So much of what the Charlotte Hornets did over the offseason showed up on Wednesday night during the season opener. They beat the Brooklyn Nets, 110-103. Charles Lee's multi-faceted system worked, with quite a few players scoring in double figures.
The depth the Hornets went out and procured paid off in the first game. Particularly, the decisions to get Naz Reid and Grayson Allen back in their trades of LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges aged to perfection.
The decision to trade for Dennis Schröder was brilliant, too, as he filled in for Coby White more than admirably. It was a good game all around, especially for a team that came in missing two starters and a key reserve.
Unfortunately, it wasn't all perfect in the opener. Most of the offseason, including those trades and an eventual $209 million extension, was to clear the runway for Brandon Miller to take off and be the face of this franchise.
Against Brooklyn, it didn't go as well as everyone would have liked. It didn't hurt the Hornets, but Miller was not very good last night. Miller was -4 on the night, the second-worst mark among all Hornets who played.
He was only better in that regard than Moussa Diabaté, but Diabaté at least had an otherwise really good stat line: 17 points on 8/11 shooting with eight rebounds, three assists, and five steals.
Miller's stat line was pretty ugly. He started out incredibly hot, scoring 17 points early on 7/12 shooting. First-option Miller looked fantastic. He fell off a cliff after that, and his final stat line is not good: 18 points (7/21 shooting, 3/14 from three, and 1/2 from the line), three rebounds, one assist, and three turnovers.
His defense was pretty solid, as his defensive rating is 102.6. But his offensive rating was a paltry 100.0, which was third-worst among all Hornets. A 41.1% true shooting percentage isn't going to get it done, either.
Put simply, Miller was vastly outplayed by several other Hornets. Grayson Allen, Naz Reid, Diabaté, and even Dennis Schröder (19 points, four rebounds, and six assists) were significantly better than Miller.
It is only one game, and it's hard to complain about a season-opening win while missing Kon Knueppel and Coby White. But if the Nets aren't good enough to beat that Hornets team, then they're not good enough to have completely shut Miller down.
He will get better, and having White and Knueppel out there will help, but these are the games where Miller can earn his money and his new role. On Wednesday night, he just didn't.
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