LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, & Miles Bridges rank among top 100 players in NBA

Three Hornets in the NBA's top 100? This is new territory for Charlotte.

Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

For once, we're going to stop talking about health. As a matter of fact, until it becomes an issue again, we're going to do our very best to leave that out of the conversation when it comes to the Charlotte Hornets.

This young, talented group is looking better with each practice and game, clearly buying into all of Charles Lee's principles of playing team defense, crashing the glass, and playing with pace. Charlotte may be under the radar now, but not for long.

The franchise has one of the most intriguing young cores in the NBA, headlined by LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and yes, even Miles Bridges. Center Mark Williams could work his way into that group at some point this season as well.

Each of Charlotte's key pieces was recently featured in the Action Network's Top 100 Players in the NBA by Matt Moore and Brandon Anderson.

No. 95 Brandon Miller

"Miller’s 10,000-foot view was “OK, not great.” He’s a player that you needed to spend time watching to understand how polished and good he’ll be in his career. He’s a three-level scorer with great control.

"His finishing numbers were poor but on clips you can see his command on english off the glass and his explosiveness on dunks. There’s a path where he makes a quiet jump this season for a team totally under the radar and sets up a Most Improved Player campaign in 2025."

No. 68 Miles Bridges

"Bridges put his significant other in the hospital two years ago and I will continue to make that the first line in any commentary on him. But the Hornets paid him a huge new contract and he’s an important player on an NBA team, so here he is. Bridges is a quality scorer and rebounder."

No. 44 LaMelo Ball

"I had LaMelo too low last season at 86. Even after a bad injury-plagued season (and his availability is a huge issue), I bumped him because his offensive creation borders on elite. I still think his shot selection and defense leave a lot to be desired, but you can build a strong offensive engine with him, and he has a lot of runway ahead."

My two cents

To be quite honest, I'm a little surprised to see Bridges even on this list. Not that he isn't worthy, but there's a lot of talent in this league and I figured he'd be sitting just a few spots out. He is one of the most durable players on the roster and is a workhorse that can log 35+ minutes on any given night. The fact that he showed very little rust last season is a testament to the work he put in heading into the year.

As for Miller and Ball, their rankings are in the right neighborhood. I may have Miller a tad higher, but I'm not going to be overly argumentative about a player who has one year of service time.

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