Is Brandon Miller on a Legitimate Superstar Path?

Nearly two months ago, this question would have felt premature.

It is funny to think about now, but in mid-December, the conversation surrounding Brandon Miller could not have been more different. After returning from a left shoulder subluxation suffered in Charlotte’s second game of the season, he struggled through his first 10 games back.

He was shooting 36.4% from the field and 30.9% from three, posting career lows at the rim, in the midrange, and from long midrange.

While many, myself included, were saying panic was the wrong reaction, it was not what anyone envisioned for Miller entering his third season.

Fast forward to the present, and the narrative around Miller has flipped.

Charlotte rising, Miller leading

Feb 11, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller (24) makes a slam dunk against Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu (17) during the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The Charlotte Hornets are 15-7 in the year of 2026. They are operating like one of the best teams in the league — a legitimate good-to-great basketball team that can hang with anybody on any night.

Since the start of the new year, they own a top-two net rating in the NBA, trailing only the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons. They also rank top-two in offensive rating over that stretch.

Charlotte is scoring a historic 130.2 points per 100 possessions with LaMelo Ball, Miller, and Kon Knueppel on the floor. For reference, the best offensive rating in NBA history over a full season is 123.2.

That is some elite offensive production Hornets fans have been treated to, and Miller has been the head of the snake as Charlotte’s leading scorer during this stretch, averaging 21.5 points, 5.4 assists, and 3.3 rebounds.

The beauty of what Charlotte is doing offensively right now is that it is the ultimate egalitarian system, with the ball pinging around, connectors all over the floor, and Miller clearly thriving inside that ecosystem.

Which brings us back to the question: is he legitimately on a superstar path just two-and-a-half years into his career?

Miller’s stock right now

To be clear, the 23-year-old forward is not a superstar right now. Miller is not even the best player on the Hornets roster. That is still objectively LaMelo Ball, who has been an essential reason for Charlotte’s turnaround.

But there are only about 10 to 12 true superstars in the NBA in any given season. The real question is whether Miller can realistically enter that tier in the coming years.

Projecting forward, I think it is absolutely possible.

What Charlotte is building feels incredibly sustainable. If the Hornets continue fielding one of the best offenses in the league and stacking winning seasons, Miller will start making All-Star teams in the near future.

He arguably had a case this year. That feels like the next step in his trajectory.

Notably, Miller has already shown he can handle star-level usage. He ranks in the 98th percentile in usage among wings, according to Cleaning the Glass. His offensive daily plus-minus sits in the 83rd percentile, per databallr.

The progression in his playmaking has been a major development. His assist percentage ranks in the 83rd percentile. Leaps like that point toward a higher ceiling in the coming seasons.

What really makes me consider Miller reaching this status sooner rather than later is the active improvement you can see in the subtle parts of his game as the season has gone along.

He is doing a better job using his wingspan to play in the gaps. Miller also owns a 1.5% block percentage, an impressive mark for a wing and another clear sign of growth on the defensive end.

Charlotte does not have a ton of natural defensive playmakers, but Miller has created more disruption in this recent stretch. He fits perfectly into the Hornets’ rebounding-first identity and remains a high-level athlete who can apply rim pressure or elevate to secure boards.

More than anything, Miller looks more comfortable reading the floor than he did last season. You can see how Head Coach Charles Lee’s system is maximizing what he provides for a winning team.

Path to superstardom

If Miller is not there yet, and he is not, how does he realistically get there?

The reality is that most NBA superstars establish their standing in the postseason. Miller has not had that opportunity yet. He may get it this year, with the Hornets currently sitting in the nine-seed in the Eastern Conference.

Consider Paul George, the player Miller has long been compared to and someone he calls the “goat.”

In George’s third NBA season, when he became a first-time All-Star and won Most Improved Player, he averaged 17.4 points and 4.1 assists while shooting roughly 42% from the field and 36% from three.

Miller’s current season averages are 20.6 points, 3.3 assists, roughly 36% from three and 42.5% from the field.

That season ended with Indiana pushing the “Big Three” Miami Heat to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals. That was the moment the broader NBA audience saw George blossom into a superstar.

A more recent example might be Jaylen Brown, a player Lee coached in Boston. During the Celtics’ championship season, Brown averaged 23.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. He went on to win Finals MVP and is now firmly established as a superstar-level player.

A statistical profile similar to Brown’s may be the clearer path for Miller, especially given how Charlotte plays. Not every superstar has to average 30 points per game. Brown scaled within Boston’s winning structure.

Similar to what Miller has done this season.

What needs work

There are still clear areas that have to improve for the third-year player.

Miller ranks in the 28th percentile in effective field goal percentage among his position and the 17th percentile in two-point percentage. That is not anywhere close to superstar-level efficiency in those percentiles, particularly for a non-guard.

To be fair, the early-season slump for Miller tanked those numbers. He has been far more efficient over the past month.

Also, for Miller, his handle has to continue tightening, and his turnovers have to come down if he wants to enter those top-tier conversations. Miller is also still a slight player and needs to keep adding strength to better absorb contact.

Despite those areas for growth, it is difficult not to let your mind drift toward Miller’s ceiling when watching him take over quarters for Charlotte or watching him deliver some of the most athletically violent posters of any player this season on a fairly regular basis.

He checks nearly every box of what a modern NBA superstar looks like. Miller has the size, is a three-level shooter, can handle high usage, is a top-tier athlete, and can guard multiple positions. He is also the leading scoring option on an ascending franchise.

Miller is not a superstar yet.

But the path is there.

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