The Charlotte Hornets held the first real decision of the 2023 NBA Draft, as they had to decide between Scoot Henderson and Brandon Miller with the second overall pick after the Spurs took Victor Wembanyama. Ultimately, Charlotte chose Miller, the 6’9 sharpshooting forward out of Alabama, as he is a clearer fit alongside LaMelo Ball than Henderson.
While most evaluators had Henderson as the best player available, Miller is certainly a strong prospect given his size and skills as a shot-maker. He did have some questions coming in for teams to dig into, namely about a deadly shooting in Tuscaloosa back in January where police claimed he brought the gun to teammate Darius Miles that was ultimately used in the tragic event. After the Draft, Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak was asked what made Charlotte comfortable with Miller, a question seemingly pointing to both his on-court skillset and the off-court incident, and Kupchak gave an incredibly bizarre answer that he stopped mid-thought after deciding better of it.
What made Mitch Kupchak and the Hornets comfortable with Alabama’s Brandon Miller? Well … pic.twitter.com/OrGn8F0QEi
— David Newton (@DNewtonespn) June 23, 2023
“Well, everything that we…every answer we got to every question,” Kupchak says. “I would say, he is a freshman, right? So he’s a little bit, I would say younger than…excuse me I wouldn’t even say younger — Nah, I better not even go in that direction actually. I’ll just back off.”
Alright! That’s certainly a number of words that Kupchak put together into almost sentences.
Kupchak had stated earlier that Miller was their “favorite all along,” although there was “spirited discussion” debating whether to take Miller or Henderson before landing on Miller.
Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak on Brandon Miller: ‘’He was our favorite all along.’’ pic.twitter.com/fMR3tj172d
— David Newton (@DNewtonespn) June 23, 2023
Prior to the Draft, Kupchak confirmed the final decision on the pick would be Michael Jordan’s, even though Jordan is in the process of selling his majority stake in the franchise and won’t be the primary owner when the season rolls around. When paired with Kupchak’s odd answer here to a fairly straightforward question (and one he should’ve been expecting), one can’t help but wonder if he wasn’t all-in on Miller given his apparent difficulty offering a coherent defense of the pick.
