Jan 12, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller (24) against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

NBA insider: Hornets go 'nowhere' if Brandon Miller isn't an All-Star

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Zach Roberts | Last updated Jul 29, 2025 8:37 AM ET

For all the talk about how important LaMelo Ball is to the Charlotte Hornets (and he is very important), one player sometimes gets overlooked: Brandon Miller. He's Ball's running mate, and before he went down with an injury last season, there was talk that Charlotte should trade Ball and build solely around Miller.

That's not likely to happen, but Miller is a supremely important figure for the Hornets. In fact, according to NBA insider Zach Lowe, Miller is the most important piece of the puzzle. If he doesn't pan out, this rebuild goes bust.

️ @ZachLowe_NBA: "This is going nowhere if Brandon Miller isn't an All-Star, nowhere."

"I'm excited to see what he is because I was super excited about him as a rookie, and this is a whole wad of nothing if he doesn't hit, and I think he can hit." pic.twitter.com/DnZ5VhHeA3
— r/CharlotteHornets on Reddit (@HornetsReddit) July 28, 2025

"This is going nowhere, I'm talking nowhere for the next five years, nowhere interesting, nowhere close to interesting, interesting you can't even see with a telescope. This is going nowhere if Brandon Miller isn't an All-Star," Lowe said.

He added, "After a lost season last year, I'm excited to see this kid come in for year three. " If Miller and Ball can be healthy for most of next season, Lowe is excited to see what Miller can be. "I was super excited about him as a rookie, and this is a whole wad of nothing if he doesn't hit." Fortunately, Lowe does believe Miller will hit and become a star.

Though it's in a pretty small sample size of just 101 games, Miller averages 18.3 points per game. In 2024-25, he was up to 21.0 and was on a pretty decent hot streak for a while before getting hurt, so there's reason to believe he was trending upwards.

Year three will be crucial, but it will also be interesting. Both Ball and Miller will have less offensive responsibility with Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley, Collin Sexton, and a few other incoming Hornets this year. In 2024-25, both Miller and Ball averaged more than 10 three-point attempts per game. That won't have to happen in 2025-26, so the overall usage should go down for Miller.

Can he still improve? Lowe believes so, which is good news for a Hornets team that needs him to. Much of their offseason, specifically the selection of Knueppel in the draft, was done under the idea that the Hornets already had a running mate for Ball. Having Miller meant they could safely pass on Tre Johnson and Ace Bailey for a player like Knueppel, but if Miller doesn't work out, then it might haunt them in retrospect.