5 Timberwolves who could fill KAT’s void at 2024 NBA Trade Deadline
By Bret Stuter
V – Leonard Miller
Rookie forward Leonard Miller is a lot like the prize in a box of Cracker Jack. We don’t know what we’ll get, but we are eager and excited to find out. After all, Miller is so very young, but he possesses such a diverse range of NBA skills that it is nearly impossible to fit him into the traditional five-position NBA lineup.
But he is 19 years old, stands 6-foot-10, and weighs 210 pounds. It would take a bad 2023-24 performance to take him out of the running for a larger role on the Timberwolves roster. But I don’t think that will happen. In fact, if we are rolling the dice, I would expect young Leonard Miller to exceed expectations this season.
Miller is more than meets the eye
After all, he has the body of an NBA center with the ball-handling chops of an NBA point guard. And while he is going to experience a learning curve that will slow down his ultimate best performances until someday in the future, he has already showcased his expansive arsenal of shots, rebounds, and even defensive skills.
No, even with 30+ minutes per game, Leonard Miller will not suddenly be dropping 20+ points per game on opposing teams. But perhaps he really doesn’t need to. We know that Miller is a unicorn, a player whose abilities to compete at multiple NBA positions make him incredibly difficult to match up with. If the opposing team defends him with a backcourt defender, he simply leverages his incredible 6-foot-10-and-still-growing height to drive for an easy layup or dunk.
If he is guarded by a frontcourt defender, he simply outflanks them with his agility, speed, and point-guard ball-handling skills. And best of all, if opposing teams double him up, he simply passes out to the open shooter.