The Charlotte Hornets' newly extended $209 million wing, Brandon Miller, has gotten a real runway to showcase himself as the Bugs' undisputed No. 1 offensive option through the first nine and a quarter games of the season before exiting Charlotte's blowout home loss to the Boston Celtics with a groin injury.

With just six minutes from Kon Knueppel and two games of a minutes-restricted Coby White, who is still getting his legs back under him, Miller has had a much more centralized offensive role than he did during Charlotte's second-half magical run last season. He's now averaged over 20 field goal attempts per game, including 10.4 three-point attempts, while carrying a 32.7% usage rate, according to Cleaning the Glass.

Miller has shouldered one of the heaviest offensive burdens of any player in the NBA to begin the 2026-27 season.

And from a results standpoint, it's objectively been very subpar, both in terms of team offensive success and efficiency. Charlotte currently has a sub-100 offensive rating and ranks last in the NBA in team true shooting percentage. It's just been a mess offensively, and Miller's individual shooting splits haven't been much better. 

The 23-year-old has a 43% effective field goal percentage while shooting 45.5% from two-point range and 26% from three. That's not efficient enough for any quality NBA player, let alone a No. 1 scoring option whom your team is leaning on to carry the offense night after night.

All of this makes for an interesting situation to track as the season progresses because there are heightened expectations for Miller to make some sort of leap with his new lucrative deal. But so far, he's been in a far-from-ideal situation to thrive, given the lack of offensive talent and the struggles of the guards and wings surrounding him in Charlotte's rotation.

An uneven start, but plenty to like

Combing through these impact numbers, it's clear that Miller is still a positive offensive player for the Hornets despite his struggles shooting the basketball, which matches the eye test in that regard. His DARKO daily plus-minus (DPM) sits at plus-1.0, while his estimated plus-minus (EPM) is plus-1.3 points per 100 possessions. 

Per nbarapm.com, Miller also has a plus-1.3 relative on-off offensive rating, even with his individual relative offensive rating sitting at minus-10.1. That speaks to just how ineffective Charlotte's offense has been without him on the court.

Miller, being a highly malleable, talented young player who contributes to winning basketball, hasn't gone anywhere. But he's not yet at a point in his development where he's a premier creator for himself or others, or someone who can carry a struggling offense around him for a sustained period.

Also, slow shooting starts aren't exactly unusual for the fourth-year forward. After suffering a left shoulder subluxation in Charlotte's second game last season, Miller shot just 36.4% from the field and 30.9% from three over his first 10 games back.

So there's still plenty of time for Miller and the team as a whole to turn things around, especially with a fully healthy Coby White, in theory, making life easier for him. Miller's best offensive skill is ultimately his movement shooting, particularly running off screens and playing out of those situations, which requires someone to set him up for those looks.

Defensively, there's been some tangible, encouraging growth from Miller to start the season. Head coach Charles Lee and Brandon himself have both expressed the goal of him becoming an elite two-way player, and while he's not there yet, I've been impressed with his overall defensive game thus far.

Miller has a plus-1.7 on-court relative defensive rating and a plus-7.1 on-off defensive rating differential. He also has a 3.4% stop percentage per 100 possessions, a metric that combines defensive plays such as steals, offensive fouls drawn, and recovered blocks. He's becoming more of a defensive playmaker, something this Charlotte team has needed more of, even dating back to last season.

While his counting stats for steals and blocks haven't increased from last year, I've noticed him doing a better job utilizing his long arms to dig at drivers, disrupt plays from the weak side as a help defender, or even be an effective off-ball chaser often. 

Ultimately, my opinion of Miller as a player really hasn't changed much from the offseason. He still has some obvious flaws that put a ceiling on what he can be as a two-way player right now, including his limitations as a downhill finisher, struggles dealing with physicality, turnover issues, and a mediocre handle for a player of his size.

None of those weaknesses were going to suddenly disappear, particularly with Miller spending much of the offseason recovering from shoulder surgery. For the most part, he's still the same player he was last season, only now with a significantly expanded offensive role and more responsibility being asked of him.

He can and should shoot the basketball better than he has to start the season, but getting some of Charlotte's offensive help back will also go a long way toward easing some of the offensive pressure on Miller and lifting this Hornets offense out of the NBA's basement.