Brandon Miller out indefinitely after left shoulder surgery — no timeline for return

Brandon Miller is out indefinitely. Charlotte's third-year wing had surgery on Wednesday to address instability in his left shoulder — the same shoulder he subluxated in late October and then played the rest of the season with wrapped up. The Hornets called the procedure successful, said he is expected to make a full recovery, and refused to commit to him being ready for the start of 2026-27.

This was Miller's breakout year despite the bad shoulder. He averaged a team-leading 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 30.3 minutes across 65 games — a clear leap forward after his rookie season was capped at 27 games by a wrist injury. Year 3 was supposed to be the leap. He still had it on tape every other night, even with the wrap.

For the Hornets, this is the worst possible offseason news. They were already a team that needed star power, not less of it. LaMelo Ball missed 31 games of his own this year. The young core that was supposed to graduate from "young and fun" to "actually good" now has to do it without one of its best two players for an unknown chunk of the next season. The team said updates will be provided "as appropriate." That's never code for "ready in October."