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French phenom Victor Wembanyama is a digital lock to go first total within the 2023 NBA draft, and an identical consensus is constructing round Alabama star Brandon Miller with the No. 2 decide.
“Whereas there’s a course of that might want to play out over the subsequent month, it was onerous to discover a single NBA government on the draft mix who believed that G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson will finally rise into the No. 2 spot,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reported Tuesday.
Givony added “the door continues to be open for Henderson to blow Charlotte executives out of the water throughout his particular person exercise.”
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman echoed that reporting:
“There’s a present perception that members of Charlotte’s entrance workplace assume Miller generally is a star. The concept Scoot Henderson is the apparent Victor Wembanyama comfort prize has misplaced power over the previous few months. Some famous that individuals made up their minds on Henderson too early, particularly after his huge sport in opposition to Victor Wembanyama in Las Vegas. Henderson, who missed time with accidents and wound up shutting down his season simply over every week into March, shot 39.7 % since January 8.
“Others recommended that groups should have extra confidence when evaluating Miller’s success in a well-known NCAA setting, in comparison with Henderson’s in a ball-dominant position and the G League’s freer-flowing tempo.”
Miller’s basketball abilities aren’t a lot in query. The SEC Participant of the 12 months averaged 18.8 factors and eight.2 rebounds and shot 38.4 % from past the arc as a freshman with the Crimson Tide.
Miller’s connection to the fatal shooting of Jamea Jonae Harris in January can be a consideration for the Hornets and each different NBA workforce. The 20-year-old hasn’t been charged with a criminal offense, although Givony reported some NBA executives “have privately expressed some concern relating to fallout which may nonetheless come within the type of a possible lawsuit or follow-up investigation with yet-to-be-released particulars.”
Miller’s agent, Wilmer Jackson, advised Givony that the Hornets are planning to ship their attorneys to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to look at the matter for themselves.
A number of NBA executives advised The Athletic’s David Aldridge that they did not assume the taking pictures was more likely to have an effect on Miller’s draft inventory. Givony and Wasserman’s experiences seemingly again up that perception.
