Brandon Miller’s NBA Career Off to a Horrific Start

The Charlotte Hornets will forever be scrutinized for choosing to pick Brandon Miller with the No. 2 overall selection in the 2023 NBA Draft. Just about every draft pundit on the planet agreed that Scoot Henderson was a better prospect, and maybe the Hornets did, too. But Henderson is a ball-dominant point guard like LaMelo Ball. So Charlotte picked a scoring forward in Miller, making a huge bet that whatever gap in talent might exist between the two prospects will be made up by Miller’s fit on the roster.

Fans did not have to wait long to see what Miller would bring to the court as the Hornets kicked off their Summer League games this week. It has gone… very, very poorly. We’ll get to all the caveats about Summer League in a minute; this post is not meant to proclaim Miller a bust already.

But these stats, man. Downright horrendous.

A combined 10 turnovers and 15 fouls? In two games? The point total is whatever, especially since the guys around Miller are intently focused on getting theirs to prove they belong in the NBA. Miller’s not getting easy shots and it is no surprise his jumper isn’t cooking immediately given he hasn’t played competitive five-on-five since March. But turnovers are all on Miller’s shoulders. As are the fouls.

Summer League is not indicative of much, of course. It is a glorified preseason for rookies and guys trying to make it in the league. The only useful benchmark it provides is when a second-year guy like Keegan Murray comes in and drops 40 points and leaves. Miller could end up being a superstar or wash out like Anthony Bennett and nobody would have been able to draw either conclusion from what they’ve watched in the last two games.

As far as professional careers go, though, you’d like to see things start off a bit better for such a highly-rated prospect. Twenty-five fouls and turnovers in two games is as bad as you could imagine.