Source: Stacy Revere / Getty
The 2023 NBA Draft is less than a month away, and last week after the Hornets moved up to the #2 pick, the debate began regarding who the pick should be after the lottery. Brandon Miller had a stellar freshman season at Alabama, helping guide the Crimson Tide to the #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, and a trip to the Sweet 16. His NBA comp has long been Paul George of the Clippers, and when healthy, he is one of the best two-way players in all of basketball. While a majority of NBA draft analysts see Paul George in Miller, that belief isn’t true for everybody, including the host of the Wes & Walker Show on WFNZ, Walker Mehl.
Mehl, who covers the NBA extensively as the host of the Locked on Hornets podcast, has expressed his concerns with Brandon Miller’s inability to create separation offensively, worries about his ability to defend in the NBA, and says he lacks the ability to explode unlike Paul George before injuries really limited his abilities. Mehl is a believer that Miller can be an All-Star player in the NBA but believes that Scoot Henderson has All-NBA potential, and is a natural fit alongside LaMelo Ball, in the backcourt.
The one thing Miller has going for him is that he is the ideal wing in today’s NBA, and adds size to a roster in desperate need of just that. On the flip side, something the organization has to weigh is Miller’s off-the-court incident, and if that is something they want to take on, as the return of Miles Bridges does seem inevitable at this juncture.
Not many teams that are picking #2, are in the unique position that the Hornets currently find themselves in, as just a year ago, Charlotte won 43 games and participated in the NBA Play-In tournament. While this year they were 27-55, injuries derailed the season from the start, and by the time they started to get healthy, they were already out of the playoff picture. With that in mind, do you draft the best player available, or do you draft for need? That is one, of the many questions that general manager, Mitch Kupchak will have to answer this summer, as he tries to build a roster that can make a return to the NBA postseason.
