal watching used this screen from Nick Richards using that right foot to pull Wallace

Back with him a little bit then pivoting to separate from him before spinning into the screen and hitting him with a quick hesitation as if he’s going to reject it and then leaving him behind on the screen so that he can dribble into space for an easy three against Chad in

Drop coverage while he may not have the flashiest handle in the world it’s reliable and he has go-to moves that allow him to create space to score here he’s going to get the switch on a mathine using this hang dribble into the cross to create some separation before Rising effortlessly into a clean

Mid-range pullup he knows how to get defenses set up the way that he wants so that he can take advantage of them when he’s bringing the ball up here in early offense he’s going to get this drag screen to get the switch from Aaron n Smith onto a slower footed Jaylen Smith

Giving him plenty of space to knock down the early three here he gets it on the wing against Matan and recognizing that Richards is coming to give him a solid screen he’s going to fake as if he’s going to use it instead rejecting it and driving left into all this open space

And he’s going to get to the rim for the finish in the and one he’s going to get the ball from Martin on the wing and dant chenzo is going to ice him on this ball screen with hartenstein waiting for him on the potential drive so he takes

One dribble as if he is going to drive before pulling it back to get dant chenzo stuck on that screen and he’s going to cut up the middle while Richards rolls getting in the way of the help defense so that Miller can dribble right into that open space for the

Pull-up jumper I think a lot of people weren’t prepared for just how good he was going to be as a shot Creator once he started to get more comfortable and he’s been one of the most efficient rookies in the NBA on pull-up shots so far this season which is a testament to

Just how good of a shot Creator he already is with plenty of room to grow still but for as good as he’s been he’s far from a finished product one area where he struggled a little bit is finishing at The Rim which is something that’s not uncommon for rookies at all

So far he’s shooting 54.8% from less than 5 ft from the basket which definitely isn’t great especially for a guy of his height with a 7’2 wingspan the good news though is that he’s shooting 60% at The Rim over the course of his last 10 games and this all

Coincides with this increase in offensive burden I have some concerns about his finishing as a whole and whether or not that’s going to be a major aspect of his game but I think his physical tools are going to make up for some of the lack of touch that he has

Around the rim and I’m not ruling out the possibility that he’s just struggling with adjusting to the physicality of the NBA which is something that a lot of rookies go through on this play Miller’s going to make this Iver cut to get the ball from

Lamelo so that he can set up for what looks like a side pick and roll but since he can tell that the defense knows what they’re getting into and they’re prepared to defend it he’s going to reject the screen and get downhill he’s going to have goar waiting for him and

With goar sliding with his momentum going left Miller’s going to go up for the finish and switch to his right hand to make sure that he can get it to go over top of him one way that he makes up for his finishing directly at The Rim is

This developing floater game that he seems to have which might be able to serve is that quote unquote third level in regards to him being a three-level scorer if the finishing at The Rim isn’t something that he’s also able to develop he’s been doing a great job of getting

To the line which is something that I think projects well for his finishing ability going forward yes being able to get to the free throw line is great because you get two free shots but if you’re a player that can consistently draw contact defenses are going to have to play you entirely differently

Opposing defenses have to be a lot more disciplined if they know that you’re a threat to draw a whistle at any given moment when when he drives off the screen Quinton Grimes is playing him really tight to try and shut him down once Miller gets to the paint he’s going

To stop and pick up his dribble and once he recognizes that Grimes is going up to defend him Miller’s going to go up for the shot draw the contact and get the and one here he’s being guarded by seaka in a one-on-one situation and he can’t

Quite Shake him as he tries to get closer to the basket Miller’s going to use this little step back which prompts y AUM to close out a little bit too aggressively and Miller capitalizes on it by going up for the shot and getting a couple of free throws this kind of

Stuff is extremely frustrating to defend and Miller knows how to punish Reckless defenses if they’re not on their toes all of this on ball ability on offense is becoming more and more apparent but the real appeal of Brandon Miller to me is the fact that he does both the on

Ball and the off-ball stuff really really well it’s fantastic that he’s as good as he is off Ball but when he can blur the lines between creating for himself and for others and capitalizing on opportunities that were created for him is where I think he’s going to be a

Really tough coverage in transition here he’s going to get into the paint before slinging it to the corner after collapsing the defense with the defense still trying to get set up he’s going to pop out to the three-point line and turn the confusion on defense into a wide

Openen look from three he gives the ball up here relocating to the top of the key while Richards moves towards the elbow as if he’s going to go screen in the corner once Miller gets nemith near the free throw line Richards is actually going to set a screen at the elbow for

Miller to pop back to where he was so that he can get the pass for an easy catch and shoot basket when he gets the ball on the perimeter and teams are anticipating a three and overplaying him off a catch and shoot he’s doing a great job of attacking those Closeouts to try

And create quick advantages so that he can either score or create looks for others this is where you’re really going to see his mid-range scoring ability start to show up defenses are going to try and chase him off the perimeter but when he’s driving and they’re forced to

Backpedal to try and contain him there’s always going to be the possibility that he he’s just going to stop pick up the ball and rise for the mid-range jumper and even if defenses do a good job of staying attached like ant does here he’s still talented enough to break out

Things like step backs to get himself some separation for the shot they’re going to run this initial double drag up top with Miller setting this back screen for the roller and then he’s subsequently going to receive a down screen to shake Dort and it’s going to

Create a wide open look for him to leverage that quick trigger for three we saw them use this same exact play against the Lakers and instead of getting him a catch- and shoot look it’s going to set up for him to get a rescreen allowing him to dribble into

Space near the elbow for an easy Rhythm jumper Miller is going to have no problem contributing on the offensive side of the ball but when you factor in the defensive potential he looks better and better we’ve now seen him operate as a drop defender in the pick and roll

Using that length to shut down guys driving to the basket even though he’s not the quickest on his feet defensively he uses really strong defensive field to always put himself in the right position to make things complicated for opposing offenses this play you can really see the defensive potential fighting over

Multiple screens and recovering even when it looks like Grimes has an angle on him forcing the ball out of his hands and then providing help at the nail to shut down the drive ultimately funneling the offense towards the help in the paint where Mena can draw the charge I

Also think he might have some potential as a weak side rim protector since he has that 7’2 wingspan and the ability to cover a lot of ground I’m not sure if the Hornets are going to end up using him that way but think a guy like Jared Vanderbilt or Jaden McDaniels in the

Sense that if they’re matched up against somebody on the weak side in the first line of defense gets beat Miller might be able to be a reliable low man providing that help and coming over to contest shots at The Rim the fact of the matter is Brandon Miller has insane

Two-way upside I’m not really interested in the discussion of whether or not Miller or scoot was the right pick at number two in this draft honestly I think that that both are going to be star caliber players but given what we’ve seen from Brandon Miller so far

It’s really hard to have too much of an issue with the Hornets taking him second overall really hope you guys enjoyed this video I’d appreciate it if you considered leaving a like and subscribing if you want to see more like this thank you to all my patrons for

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Brandon Miller is proving all the doubters wrong. After the Charlotte Hornets selected Brandon Miller with the #2 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, many were quick to criticize the decision due to his perceived lack of upside relative to a player like Scoot Henderson. But lately, it’s looking like Brandon Miller might’ve just been the perfect guy for the Charlotte Hornets to pick.

Brandon Miller has been torching the NBA, having one of the best streaks of any rookie so far this season, and it doesn’t look like it’s stopping any time soon. The 21-year-old out of Alabama is looking like a Paul George type of player, and there’s no shortage of upside. With LaMelo Ball continuing to look like a franchise player, these two could be a scary duo for years to come.

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