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Projecting Brandon Miller's future contract extension with the Charlotte Hornets

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Matt Alquiza | Last updated Aug 6, 2025 4:14 PM ET

A monumental leap from Brandon Miller will go a long way in the Charlotte Hornets' ending their decade-long playoff drought.

The number three overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft burst onto the scene as a rookie, averaging 17.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game on 44/37/82 shooting splits. After finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting, Miller's runway was cleared for takeoff heading into the 2024-25 campaign.

After 27 up-and-down games that were marred by nagging injuries, growing pains in Charles Lee's system, and a revolving door of teammates that lacked chemistry with the second-year swingman, Miller's sophomore season ended prematurely due to a wrist injury.

Thankfully for Charlotte, Miller's injury rehabilitation has progressed nicely, and he's slated to suit up at training camp alongside a revamped roster of Hornets.

An offseason overhaul of the Hornets' roster has supplied Miller with a host of talented ball handlers to take some playmaking pressure off his svelte shoulders, affording the former Crimson Tide a chance to thrive as the two-way, off-ball, play-finishing specialist that he was drafted to be.

Those improved surroundings will be important in Miller's quest to lead Charlotte to the promised land, and secure his financial future.

Projecting Miller's contract extension

On July 1st of 2026, Miller will be eligible to sign his rookie-extension. That deal will need to be signed in-between the first of July and the date of Charlotte's opening game in October of 2026, or else Miller will hit restricted free agency in the summer of 2027.

Assuming Miller doesn't win an end-of-season award following this coming campaign (All-NBA, Defensive Player of the Year, or MVP) that would trigger 'the Rose Rule' in his second contract, the maximum year-one contract value he would be eligible for is approximately $46,780,750, equal to 25% of the projected salary cap number in 2027-28.

These exact numbers are subject to change based on the league's salary cap projections -- the main number to know is that Miller's max deal would account for 25% of the cap no matter what the number winds up being.

If Miller inks a max deal, that $~46M annual salary will grow by 8% year-over-year, and wind up as a five-year, $271,328,350 contract that eats up a smaller percentage of the salary cap (that is projected to increase by ~10% annually) as it grows.

The question is: will Charlotte pay Miller the max?

It would be a shock if they didn't. Players across the league that show even a modicum of a superstar ceiling receive max contract extensions coming off of their rookie deal. A player comparable to Miller, Franz Wagner, received his rookie max extension last summer that kicks in this coming season.

Both are two-way wing players that have plenty of room to grow -- if Orlando or Charlotte didn't pony up big cash on the bottom of the bell curve that will be the careers of Wagner and Miller, they could be stuck with egg on their face as another franchise reaps the benefit of a superstar player at a position of value.

Cap flexibility in the summer of 2027 is no issue for Charlotte either.

As of August 2025, the Hornets have three players under contract for 2027: LaMelo Ball, Sion James, and Ryan Kalkbrenner, and club options Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley, Tidjane Salaun, and Tre Mann.

The combination of Miller's indelible talent and Charlotte's flexibility make for an arranged marriage between the two that will be sealed with proverbial vows this time next summer. Barring disaster, Miller will ink his massive rookie extension and Charlotte will lock in their long-term pillar for the foreseeable future.