No. 2 draft pick Brandon Miller struggles in summer league debut for Charlotte Hornets

With No. 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama sitting out the California Classic in Sacramento, attention turned to No. 2 pick Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets making his professional debut.

It didn’t go well initially. The Spurs blew out the Hornets 98-77 despite the absence of Wembanyama while Miller struggled most of the game.

Through three quarters, Miller had as many fouls (six) as points with five turnovers and one shot made. He finished with 18 points and seven fouls (players can have 10 fouls in summer league before being disqualified).

Miller didn’t hit his second shot until the 5:50 mark of the fourth quarter. He got going late when the game was out of hand. He scored 12 points with three 3-pointers in the final frame. He finished 3 of 7 from long distance and made a highlight-reel finger roll while drawing a foul.

Meanwhile, Spurs forward Julian Champagnie seems to like playing in Golden 1 Center. He scored 26 points in an upset victory over the Kings in early April and added 30 in summer league action Monday.

Center Dominick Barlow also had a strong game for San Antonio, scoring 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting, highlighted by a rock-the-cradle dunk in the fourth quarter. He had 11 rebounds and two blocks with just two fouls.

The Hornets were one of the most talked about teams during the NBA draft last month. They elected to take Miller, an athletic 6-foot-9 forward from Alabama, over guard Scoot Henderson, whom many scouts and analysts believed was the better player. Charlotte chose Miller while continuing to build around point guard LaMelo Ball, who is expected to sign a five-year, $260 million max contract extension this offseason.