Tag: G League Ignite

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Back in his sophomore year, before anybody was talking about Leonard Miller and the NBA draft, he would wake up at 4 a.m. for a two-hour bus ride. His family lived in Scarborough, Canada, but he played at Thornhill – in a different Toronto suburb – and practices were held each morning before classes began.

Then, during breaks for the rest of the day, he’d walk around the hallways of Thornlea Secondary School, constantly pantomiming his jump shot so that he could perfect his shooting form. He may have harbored big dreams of being a star, but few would have seen this coming: Miller, 18, has now been certified as an entrant in the upcoming NBA draft. He’s the youngest – and most intriguing – player available.

Back when he was making that long bus trip he was a standard 6-foot-4 guard with good enough skill to play on elite teams, but he was hardly a standout. Now he’s 6-foot-11 and, depending on which scouts you talk to, has retained enough of those guard skills to become a dynamic player at the pro level.

His quick rise, though, has thrust him into making a decision that will likely become standard for players of his ilk. While Miller is entered in the NBA draft, he’s also going to maintain his college eligibility because elite college have offered him scholarships — and the NIL money that would almost certainly follow. He’s also, according to reports, considering other options that would pay him a salary and allow for endorsements, such as G League Ignite and Overtime Elite.

To some, it is a story that sounds closer to fiction than real life, and it’s easy to fall into cliched analogies to describe his recent ascension. I spoke to respected Canadian youth coach Charles Hantoumakos, who has coached both Leonard and Leonard’s brothers. Hantoumakos told me that it was as if Miller went to sleep Clark Kent and woke up as Superman.

“I wouldn’t say I’m Superman,” Miller said with a big smile when I relayed that quote. “I’m far from Superman. But I did wake up something else.”

And now everyone in basketball is trying to figure out how good this new version of Miller can be.

***

Pretending that Miller’s journey was linear or that any of this happened overnight leaves out a lot of pain and heartbreak.

Miller left Thornhill, then coached by Hantoumakos (who had helped develop Oklahoma City Thunder wing Lu Dort), to test himself against better players in the United States. He transferred first to Wasatch Academy in Utah. The following year, he played at Victory Rock Prep in Florida.

Then, this past season, Miller completed a post-graduate season at Fort Erie International Academy. There, he had a chance to once again play for Hantoumakos. When he chose to enroll in Fort Erie, he didn’t have a single offer to play at the next level. Fort Erie gave him a chance to show exactly what he could do, for better or for worse.

Once Miller got going, the basketball world saw a left-handed, ball-handling scorer who is nearly 7-foot tall. Especially when he’s firing on all cylinders, he’s a mismatch nightmare for defenders. After dominating in the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association (OSBA), he was rated as the No. 2 overall recruit in the final rankings for his class, per On3.

The final 2022 On3 Top 150 basketball rankings are live🔥

1. Kyle Filipowski
2. Leonard Miller
3. Dillon Mitchell
4. Cason Wallace
5. Dariq Whitehead

More: https://t.co/J2kq5AWbgq pic.twitter.com/PeqPSEzoy8

— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) May 2, 2022

Against his competition at the OSBA level, he showed promising flashes that he can be a rare triple threat for someone his size. Miller is a willing playmaker who can pass, dribble, and shoot. He is raw and still has a long way to go, and he needs to buy into the fact that he might have to spend a few years in the G League before even cracking an NBA rotation.

But his name is now one of the hottest and trendiest in conversations about the NBA draft.

Draftniks do not have a unanimous view of Miller’s future, though. He is one of the most polarizing players in the class. Miller is the poster-child “project” prospect who could fascinate some front-office executives and scare others who have less job security and can’t afford to swing and miss in the draft.

He is also the type of player who has tantalizing upside, especially if he is placed in a support system to foster his development. But some observers believe he’s two years away from being two years away like former NBA player Bruno Caboclo was when he was selected in 2014.

Despite the disparity, all of these views are fair.

“How courageous are you willing to be?” said one NBA scout, who spoke to For The Win on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly on behalf of their team. “If you think this guy could be Lamar Odom, how high would you draft him?”

***

Now that Miller is officially testing the waters of the NBA draft, his next few weeks will be hectic and he has several decisions to make.

Miller is currently working out in California, preparing for G League Elite Camp (May 13-15) or the NBA Draft Combine (May 16-22). Both events are in Chicago. If he wants to play into the mystique, he may just participate in measurements and interviews with select teams while there.

Some of his measurements will help his draft stock. He has massive hands that, at 10.5 inches, are as wide as 7-foot-6 big man Tacko Fall’s. At 9-foot, Miller has the same standing reach that Anthony Davis did before he was selected at No. 1 overall in 2012.

If he opts to participate in the scrimmages during the combine, he won’t be defended by players six inches shorter, which is what he faced at the OSBA level. Some of those players that he would match up against will be college seniors fighting for a spot in the NBA. That’s no easy task for any of these prospects, let alone the youngest player in the class.

The three youngest players in the 2022 NBA Draft as of right now.

1) Leonard Miller – November 26, 2003
2) Jalen Duren – November 18, 2003
3) Yannick Nzosa – November 15, 2003

— Global Scouting (@GlobalScouting_) April 23, 2022

No matter his participation level, he’ll try to ascertain where he’s likely to be drafted while he is at the combine. It remains unclear if he’s basing his decision on getting a first-round grade (which would give him a guaranteed contract).

If he wants a first-round guarantee, that could happen. But if he wants lottery assurance to stay in the draft, he may not be there yet. Miller was projected at No. 38 overall in ESPN’s latest NBA mock draft, and other personnel evaluators with NBA teams have given me a similar range for his projection.

If he opts to go the college route, he’ll pick between Kentucky and Arizona. He has until June 1 to make that decision and thus withdraw his name from the NBA draft if he wants to play at the collegiate level.

If that deadline passes, he will still have until June 13 to withdraw from the draft. In such a case, Miller could still use an alternative pathway to the pros like the G League Ignite (with a salary up to $500,000) or Overtime Elite (which pays players at least $100,000 a year) while still maintaining his eligibility for the 2023 NBA draft.

G-League Ignite has yet to have any recruit commit to them this year. They have Scoot Henderson returning but that’s it with prospects. Is Leonard Miller their last hope of landing anyone?

— Global Scouting (@GlobalScouting_) April 20, 2022

Another year of dominance would give Miller a better path to becoming a lottery pick, but the mystique is part of his allure. If he struggles against better competition, it could do more harm than good as he is currently riding high off momentum.

No matter where he ends up, Miller told For The Win he is looking for a place that holds him accountable, and he is also seeking a great developmental program with a coaching staff that has his best interests in mind.

Among all these options, Bleacher Report’s draft expert Jonathan Wasserman notes that it is “most likely” that Miller stays in this draft class.

What can Miller become in six years, at 24 years old, the same age that fellow Canadian wing Chris Duarte was when he was selected in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft? That is what teams will ask themselves when they are on the clock so long as Miller is still available on June 23.

leonard. that's the tweet. send. pic.twitter.com/2CYYe7E8Cb

— Tim Smith (@qkhoops) May 3, 2022

Overall, considering he kept so many of his guard skills and maintains fluidity playing on-ball, the elevator pitch for why a team should target Miller is simple. He has all the length of a center, but he can easily take the rock coast-to-coast.

Like another Canadian player, Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Miller is a natural shot-creator whose footwork as a ball-handler jumps off the screen during film sessions. He loves to use a spin move, and he has a special stride that allows him to create insane separation when he attacks the baseline.

Caught Leonard Miller taking one of the biggest Shai Steps I have ever seen pic.twitter.com/t8o08g8Uja

— Brian (@BrianJDraft) April 30, 2022

Another attractive selling point: Miller is not only jumbo-sized for a ball-handler, but he can finish with both hands. When he puts the ball on the floor, he is a matchup nightmare for defenders.

Miller considers himself ambidextrous and writes with his right hand even though he shoots with his left. He says one of his favorite players ever to watch is left-handed scorer James Harden. So it’s no surprise Miller’s signature move is his step-back jumper on the perimeter.

“I don’t know how people will guard it,” Miller said. “But I assume they’ll have a tough time.”

***

Although it’s easy to sell him as a man of mystery, Miller didn’t entirely come from nowhere.

Basketball is in his blood, and one of his brothers, Emmanuel, currently plays high-major basketball for TCU. Emmanuel was on Canada’s U19 squad that won the gold medal at the U19 World Cup in 2017. The following year, Emmanuel led Canada’s U18 squad in scoring with 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while clinching a silver medal at the Americas Championship in 2018.

Leonard, too, then represented his country for Canada’s U16 squad during the FIBA Americas Championship in 2019. Then a high school sophomore who didn’t have remarkable size for his position, however, Miller logged just 7.1 minutes per game and appeared for just one minute during the championship game against the United States. When he did appear on the floor, he was mostly utilized as a defensive specialist.

Shortly after that, he hit his major growth spurt, but he didn’t get a chance to show much of how it impacted his game.

After his time at Wasatch Academy, Miller transferred to Victory Rock Prep in Florida. Although he made strides to become more of a playmaker and less of a catch-and-shoot guy, it wasn’t long before he required wrist surgery. He described it as a “really bad” injury that forced him to miss significant time during his recovery and he said it was one of the only times in his life that he doubted himself.

“It was a hard time for me,” Miller said. “But I’m here right now, and I’m better than ever.”

Now fully recovered, Miller is playing the best basketball of his life. This past season, Fort Erie drew scouts from as many as seven NBA teams in a single game despite fielding a basketball team for the first time. They took home the OSBA title, and Miller was named Most Valuable Player.

Dipping my toes into some Leonard Miller tape and I get the intrigue. Very much a raw player and obviously still a lot to iron out but the skill and fluidity is there. pic.twitter.com/70EEVB5UUV

— Alex (Draft Film School) (@DraftFilmSchool) May 1, 2022

Miller went on to average 30.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game at The Grind Session (a circuit for elite high school teams). According to the Cerebro Sports database, no one who appeared in multiple games recorded a higher scoring average. His shotmaking, once again, was his signature skill.

“That’s what I do. I put the ball in the net. I can do a lot more things. But that’s a key part of my game. I can create for myself. I can go out to the next level and do those things,” Miller said. “I can knock down those stepbacks and create off the dribble.”

Most notably, he has rapidly shot up NBA draft boards since impressing at NIKE Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon in April.

According to ESPN, the Canadian-born prospect looked like he was the best prospect on the international squad (which also included Overtime Elite’s Jean Montero) “every time he stepped on the floor” during the week of practices. The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie also reported that while scouts felt Miller was the most intriguing prospect for the international squad, few felt he would make an impact “any time soon” at the NBA level.

Leonard Miller could sneak into the first round in the 2022 NBA Draft.

The 6-foot-10 crafty wing is a solid ball handler. Can create his own offense off the bounce. Nice passer. He also can drain an open three; unblockable w/7'3" wingspan.

Versatility is what teams are buying. pic.twitter.com/189tBH73Fv

— Ersin Demir (@EDemirNBA) April 21, 2022

The 18-year-old is still skinny at 208 pounds. When he spoke to For The Win, he also admitted that he is still adjusting to running and jumping as a near 7-footer.

“When someone is growing so much, you’re not going to get used to your new body right away,” Miller explained. “I had to do a lot of work in those areas, and I’m sharpening that with time.”

Leonard Miller’s comfortability in ball screens is evident on this double drag.

He’s 6-10, y’all. pic.twitter.com/0EPAJRQqmi

— Hunter Cruse (@HunterCruse14) April 27, 2022

Miller initiates offense in the pick and roll, which you won’t see from many prospects his size.

But some scouts have told me that he plays too upright and stiff with the ball in his hands. His ball-handling is occasionally erratic, too, and he’s still turnover prone. His handle isn’t particularly tight, and he needs to limit the unforced errors that he sometimes makes as a passer.

It's not always pretty, but Leonard Miller can shoot, and I think is a very worthwhile bet to do so in the NBA due to age and flashes like this. pic.twitter.com/MklYXlcjic

— Stone Hansen (@report_court) April 29, 2022

Miller knows he needs to make his jump shot more consistent, especially at the base of his shot.

Although his form isn’t replicable and rarely looks the same two attempts in a row, many talent evaluators tend to buy his shooting touch. He is a far more willing shooter than most prospects of his size.

“The shot is going to change. Whoever gets him is going to fix it,” added the scout, who knows that NBA teams have player development coaches and shooting specialists to work on these types of issues. “His shot is the least of my concerns.”

Even without perfect mechanics, you’ll notice the confidence with which he shoots his jumper.

You can't convince me that Leonard Miller won't be an exceptional shooter when it all comes around. His touch overall is insane. pic.twitter.com/UORGZgf3lA

— Dennis J. (@GatheringIntel) May 2, 2022

While he was the primary initiator playing against high schoolers, most teams already have a point guard and floor general. He also isn’t the type of athlete who is going to jump out of the gym and blow scouts away during a workout, though he is a legitimate lob threat and can throw down put-back dunks after offensive boards.

There’s always this sort of push and pull with any young player. So much of scouting is determining whether a player’s strengths can carry him until he’s had time to fix problem areas. With Miller’s late arrival as an elite prospect, it’s all the more difficult to get consensus on how his game will translate to the next level — whatever that may be.

There are a few different developmental pathways that Miller can take, which makes him an interesting blank canvas for an NBA front office. With his movement skills at his size, it makes sense to compare him to a high-usage player like Toronto’s Pascal Siakam. Much like Siakam, Miller is a handful for defenders during his grab-and-go opportunities when covering ground and pushing the pace in transition.

However, it’s very unlikely he will be given such a generous green light early in his career.

That brings us to a fascinating question Miller has to answer: How would he handle a more scaled-down role? Can he still add value if he didn’t have the ball in his hands as often? Is he still a positive contributor if he has to focus on backdoor cuts for lobs and offensive rebound putbacks? Would he still be effective as a secondary playmaker? These are things he is thinking about, too.

“That’s one of the main attributes to my game,” Miller said. “I’m very adaptable, and I can do whatever a team needs. I feel like I wouldn’t have any problems at all. I can put the ball in the net. But I can rebound. I can catch and shoot. I can set screens. I can provide a lot for teams to benefit them. So that’s no problem.”

We haven’t seen what this new version of Miller, at this size, can accomplish with more tertiary assignments. If he can adapt, the transition to the pros will become a lot easier, and eventually, it will help him more opportunities on offense. His versatility, though, could be what allows him to stay in the league for years to come.

The growth Leonard Miller’s made in regards to his proprioception over the last 6 months is staggering.

— Chip Jones (@ChipJNBA) April 30, 2022

Like many rookies, he won’t see the floor much until he can provide positive defensive value. His defensive tools are fine at this stage of his development, but that still means he’s not anywhere near pro-ready on that front. Miller looks better as a one-on-one defender than he does in team defense, but once he plays in a pro system, that could very well come along.

“In this day and age, you’ve got to be able to switch,” Miller said. “You’ve got to be able to guard multiple positions because that’s what’s going to get you on the court. With a guy my length, I can guard a five. With a guy as quick as me, I can match up with a guard, too.”

As he narrows closer to his decision on where he will play next season, Miller said he goes to the gym as many as three times per day. He said he doesn’t have a timeline for his decision but is looking for a place he can call home.

“You’re going to see a lot more of me. I’m not done,” Miller said. “I’m just going to keep striving to be the greatest player I can be. There are a lot more steps I’ve got to take but you’re definitely going to see more of me.”

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