Hornets, Trail Blazers in Position to Draft Alabama's Brandon Miller After NBA Draft Lottery
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The NBA Draft Lottery has come and gone, the event where a few ping pong balls decide the future of your favorite non-playoff NBA team.
The winner of the lottery was the San Antonio Spurs, who received the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and will in all likelihood draft French center Victor Wembanyama — a 7-foot-4 unicorn with guard skills, a 3-point shot, and is considered by many to be the best basketball prospect since LeBron James.
Behind Wembanyama, there is some debate about the next few prospects that will go off the board.
G League Ignite point guard Scoot Henderson is widely considered to be a top-3 prospect in this upcoming draft, but he was once thought of as the clear-cut No. 2 guy. That was, until Alabama forward Brandon Miller exploded onto the scene as a freshman this past season.
Miller's season was remarkable, securing SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors, to go along with the SEC Tournament MVP as well as a myriad of other awards and recognitions.
Some have questioned if Miller's involvement as a cooperative witness in the capital murder case of former teammate Darius Miles would impact his draft stock, but ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the opposite on ESPN.
"Teams have already spent a lot of time and resources on that particular event and the background of Brandon Miller," Wojnarowski said. "Not only do they not find anything they would consider disqualifying to select Brandon Miller, they are finding a young man who they say is mature, focused, whose character and his habits are actually an asset."
Now, mock drafts have placed Miller as high as No. 2 overall, and tonight's draft lottery has revealed a few teams that could potentially draft Miller next month.
The Charlotte Hornets drew the second overall pick, which could pair Miller with budding star LaMelo Ball who the team drafted third overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. Additionally the Hornets are full of young talent, boasting top-15 selections from every draft since 2019 including PJ Washington, James Bouknight and Mark Williams.
The Portland Trail Blazers drew the third overall pick, who despite having not made the playoffs since 2021 still has superstar Damian Lillard running the show. Miller would have every opportunity to carve out a role on a roster full of mostly unestablished players outside of Lillard, Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons.
Alabama's other name that is sure to stay in the draft is forward Noah Clowney, who played his way onto draft boards throughout his freshman season after coming into his freshman year as a fringe top-75 recruit.
Clowney is projected by the majority of mock drafts to be a late first round pick, but he has been mocked as high as the late lottery.
Alabama fans may recall just two years ago to the 2021 NBA Draft, when guard Josh Primo was projected to be a late first round pick but was selected No. 12 overall by the San Antonio Spurs.
There's no guarantee that Clowney will get the pre-draft bump that Primo did, but his size, versatility, young age and potential all make him an intriguing prospect that teams in the late lottery may want to take a swing on.
Outside of Miller and Clowney, three other Alabama players declared for the NBA Draft in Mark Sears, Charles Bediako and Jahvon Quinerly. None of the three were invited to the NBA Draft Combine, and have until May 31 to make a decision about withdrawing from the draft and returning to the Crimson Tide.
Since head coach Nate Oats arrived at Alabama, the Crimson Tide has had four players selected in the NBA Draft, including two lottery picks. Miller and Clowney are sure to add to that total when the draft arrives on Thursday, June 22.
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