Kentucky in the NBA: Previewing Our Free Agents
By Alex Weber
Darius Miller
The veteran New Orleans wing had a good run with the Pelicans next to the fellow cat and former Kentucky teammate Anthony Davis. Miller was signed a few seasons ago to a small deal after coming over from Germany (where, of course, he won the national title), and was slotted to be a shooter. That he was. Two seasons ago, Miller led the NBA in three-point field goal percentage for the majority of the season before tailing off at the end of the year a bit, although he at a smoldering 41.1% three-point clip for the year. This past year Miller’s shooting numbers dipped into the mid-30s from deep but he still managed over 8 points per contest.
However, with the Zion and the Lakers cache arriving in New Orleans and kickstarting the NBA’s most legendary rebuild to date, Miller’s services are no longer required. In all four seasons that Miller has played in the NBA, he’s played for the Pelicans, but a change of scenery is coming. Depending on the type of deal Miller is willing to accept (the veteran minimum ideally), he could very well find himself on a contender. Someone like Milwaukee or Los Angeles or Philadelphia could certainly use a sniper from distance, considering a lack of three-point spacing was a cornerstone issue for each of the three franchises last season. In all likelihood, Miller won’t be a very consequential player next season, but there’s a chance a playoff team picks him up as a bench piece or some destitute organization offers him a bigger contract for seemingly no reason–which is a more likely possibility than you would expect.
Possible Destinations: Lakers, Thunder, Pistons