Charlotte Hornets guard Brandon Miller will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn scapholunate ligament in his right wrist, the team announced Thursday.
Miller, 22, sustained the injury on Jan. 15 during the Hornets’ 117-112 victory over the Utah Jazz.
OFFICIAL: Brandon Miller underwent surgery to repair a torn scapholunate ligament in his right wrist.
Read the release: https://t.co/VlccDhHM1D pic.twitter.com/LGpGpPwUkO
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) January 23, 2025
A key contributor, Miller is the Hornets’ second-leading scorer, averaging 21.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game with shooting splits of 40/35/86 across 27 games.
Charlotte has been plagued by injuries this season, with LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Mark Williams, Nick Richards (who was traded to the Phoenix Suns) and Grant Williams all missing significant time.
Expect to see a boost in minutes from Josh Okogie, Seth Curry and Nick Smith Jr. in Miller’s absence.
What this means for Charlotte
The Hornets had plenty of promise to take a step forward this season, but injuries have derailed their plans since training camp began. Miller was making improvements in his second season as part of the one-two scoring punch with Ball, with the duo leading the league in 3-point attempts per game. However, the Hornets have the worst true shooting percentage in the league.
Miller is having surgery on his shooting wrist, so he will have a long rehab process ahead of him to get back to 100 percent. His increased production this season mostly came on pull-up 3s, which have become the bread and butter of his game. Miller is not yet efficient in making these shots, but he is trending to eventually becoming one of the best three-level scoring wings in the NBA in a few years.
The Hornets are well out of the playoff picture and the second half of their season will be focused on development. Williams, a young center, is finally healthy and has recently been putting up All-Star numbers. Ball has been one of the top scorers in the league this year, but now has the responsibility of keeping the team engaged and growing as injuries pile up. — Jared Weiss, NBA writer
Required reading
(Photo: Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)
