JJ Redick, Tim Legler, Chris Vernon, KOC all rave about Brandon Miller

Hornets’ rookie Brandon Miller has been crushing it lately, and the national NBA media is slowly starting to take note, as they should be. Two such instances occurred within the last few days as, first JJ Redick and Tim Legler devoted several minutes to the ascension of Miller recently on an episode of ‘The Old Man and the Three’ podcast.

It was especially nice to hear JJ state that he had reached out to people around the organization and some of the words they threw around about Miller were, “...smart, great IQ, competitor, coachable, great teammate, detail oriented…” That’s a pretty impressive list for a rookie, and exactly what Hornets fans want to hear. It helps that it completely matches the eye test and what we’re seeing on the court.

Then on ‘The Mismatch’ podcast, Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor gushed about how great Miller has been and how he has turned a corner in the middle of the season, much like he did last year at Alabama.

Both pods compared Miller to current stars like Brandon Ingram and Paul George, and seemed very impressed and sold on his future. They also brought up the fact that the Hornets made the right pick, selecting Miller over his contemporary, Scoot Henderson.

Both pods also praised Miller’s two-way play, complimenting his defensive play along with his three level scoring. They brought up his buy-in on that end, and his ability to be a game changer on that end of the floor, which could someday cement his true superstar status.

Miller gives a crap

It was also great that each pod separately brought up the play when Miller made a layup and sprinted down the floor, the only Hornet back on defense, then turned to berate his teammates for not getting back. This play showed his character and how much he cares about winning; more great characteristics for a rookie.

This was a controversial opinion at the time of the draft, but O’Connor was one of the biggest advocates for Miller at the time, and has obviously remained true to his prognostication since. It has been clear to Hornets fans for about a month that Miller may be seriously special, and it’s nice to hear those thoughts confirmed by intelligent basketball minds on a national platform.

On a semi unrelated note, it was nice to hear Vernon give some props to how the Hornets have been playing since the trade deadline and how good Grant Williams has looked. There are people far and wide who are taking notice of what’s happening in Charlotte.