Do the Hornets Value Moussa Diabate More Than Brandon Miller?

At first, I dismissed the title question as unserious.

Then I sat with it longer. The more I thought about it, the less certain I became of my initial gut reaction.

Not because Charlotte Hornets C Moussa Diabate is a better player than G Brandon Miller— “better” and “more valuable” are not always the same thing inside an NBA front office.

Brandon Miller represents a familiar archetype in today’s league: the high-level scoring wing, capable of carrying offensive possessions with the potential to grow into a fringe primary option. Teams search for players like him every draft, every offseason, every trade cycle.

Diabate represents something far rarer, though.

Since C Al Jefferson or arguably C Cody Zeller’s peak years, the franchise has cycled through centers who were either defensively limited, offensively restricted, physically unreliable, or all three. Meanwhile, the Hornets have had repeated opportunities to acquire scoring guards and wings, whether through the draft, free agency, or trade.

Charlotte may have missed most of those opportunities— the supply, however, was usually there for the taking. The center position isn’t typically as deep talent-wise, which changes the outlook on this conversation.

Miller is a ceiling bet, and a necessary one, right now at least, for the Hornets. His offensive upside is the kind you salivate over.

Diabate's rarity compared to Miller stems from being a structural player who stabilizes lineups. He creates an absurd number of extra-chance possessions and can turn offensive chaos into something salvageable. He allows other players to play closer to their best selves without demanding touches or scheme changes.

Just like LaMelo Ball, but without the need for the basketball in his hands to make it happen. Yet, Ball is a max-contract player, and Diabate does it on a contract that NBA front offices dream about having on their books.

When you layer in the totality of his rebounding impact, his defensive versatility, and how consistently he appears in Charlotte’s most effective lineup combinations over the course of 2025-2026, thus far? The title question seems less provocative.

So, who's harder to replace? A scoring wing with star potential, in a league increasingly designed to produce and build offenses around them?

Or a center who defends, rebounds, and fits the team without breaking the offense, in a league where those types of centers are both scarce and difficult to identify in the pre-draft process?

Ball’s availability and the longevity of his minutes restriction plan remain uncertain, and team identity is still forming. Rotations are still in “testing” mode for Hornets head coach Charles Lee. In that environment, players like Diabate become disproportionately important.

Miller still requires structure around him if the ceiling that fans see as possible is to come true. Diabate is part of the structure that enables Miller to hit that projected ceiling. If you remove Miller, Charlotte loses known offense and an unknown upside. If you remove Diabaté, Charlotte loses its current backbone. There is absolutely no unknown there.

Teams do not just measure talent. They measure what breaks when a player is removed from the locker room and the roster as a whole. In that calculus, Moussa Diabaté is not just a role player. He is one of the few things Charlotte has struggled to find for more than a decade:

A center who matters on both ends without demanding the offense bend around their deficiencies.

So does Charlotte value Moussa Diabaté more than Brandon Miller? Probably not in the way fans interpret value. In the way front offices actually think, though…

The answer may be closer than anyone wants to admit, which is precisely why the question felt worth exploring.

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