Scouting Report: Leonard Miller
Breakdown and scouting report of Minnesota Timberwolves' Rookie Leonard Miller
Background:
Leonard Miller is a 19 year old Canadian Forward who was recently drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves 33rd overall in the 2023 NBA Draft. He comes to Minnesota by the way of skipping college and playing with the development program, G League Ignite. With the Ignite, Miller posted numbers of 17ppg, 10rpg on 53 FG% and 30% from three.
He is a versatile lefty forward who looks to spend more time in the G League this season to develop his game.
I had the opportunity to watch him play in person against the Motor City Cruise and he finished with 8 of 14 shooting to score 25 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and recorded three steals.
Strengths:
The first thing that stands out for Leonard Miller is his length. He was measured at 6’10 in shoes and has a 7’2 wingspan. With this size and length, Miller has the ability to show versatility on both sides of the ball. What I mean by this is, he can play positions 3 through 5 at anytime. While he is better at some more than others, you as a coach have the ability play him at any of those spots without really having a drop off whatsoever.
Miller has the mixture of guard skills and post moves to play in and out. The same goes for the defensive end, he can switch when presented in a PnR or DHO whether it is onto a guard or a big, the versatility really comes from his wingspan to play multiple spots.
At only 19 years old, the T Wolves have the time to develop this guy as slowly as they would like. He already has one pro season under his belt, so he already is more adjusted to the game than someone coming out of college. With his age, he shows a lot of patience on the offensive end. Like any player, he will force a shot from time to time, but for the most part, he will wait for the offense to find him and pick his spots of when to attack. This leads to the high field goal percentage he has posted at every level he has played.
The next thing that pretty much everyone notices with Leonard, is his ability to rebound. He times his jumps nicely, seems to always have at least one hand on the rebound and will crash the offensive end. When he isn’t getting the rebound, he will run to the rim in transition for an easy finish or dunk, he creates a lot of easy points for himself just by having the effort to sprint down the court.
In the half court offense, Miller has shown the ability late last season and early this season to have a nice touch in the paint. Whether this is with either his left or right hand at the rim, a floater or jumper, he always stays consistent. When he works into a mid range/close jumper, he seems to go into either a half or full spin leading to a lean or a full fadeaway over his left shoulder that looks smooth, practiced and effective when he takes this shot.
Shows signs, but isn’t there yet…
Two things come to mind when you have a 19 year old playing at the pro level. Can he shoot, and was he just more athletic than everyone at the lower levels?
The answer is yes to both. Leonard Miller isn’t an elite athlete, he is very good athlete, but at the NBA level, he will find a lot of guys who will jump with him any day or night. With that being said, Miller will need to tighten up his shooting and ball skills to be effective over a long period of time.
We have already seen his jumper improve over last season and his free throw percentage of 80% tells me something is there. When I saw him shoot against the Cruise, he ended up converting 3 for 3 on his three pointers. While some may think his mechanics are poor, I think they look pretty good. He has a square base, the release point is low and a little slow, but the finish is all straight and is held right at the rim. He can improve his release point and speed of his shot, I don’t think it’s a necessity right now. He seems to have the confidence to make threes at the NBA level, and most come in the Pick n’ Pop situations where he catches at the top of the key and is wide open. Repetition will help his jumper, but I see his making ability as more as a positive rather than a negative just because his pre shot mechanics are a little funky.
Another thing that he needs to improve upon but shows glimpses is his handle and his playmaking skills. From time to time he gets the board and pushes in transition. This is great to see out of a bigger guy to cause mismatches all across the board. However, Miller tends to turn it over when pressured or gets going too fast. He will need to make better decisions when he has the ball acting like a guard, assuming this will improve with age and with playing with better guards.
The jumper and point forward capabilities have been shown by Miller, he is just a little raw with both, but eventually at least one of the two will become a strength of his.
Weaknesses
Still only 19, Miller may not have really come into his body yet. Listed at 212lbs isn’t going to cut it at the pro level. He has been bullied by bigger players on both ends. Jontay Porter for the Cruise could get to any spot he needed to because he was that much stronger. If Miller could get to 230lbs, I think he could maintain playing 3 through 5, but right now all Centers and majority of Power Forwards will out muscle him.
A way Miller can create more opportunities for himself is more cuts off ball. He has a good motor, but can get caught standing and or cutting without purpose. With his ability to finish in the paint, he could get 3-4 more opportunities a night just with a decent cut baseline or even to the middle of the lane.
Knowing his personnel and decision making is something he will have to key on. As a guy who doesn’t have a ridiculous usage rate, he needs to cut down on turnovers. Trying to make a play is one thing, but consistently giving the other team possessions only hurts him and the team. Just needs to tighten up, not refine his “raw” skills.
Conclusion
Overall, Leonard Miller is a very good player and I would expect him to be a future starter for Minnesota. His style of play and where he can fit in looks to be a nice fit with the roster they currently have. Over time he will bulk up and sharpen his ball skills, I don’t expect him to have as many turnovers when with the Timberwolves, as he won’t have the ball as much, but look for the teenager to make mistakes in the G League when he is looked at as a top option.
The hope I have for Miller is that they really slot him in at the 4. He can play the 3 and 5, but he really looks like the perfect new school 4 man, so keeping him in the right position will dictate his success.
A name that he reminds me of is Thaddeus Young. Young came into the NBA as a tweener 3 or 4. With today’s NBA he would have been more like Miller as a 4/5. Both are lefties, Miller is a little longer but Young was a little more athletic. They can both handle the ball enough, but you don’t want them being your main facilitator and both had a iffy jumpshot coming into the NBA (Young was able to become a good shooter) and had similar characteristics guarding multiple positions defensively.
In his prime, Miller could be a guy who shoots over 50% from the field for an average of 14 and 8 a night with also having high minutes due to playing both sides of the ball while really having a positive impact on the game. I would have taken him in the lottery no question.