His Hornets future set, there’s one question Brandon Miller has to answer
Taj Gibson has seen Brandon Miller before.
Well, he’s seen a version of him, at least.
When Gibson, a 39-year-old, 1,000-plus game NBA veteran, visits the courts in his hometown in Brooklyn, where young kids hang onto their mentors’ every word ... that’s what he sees in Brandon Miller.
“I’ve seen him a million times,” Gibson said. “The young guys in my neighborhood, he reminds me so much of them because he’s just so eager to listen. He’s so tough-minded. He carries himself well. And I’m so proud of him.”
Gibson added: “He’s consistent. The whole time. Every day, during pregame, workouts. He will actually have me on time for my pregame shoot. He’s like, ‘OG, we gotta get some shots up.’ And I take moments like that, and I just smile man.”
Consistency — always showing up, even when he couldn’t be the fullest, healthiest version of himself — was the legacy of Miller’s second season in the NBA, according to Gibson and other Charlotte Hornets who are around Miller every day.
It’s unfortunate given Miller’s brilliant rookie season, one that was so good it was tough to overstate, living up to his name as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft with more potential to boot. But it’s nonetheless true after the 22-year-old guard missed 55 games this past season due to a wrist injury he sustained in January — a big reason why the Charlotte Hornets finished with a 19-63 record, fighting for the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes when the NBA Lottery comes around in late June.
For now, the question Miller has to answer in Year 3 is a simple one:
When will he be back?
Jeff Peterson, the Hornets’ president of basketball operations, said that Miller is still multiple months away from returning to the court — but should be a full-go for training camp.
“His injury was unfortunate,” Peterson told reporters during clean-out Monday. “He fell on it in the Utah game, his wrist. Unfortunately, it’s not just a quick fix. It takes time. He’s still a couple months away from being out there in terms of playing games and things like that, but he’s expected to make a full recovery and be ready to go next season.”
Miller, who specifically suffered a torn scapholunate ligament in his right wrist, was equally optimistic on his health, even if he didn’t want to ascribe a particular timeline outside of general terms like “taking things slow.” He said right now he is working on “getting the range of motion back” because “right now, I can’t really shoot, can’t really do nothing” with his right hand.
This is all new to him; this is the first injury in Miller’s life that has required surgery.
“And hopefully my last,” Miller said Monday, smiling. “But you know, it was a crazy process. I don’t think you can imagine just sitting out every game. Just being a voice on the bench. But you know, everybody listens, so it’s not too bad. You got days when it’s fun. And then you have days when it’s not fun. But one thing I did was bring the positivity to the group everyday, and I think that’s one thing I did.”
Brandon Miller can be ‘as good as he wants’ to be for Hornets
As far as every other possible question about Miller, that’s taken care of, according to his teammates and head coach Charles Lee. The stats say as much, too.
Miller, even despite suffering the injury in January, was selected to his second-consecutive Rising Stars event at All-Star Weekend this season. He recorded 21 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals in his 27 games played. He also hit 3.9 3s a game — fifth-most in the NBA at the time.
And the work he put in after his playing season ended was even more impressive, his teammates said.
“If you hurt your wrist or something, they’re just gonna be like, ‘I’m done,’” Miles Bridges said of Miller. He added, “But Brandon’s working on his left hand, working on his left hand passing, so that just shows how great he wants to be. ... Taj was saying I was an All-Star. I feel like Brandon is definitely gonna be. He has the potential to be an All-Star next year when he comes back.”
Josh Okogie, who was traded for in January, didn’t play a lot with Miller before the second-year guard’s injury. But he saw enough to formulate an endearing opinion of him.
“I met Brandon when he was going through his draft process last year, so I was able to watch him a little bit since then,” Okogie said. “I watched him a little bit in Alabama as well, and you know Brandon is an explosive player. ... You could see on his face how much he was hurt that, you know, he wasn’t able to play anymore. But I think that fire is fueling him right now in his rehab to be able to get back on the court.”
Miller is certainly a pillar of the Hornets, as the Charlotte team’s brass said repeatedly Monday. Peterson and Lee said the same about others, but there are other larger questions about them.
LaMelo Ball, on a max contract through the 2028-29 season, is undoubtedly one of the game’s most creative players but also hasn’t been able to stay healthy. Gibson called Bridges an All-Star caliber player, but the 27-year-old, six-year NBA veteran hasn’t yet earned that moniker. Big man Mark Williams is a player the Hornets can potentially build around, leaders say — even despite a trade attempt going awry with the Los Angeles Lakers earlier in the season. (When asked if he thought he’d be back here next season, Williams shrugged, nodding to his newfound knowledge of the nobody’s-safe business model of the NBA: “Maybe.”)
But Miller’s spot in the Hornets’ future?
There really isn’t any question about that.
“Brandon is certainly a pillar of this team,” Peterson said. “The combination of his age, skillset and positional size, and really his approach and mindset, he wants to be great.”
“He can be literally as good as he wants,” Peterson continued.
There hasn’t been much question about that, either.
This story was originally published April 14, 2025 at 2:13 PM.
