Why Hornets Star Brandon Miller Might Not Win Most Improved Player

The Charlotte Hornets, for the first time in what feels like ages, actually have someone favored to win an award next season. Brandon Miller is currently the favorite (+800 on FanDuel, ahead of Dylan Harper at +1100) to take home Most Improved Player in 2026-27.

The logic behind this is simple. The Hornets were a surprisingly good team last year, and Miller is the new face of the franchise. He's going to go from the second option to the guy on offense. That's going to, presumably, lead to better stats from him.

And while the nature of the award is questionable, someone who makes the leap in production (whether they're expected to or not) often comes away with the award. That makes Miller a logical selection.

🎙️ @MoDakhil_NBA on Most Improved Player this season: "It's gonna be Brandon Miller for me from Charlotte."

"He's gonna get a bigger opportunity now with LaMelo gone. He's gonna get more reps on the ball. He's gonna show more of what he can do with the ball in his hands more… pic.twitter.com/iUrO8w7LuH
— r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) August 31, 2026

NBA insider Mo Dakhil picked Miller as his MIP. "He's gonna get a bigger opportunity now with LaMelo gone. He's gonna get more reps on the ball. He's gonna show more of what he can do with the ball in his hands more often. They're going to need him to do a lot more offensively," he said.

Zach Lowe responded with the biggest reason Miller won't win the award, although he is certainly in contention. "Charlotte's surge last year coincided exactly with Brandon Miller getting healthy and getting a consistently available 20 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST last year. My hesitation with selecting him was that a lot of the voters are just stats-driven. They're not gonna watch 40 Hornets games," Lowe said.

Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller (24) and fans react to the overtime win | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Say what you want about the LaMelo Ball trade, that it was good for the franchise's future, or that Ball couldn't be the elite player the Hornets needed, or that they're boneheaded for punting after the best season perhaps in franchise history (at least by some advanced metrics).

The one thing that can't be disputed is that Ball was box office for the Hornets. Even before they got hot, analysts like Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons praised the Hornets' watchability, and Ball was at the center of that.

The Hornets traded him, and his new team got a Christmas Day game, while the Hornets remain the one team never to have gotten a December 25 game. The Timberwolves have 27 nationally televised games; the Hornets have six.

So, voters are going to have to rely on Miller's numbers rather than his film or what he does for the team, because they're probably not going to watch as many Hornets games. To that end, Dylan Harper may end up the pick because the San Antonio Spurs will be watched a whole lot more.

It's an unfortunate byproduct of the trade. While Miller now stands to have more production and more notoriety, the team as a whole has less attention, so it's a double-edged sword.

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