Jeff Peterson Kicks Off Hornets Media Day With Brandon Miller Update

With a long day of Hornets quotes, updates, and "best shape of our lives" you've ever seen, what did the Hornets GM Jeff Peterson have to say to get things started?

Media day is underway, and you always knew Charlotte Hornets GM and VP of Basketball Operations Jeff Peterson was going to have a lot to say.

Maybe the rhyme wasn't necessary, but if you've read my work to this point, you'd already know that can't possibly be true. Regardless.

Peterson did give us some truths about Brandon Miller, and that's where we'll start our day-long coverage of Charlotte Hornets Media Days here on-site at the Spectrum Center -- with the long-awaited update on the Hornets' new No. 1 man, Miller:

"Yeah, Brandon's been amazing this summer," Peterson began when asked about an update on Miller after his shoulder surgery a few months ago. "He has worked his butt off in the weight room on the court. Love the progress that he's making, and yeah, expect him to participate in training camp and be ready to roll."

While this was one of the few words we were able to get about Miller in Peterson's opening session of Media Day, the Hornets GM spoke ad nauseam about the Hornets' newfound depth -- i.e., Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale, Dennis Schröder, and Naz Reid -- and how he feels the experience Charlotte added through those guys is game-changing for the upcoming season.

I asked Peterson about this myself and asked how much that experience can help his young players by alluding to the playoff experience via O'Neale's 10 playoff series appearances and Schröder's trip to the Eastern Conference Finals with Cleveland last year.

“Yeah, I'm extremely confident (we can sustain our level of play),” Peterson said. “Again, you know, part of part of what we do, you know, I have a single focus: And that's just to put this team, this organization, in the best position possible, not only in the short-term but our long-term as well. So I'm very, very excited about this group, (and) the cohesiveness that they're going to be able to form. Of course, like I said, we do have other resources the way that we want to.”

Peterson would continue to rave about the depth of this 2026-27 Hornets team, but he also answered some roster-building questions by discussing modern roster building. Peterson was asked how you balance acquiring top-end star talent with ensuring you have enough depth at the same time.

I think you've got to do both. You know, there's plenty of examples that look at New York last year,” Peterson said.

“You know, they have a ton of top-end talent, but of course, you know, guys came off the bench and produced as well, and ultimately, we know what the result was for them. But there's countless examples of, you know, teams that maybe try to load up at the top with a ton of talent and just don't have the depth to continue to push forward, especially when it gets to the playoffs and the game slows down.

"It's more physical, things like that. So I think you have to do both. But again, the fortunate part of our situation, I think we have the ability to do both. We have some really, really good players, a young, young core, and again, our veterans -- just the depth (in general).”

More live updates to come from Hornets on SI as Media Day continues for the Hornets.

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