The No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Brandon Miller, has caught a lot of criticism in light of his recent Summer League performances. Even before Summer League began he was catching heat from his own fans in Charlotte as there are countless tweets and videos of Hornets fans upset that the organization passed on Scoot Henderson.
Heading into Summer League, Miller already had a chip on his shoulder and surely wanted to prove his doubters wrong and his supporters right. While he may have had that mindset heading into his first two games of the summer, they didn’t pan out as he would have hoped.
In his NBA Summer League debut against the San Antonio Spurs, Miller recorded 18 points, five rebounds and three assists. Not bad. But when you account for the five turnovers and five personal fouls, that’s when things get dicey.
Not only that, it took Miller some time to get going scoring wise as 12 of his 18 points came in the fourth quarter. He also finished 5 for 11 shooting wise on the night which isn’t bad at all, but the turnovers and fouls were the main talking point for fans and analysts post-game.
Not to mention his team was blown out 98-77.
Miller then had a chance at some redemption against the Golden State Warriors and just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, they got much worse.
Miller finished the night with six points, four rebounds, seven assists, four turnovers and eight personal fouls. Wow.
To be fair to Miller, he was racking up the assists on what was a tough night for him offensively and I think some of the fouls called on him were pretty suspect. But the man only took four shots all game and once again his team lost by double digits.
I’m not one to take Summer League super seriously so I don’t think these are stat lines that will be indicative of how he pans out in the future. Though I do think these games are important in tracking what areas of his game need development and clearly there’s some work to do on both ends of the floor.
My main concern with these performances isn’t even the basketball side of things right now, I just hope someone checks up on him. Miller has already gone through so much over the last seven months or so during his time with Alabama, the fans reaction of him going second overall and now the hate he’s getting and the premature “he’s a bust” callouts.
Miller has already proven he’s mentally tough seeing as he’s pushed past a lot of the negative talk surrounding his name but I just feel like all the odds are against him now. All because of two Summer League games, mind you.
Summer League isn’t over though and Miller has another shot against the Spurs tomorrow night but things won’t be getting easier. Victor Wembanyama is set to make his Summer League debut and is sure to give Miller and the Hornets hell in Las Vegas.
The Hornets will also face off against the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans following their rematch with San Antonio.
With that said there are at least four games for Miller to turn things around and that’s not counting if the Hornets make a deep push for the Summer League title.
Personally, I rate Brandon Miller. I think he’s a damn good basketball player and there’s a reason he went second overall in this year’s draft. Ultimately I think he will be fine and these last two performances should be taken with a grain of salt given it is Summer League.
But there is definitely work to do not only in the Summer League but also in the time leading up to opening night. It’s going to be interesting to see how he develops his rookie year and I’m sure the entire NBA world will be watching.
Photo Credits: Darren Yamashita- USA Today Sports
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