LAS VEGAS — After months of a status quo with Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson expected to be the top two picks in the 2023 NBA Draft, a newcomer has entered the mix, as Alabama’s Brandon Miller is in many cases jumping into the No. 2 slot on analysts’ big boards.
“Right now, everyone is kind of starting to follow the leader in a sense,” said Locked On NBA Big Board host Rafael Barlowe in an appearance on the Locked On NBA podcast. “The difference is, Miller has just been phenomenal … Scoot got off to a really hot start, but as the season went on … He just was not as dominant as I would have expected in the G League.”
Henderson is in his second season with the G League Ignite, and after several 20-plus point games early in the year, has leveled off recently. Henderson was recently shut down for the final portion of Ignite’s schedule after it became clear the team would not make the postseason.
“The biggest concern is that he didn’t make the jump that people thought he would make,” Barlowe told Locked On NBA host Jackson Gatlin.
Miller is a tall forward with a long wingspan who can score and defend at a high level. There’s a huge demand for that type of player in the NBA today. But despite Miller’s rise during the NCAA tournament, Henderson is still a tremendous prospect in his own right.
“He’s a point guard, athletic, he’s going to have the ball in his hands, has a very incredible pace, he’s a good decision maker, has all the physical tools, big hands,” Barlowe said of Henderson. And I think the midrange shot is really good and it was really good last year. And I think the three-point shooting wasn’t as high because he was making the adjustment from high school to the three-point line.
“He is a guy that I think is going to be an engine, I think he’s going to be a multi-time All-Star. So it’s definitely not a knock on Scoot, but we in the media were a little quick to label him generational.”
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