The clear favorite for the Rookie of the Year Award is Victor Wembanyama. But what if for one reason or another the Spurs’ rookie does not end up with the award at season’s end? Could Charlotte Hornet’s rookie Brandon Miller be in that conversation?
Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey put together a group of players who could win Rookie of the Year honors over Wembanyama with Brandon Miller making the list. Coming in at fourth behind Chet Holmgren, Scoot Henderson, and Amen Thompson is the Hornets’ rookie. While the presence of LaMelo Ball and a potential return of P.J. Washington could impact his chances, a path was still laid out by Bailey for Miller to be on the short list of potential Rookie of the Year nominees.
"If he makes a couple of threes per game at a decent clip, affects the game on defense with his length and helps the Hornets compete for a play-in spot, he has a shot to join the Rookie of the Year conversation."
That is a lot of ifs, but none of them are truly off the table. The Hornets are a team on the rise and incorporating a rookie as talented as Brandon Miller should not be too difficult. Charlotte is going to need quality production and that is something that Miller proved to be capable of during his time at Alabama. Miller averaged 18.8 points per game on 43% from the field and 38.4% from three-point range with the Crimson Tide. It is that last number, converting from deep, which could positively impact his chances.
The Hornets were not a good three-point shooting team last season as they were near the bottom in the league in made threes per game (10.7) and three-point percentage (33%). If Miller is able to make a sizable contribution to those numbers improving it would certainly help his cause. Additionally, if Charlotte plays well enough this season to not be in a position to draft as high as they did in this past draft with Miller being a big part of that, the possibility of being in the mix for being named the league’s best rookie skyrockets.
From the grand scheme of things is this a likely outcome? No, but is it impossible? Also no. Brandon Miller will have as good of a chance as most other rookies when the season actually starts. It is going to be up to how he performs and whether or not he can make a tangible positive impact on the Hornets’ record at the end of the year. The odds may seem stacked against him now, but that should not be a reason to count out the second overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
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