For a team that has not won a playoff series in 24 seasons, the choice could not be clearer. Charlotte Hornets president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson announced a five-year, $209 million extension for Brandon Miller on 19 October, hours before the league’s deadline for rookie-scale extensions expired.

The agreement runs through the 2031-32 season at an annual average value of $43 million, and overtakes Ball’s five-year, $203 million extension from three years earlier as the richest the organization has ever offered.

Peterson told reporters that negotiations went down to the wire, and that both sides had wanted the matter settled sooner.

“Even though the negotiation went to the last hour and probably a little bit longer than Brandon and I wanted it to go, I am just happy that we were able to get it done,” Peterson said, as reported by Sports Illustrated.

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No. 2 in 2023, $43m a year in 2026

Miller, picked second overall in the 2023 draft, built the case for the extension in his third year. He averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists across 65 games last season while shooting 38.3% from three, numbers he produced while playing through a left shoulder injury that later required surgery.

The Hornets backed him even after a wobbly first look at the new deal. In the season opener against Brooklyn, Miller finished with 18 points on 3-of-14 from three-point range and added only one point in the second half, according to the Associated Press.

A 44-38 season, then an everything-must-go summer

Charlotte went 44-38 last season, a jump that was enough to drag the franchise back into the play-in tournament for the first time since 2022. The team beat Miami in overtime and then lost 121-90 to Orlando on 17 April to miss the playoffs again. The last postseason appearance remains the 2015-16 run.

The offseason that followed was anything but patient. Ball was traded to Minnesota, Miles Bridges was moved on, and Naz Reid, Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale and Dennis Schröder arrived to put veteran weight around Miller.

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Miller told Sports Illustrated that the direction of travel is clear.

“Our goal is the playoffs. We want to be known as a playoff team,” he said.

Peterson, speaking to the same outlet, said the organization’s belief in the 23-year-old went beyond his statistics, pointing to his work ethic and determination to keep improving as decisive factors in handing him the largest check in team history despite his offseason shoulder surgery.

Miller’s new deal runs through the 2031-32 season, with training camp partner Reid and the reshaped supporting cast now carrying the roster toward a play-in push that opens with road games at Washington and New York in the coming week.

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