Brandon Miller spent a few days as a question mark. Then he dropped 18 points and made it look easy. His shin contusion is no longer a headline, but the Charlotte Hornets still have bigger health problems to sort out before the season tips off on October 21.
Brandon Miller Injury Update
Miller suffered a shin contusion in practice and sat out the preseason opener, a 124-90 loss to Brooklyn. The team called him day-to-day, and that is exactly what he turned out to be. On Sunday he started against Milwaukee and led Charlotte with 18 points, four assists and three rebounds in a 105-90 win, connecting on four three-pointers.
It was not a perfect night. He shot 6-of-15 overall and turned the ball over four times. But after a May surgery to fix instability in his left shoulder, simply seeing him run the floor again felt like a win.
The timing matters, too. Miller is eligible for a rookie scale extension until October 19, so showing he is healthy enough to play is the best sales pitch he could ask for.
Knueppel and White Sidelined
Then there is Coby White. The guard, fresh off re-signing on a three-year, $74 million deal, strained his left calf in training camp and will sit out the entire preseason. He dealt with a similar calf problem last season, which is the part that should make Hornets fans nervous. Grant Williams is also out with a hamstring injury and on the same re-evaluation timeline as Knueppel.
Opening Night Looms Without Ball
This was supposed to be a fresh start. LaMelo Ball is now in Minnesota, White was penciled in to run the point, and Miller and Knueppel were supposed to be the new cornerstones. Instead, that projected core has yet to share a floor in the preseason.
The schedule gives them very little room to ease in. Charlotte opens at Brooklyn on October 21 and hosts Atlanta two days later. If Knueppel’s re-evaluation falls inside that first week, I would not be shocked to see him miss at least the opener. A league source told the Charlotte Observer the injury does not look serious enough to wreck his season, which is a relief.
Still, depth is about to get tested. If Knueppel and White are not cleared for opening night, plenty of Charlotte’s early minutes will go to veterans and younger depth players, and Miller will be expected to lead the scoring almost nightly. That is a nice storyline until it becomes the only storyline. The rest of the injury list is what could decide how the Hornets start the year, and whether the early weeks feel like a launch or a scramble.
Brandon Miller Is Back, But the Hornets’ Injury Bug Isn’t Done Yet