FS1's Ric Bucher Reveals Why He Had Brandon Miller 2nd Team All-Rookie

Bucher joined Kendrick Perkins as the only voters to leave Miller off 1st Team All-Rookie

Lost in the furore of yesterday's news that ESPN's Kendrick Perkins left Brandon Miller off both all rookie teams was a less egregious decision, but still an eyebrow raising one. I noticed Fox Sports 1's Rich Bucher was the only voter to have Brandon Miller on 2nd team all-rookie, with Amen Thompson making 1st Team All-Rookie.

Fans took to social media to voice their displeasure, and Bucher responded.

You're right - I wasn't watching box scores. I watched games. Stats are a 2ndary measure, not 1st. BM had a good season; I debated between him & Amen for 1st team. There were times BM was on the floor but invisible. That was never the case with Amen.

— Ric Bucher (@RicBucher) May 24, 2024

Firstly, respect to Ric Bucher for responding, very few voters provide context to their votes, especially when finding themselves in the minority. While Bucher's opinion might be at odds with most (More on that later), he at least gave a reason.

Now, to breakdown Bucher's analysis of why he had Brandon Miller 2nd Team All-Rookie.

The key quote from Bucher was "There were times BM was invisible on the floor. That was never the case with Amen". This season Brandon Miller had a usage percentage of 22.6%, compared to Amen Thompson's 18.1%. To perspective, that's the different between a top offensive option and a role player. Defensively, Miller and Thompson both guarded opposing top offensive options, so let's call that one a draw.

Off the ball, Miller is a dangerous three pointing threat who stretches the defense. Simply by being out there he is creating space for others. Thompson on the other hand shot 16% from three, yes you read that right. If Miller did "Disappear" for stretches, at least the threat of him is still helping whereas with Thompson weakside defenders are strongly helping off him.

Throughout the second half of the year Miller was forced into being the top offensive option on the team. He was doubled nightly on pick and role possessions and was guarded by the best player on the other team. Miller is unselfish, so he made the right play most nights moving the ball quickly for his teammates. That meant at times he may have appeared "Invisible" to the untrained eye, but the context is key.

Finally, we move onto minutes played. I'm not going to argue because Miller played more minutes he is more deserving as I disagree with that vein of thinking. However, Miller playing 32.1 mpg compared to Amen Thompson's 21.6 mpg a night is a factor. A larger percentage of Thompson's minutes came against back-up units, with Miller starting all but 6 games as opposed to Amen's 39 coming off the bench.

On the court fatigue is real, especially for rookies who's body's aren't conditioned to competing for 82 games. It's true Amen Thompson is an energy bunny on the court who jumps off the TV, but it's a lot easier to play with that energy when you are playing role player minutes every night.

Overall, I don't agree with Bucher's view. I think it misses subtle elements of context which are key and should be taken into account when evaluating rookies.