Top Performance Series: Leonard Miller
The idea behind the top performance series is to go back and watch the best, or one of the best, box score games of each prospect's season to see how they looked when they were performing at their highest individual level and what that might show us about their ceiling as a prospect.
After entering his name in the draft discussion last year Leonard Miller decided to take his talent to the G League Ignite and it's a move that looks to be paying major dividends.
Miller had an extremely productive season and was playing his best basketball of his career during February and March where he had a stretch of double-doubles in 13 of 14 games.
In this mid March game vs the Skyforce he finished with 29 and 14 to go along with four assists and four blocks. The Canadian has now gone from somewhat of an afterthought in this draft class to the 2023 NBA lottery discussion.
Offense
The 6-foot-10 forward had an early reputation as an on ball creator and while some of that potential is still present in his game there is a noticeable translation to being an off the ball cutter and slasher. While not always getting rewarded with a pass from a teammate he seems to have really perfected the art of when and where to cut within the flow of the offense.
Miller was also used in multiple play types throughout the game which speaks to his overall versatility as a player. At times he would simply space the floor in the weakside corner while others hanging out in the dunker spot for a dump off. He was also used as the ball screener and has the ability to pick-and-pop or pick-and-roll with his short roll passing being a particularly interesting skill.
There was even a really nice transition position where we got a cross match by running the floor early, holding his post position and getting an easy bucket early in the shot clock. As seems to be the case with countless prospects every year, the ceiling will really come from the continued development of the 3-point shot.
The form still isn’t fluid and it comes out very flat at times but he did shoot 30% on 92 attempts this season and very impressive 79% from the free throw line. To truly be able to provide value as weak side floor spacer and pick-and-pop counterpart he must be able to knock down those open opportunities.
Forcing harder closeouts will also allow him to more frequently demonstrate his ability to put the ball on the deck and pressure the paint.
Defense
The 19-year-old offers some interesting defensive value as well. He has the body type and mobility to project him taking on primary matchups for the opposition's bigger wing or forward.
Off the ball he tends to hug up to his man just a little too much and get tunnel vision but he is still aware of the rest of the floor and does make the necessary rotations. An aspect that is not highlighted with prospects often but shined with Miller was his ability to contest shots from the perimeter.
These may go undervalued but we all know there is a difference between any good shooter's 3-point percentage when looking at their guarded and unguarded attempts. Miller consistently gives multiple efforts throughout a possession which translates to almost always getting a good contest on these attempts along with a couple actual blocks. This activity - along with his size and length - project for what could be a very valuable piece in an all around defensive scheme.
Ceiling
Versatile slashing forward with potential tertiary playmaking and takes on primary wing-forward defensive assignment.
Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.