Miller Still Isn't Cleared, and the Clock Is Getting Louder

Brandon Miller has been day-to-day since mid-July. That was fine in July. It is less fine now, with training camp on the horizon and a roster that was built around the assumption he would be healthy and available to anchor it.

As I noted earlier this month, the front office traded away its two primary isolation scorers — Ball and Bridges — and replaced them with complementary wings, perimeter defenders, and a veteran backcourt. The math only works if Miller is the guy at the top of the offense. He averaged just under 20 points a game last season and is the clearest remaining option to create his own shot in a half-court set. Without him, Charlotte is asking Kon Knueppel and Dennis Schröder to run an offense that has no obvious primary mover, which is a different kind of team than the one the front office said it was building.

The broader concern isn't just Miller's availability for opening night — it's what a slow start would do to a group that has never played together. Last season's Hornets went 4-11 in November before finding themselves. A retooled roster with a missing piece and a new playmaking structure could easily replicate that early hole. The close-game failures that drove this whole reconstruction — Charlotte won barely a third of its games decided by five points or fewer — were partly a talent problem, but they were also a cohesion problem. New rosters need reps.

PJ Hall is also day-to-day, which thins the wing depth further. My read is that the next two weeks matter more than anything else on Charlotte's offseason checklist. The Schröder trade is done. The Coby White deal is done. The only open question that actually changes the shape of this team is whether Miller walks into camp healthy.