The clock is ticking on Brandon Miller and the Hornets.
With Brandin Podziemski now locked into a long-term extension on Saturday, the 2023 first-round class has another familiar name off the board. Victor Wembanyama headlines the group of players who have already secured new deals, but Miller remains among the holdouts as Charlotte works against the deadline.
Miller has not agreed to an extension yet, even though reports have pointed toward a deal eventually getting done. If nothing materializes in time, the Hornets forward would be headed toward restricted free agency next summer.
That deadline is Oct. 19 at 6 p.m. ET for 2023 first-round picks to sign extensions. Once that moment passes, any player still without a new contract will be on track for restricted free agency the following summer.
That doesn’t automatically mean Miller is leaving Charlotte. In restricted free agency, the Hornets would still have the right to match any offer sheet he signs. But missing the extension window would leave Charlotte with less flexibility heading into next offseason.
Miller is not the only player in this spot. Anthony Black and Cason Wallace also remain unsigned beyond 2027, while Wembanyama, Ausar Thompson, Amen Thompson, Keyonte George and Podziemski have already reached long-term agreements.
For the Hornets, the situation has an added layer of urgency after trading LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges this summer. Extending Miller looked like the obvious next move as the franchise continues shaping its long-term core, and there is still time to make it happen. Charlotte, though, has less than a week to sort it out.
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Hornets Have A Sneaky-Big Diabate Decision Coming Soon
The rookie-scale extension window has turned into a meaningful checkpoint around the league, and for Charlotte it has quietly put Moussa Diabate in the spotlight. What began as a two-way story has become something much more important for the Hornets, who have watched him climb from a depth option into a player they now lean on in a starting role.
Diabate does not have the name value of some of the bigger extension candidates, but he has played well enough to make this a real front office decision, not just a bookkeeping exercise. Charlotte will have to balance the timing, the price, and the risk of letting a useful young big get closer to the open market, which is why this is shaping up as one of the more interesting contract questions on the teams calendar. [Read more 🡒]
Naz Reid Is Already Setting A Tone Hornets Fans Will Notice
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Tidjane Salaun, heading into his second season with the Hornets, has been one of the players taking notice of Reids work. For a young roster still trying to build consistency, having a veteran presence committed to the details can matter as much as any box score line. Reids early impact in Charlotte is still unfolding, but the message he is sending is already clear: the standard starts long before tipoff. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Miller Knows What Hornets Are Asking Of Him Now
Since drafting Brandon Miller in 2023, the Hornets have kept reshaping the roster around him, and the most recent wave of moves has pushed even more of the load onto the second-year wing. The departure of LaMelo Ball changed the feel of the group and the scope of Millers responsibilities, leaving Charlotte to lean harder on a player it has already identified as central to whatever comes next.
Miller has acknowledged how hard the turnover can be while also showing the kind of perspective teams want from a young cornerstone, understanding that the NBA is a business and relationships do not disappear just because the roster does. For the Hornets, the bigger question is not whether Miller accepts the challenge, but how far his game will go as his role keeps expanding and the organization keeps asking more of him. [Read more 🡒]