Brandon Miller Has a Lot to Prove If He Wants to Be the No. 1 Option on a Winning Hornets Team

Editor’s Note: For the upcoming Sports Illustrated 2026–27 basketball preview magazine that will hit newsstands in October, SI spoke to anonymous scouts around the NBA about all 30 teams.

The Hornets were one of the NBA’s best teams after the All-Star break last year. They went 18–9 after the festivities to finish the season 44–38 with a shot to make the franchise’s first playoff appearance in a decade.

With a home game to open the play-in tournament, Charlotte took care of the Heat and was one win shy of the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. That’s when the magic ran out as Orlando stomped the Hornets to claim the final playoff spot. Despite falling short, the Hornets had motion for the first time in a while with an intriguing young core and an offense that could outpace the competition with its fiery shotmaking.

Over the summer, though, the front office decided to go a new direction. LaMelo Ball was traded to the Timberwolves and Miles Bridges to the Suns, which left Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel with the keys to the franchise. Charlotte added high-level role players and draft capital, which gives the front office time to see what it has and make another move with its assets later.

Miller, the second pick in the 2023 draft, became eligible for a contract extension this summer. He has yet to get a long-term deal and, as of Tuesday, is headed for restricted free agency next offseason. That makes this a huge year for Miller as he hopes to prove he has what it takes to be Charlotte’s franchise player. Does he have that in him, though? We talked to an NBA scout, who would like to see more.

“Miller could be a great small forward if he develops the work ethic to be that,” an anonymous scout told Sports Illustrated. “I look at him and I don’t see the physical development. I don’t see the work in the weight room. If you're going to match up against NBA small forwards, you have to get stronger. He wants to be like Jayson Tatum and those types of guys, but you have to put on muscle and weight for that. So I think he wants it, but I don't know if he's willing to do what it takes to get to it.”

He missed most of his second NBA season with a wrist injury, then bounced back last year with 20.2 points per game and connected on 38.3% of his 8.2 three-point attempts per game. He was a huge part of Charlotte’s high-powered offense and now has even more runway to take the lead with shots left on the table with the departures of Ball and Bridges.

The same goes for Knueppel, who led the NBA in threes last season and smashed rookie shooting records along the way. He nearly swiped the Rookie of the Year award from his Duke teammate and close friend Cooper Flagg. Now, he’s a cornerstone of the new-look Hornets. But the biggest question is who will be the guy moving forward, whether that’s Knueppel, Miller or a player not yet on the roster.

“Knueppel had a great year. He is a heck of a shooter. Impressed me more than I thought he would,” the scout said. “But for those two players [Miller and Knueppel], you need a point guard. Maybe they knew LaMelo's not winning games. He's more about flash. But now they're going to have to go find a real point guard that can do it.

“Knueppel is a really, really good shooter, but he has to play off somebody. Somebody else has to be able to help him get those shots. You can't be a No. 1 if you can't get your shot.”

Selected fourth in the 2025 draft, Knueppel was debatably the NBA’s most impactful rookie last season. He was a huge part in the Hornets’ rise as he made a true impact in winning games. That will be harder this season without Ball’s playmaking. Coby White’s there, but he’s doesn’t have nearly as good of vision as Ball. Not a lot of players do.

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Miller is O.K. in that sense, but he would need to take a huge step forward to become as good of a passer as he is a shotmaker. The talent is there, though. Whether he puts it all together as a top option will play out this year as he takes on an unquestioned lead role.

“Miller has the talent to be a No. 1, but I don't know if he has the work ethic to be a No. 1,” the scout told SI.

“I think he's that talented to say, ‘Man, if this dude put in the work, got physically bigger, and just kept working on his game and was like a gym rat, he could be a No. 1 with his size, athleticism, shooting, all of it.’ It's just sometimes mentality is what makes you a No. 1.”

Anonymous scouts break down each Western Conference team: Clippers | Grizzlies | Jazz | Kings | Lakers | Mavericks | Nuggets | Pelicans | Rockets | Spurs | Suns | Thunder | Timberwolves | Trail Blazers | Warriors

Offseason recap

Who’s in: Naz Reid, Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, Dennis Schröder, Coby White (re-signed), Hannes Steinbach (draft), Christian Anderson (draft)
Who’s out: LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Tre Mann, Josh Green

Lead executive Jeff Peterson’s decision to part with Ball and Bridges highlighted Charlotte’s summer. With the big moves, the Hornets added solid roster pieces to elevate Miller and Knueppel while maintaining flexibility to improve the roster down the road.

North Carolina native Coby White arrived at the trade deadline last year and he inked a three-year, $74 million contract to remain with the team as its new lead guard. He came off the bench last year and now assumes a much larger creation responsibility with Ball out of town. Longtime Wolves fan favorite Naz Reid is a plug-and-play starter, too, as an impact defender and floor spacer around Knueppel, Miller and White. Reid was the first man off the bench in Minnesota (he received Sixth Man of the Year honors in 2024), but he’ll be a much-needed presence in Charles Lee’s first five to help the young group.

Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale are two more solid veterans that will help calm the ship and knock down shots when the young team needs it most.

Charlotte added two first-round picks in Christian Anderson and Hannes Steinbach, too. At one point in the offseason, Anderson looked like he would immediately step in as the backup point guard. The trade for Dennis Schröder gives him more time to adjust as the front office hopes Anderson can develop into the facilitator it needs. His 7.4 dimes per game at Texas Tech last year was tied for the fourth-best mark across the country. Steinbach could be the long-term answer at center, too, while Moussa Diabaté looks to build off a strong year in Charlotte.

SI’s prediction for the 2026-27 Hornets

Record: 37–45 | Predicting the 2026–27 NBA Standings: Which Teams Will Rise, Fall and Surprise?

After the franchise’s best season in recent memory, the Hornets might be back to being bad again. This looks like a transition year with an overhauled roster, but it’s a year where Miller has plenty to prove and he has decent pieces around him and Knueppel that will keep the team afloat. The East is too good to put this year’s version of the Hornets in the early playoff picture, but they could very well sniff the play-in once again and sneak in should the young core take a step forward with more freedom.

Even if it’s a down year in Charlotte, though, the franchise is well set up for the future.

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