Former Alabama standout Brandon Miller will open his second NBA season with the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night. The forward looked ready in the final week of the preseason.

In Charlotte’s first two preseason games, Miller made 4-of-17 3-point shots and scored 19 points. In the final three, Miller made 17-of-26 3-point shots and scored 68 points.

“He’s right up there with all of the best ones that I’ve worked with so far,” new Hornets coach Charles Lee said on Sunday about Miller’s talent. “It’s still early for him, and he’s got a very, very high ceiling, so I’m excited to see where his growth continues to take him.”

Lee has some ideas about how Miller can better use that talent in his second season.

“I think he’s in a really good place,” Lee said. “He’s taken his player-development meeting to heart, and so all the areas that we’ve kind of hit him on on both sides the ball, I think that he’s aware of them and he’s trying to be intentional about how he plays when addressing them, and so I think he’s in a really good place. Hunting 3’s, both catch-and-shoot and off the dribble. Also just playmaking offensively, like, taking what the defense gives you. I told him I’m not taking away his ability to shoot mid-range jumpers, but, like, can we shoot less of them? And I think he’s taken to that, and he’s actually found other ways to either get himself some 3-point opportunities or also get his teammates some 3-point opportunities and also just getting himself to the basket. And then defensively, we’re going to continue to push the envelope there and get him guarding a lot of different people.”

Miller wants to become an “elite” two-way player in the NBA, but he’s not giving up on his bread-and-butter shot, just adding to it.

“If the mid-range is there, it’s open, I don’t think I would shy away from any open shot,” Miller told WCNC-TV in Charlotte, “and,, of course my teammates don’t expect me to shy away from any open shots. But the mid-range and the 3 and driving more, it’s all going to play a role in this season.”

After joining the Hornets as the second selection in the 2023 NBA Draft, Miller went on to finish third in the voting for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. In his first NBA season, Miller averaged 17.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 32.2 minutes in 74 games.

But Charlotte posted a 21-61 record — the Hornets’ eighth season in a row without a playoff berth.

A 2022 NBA All-Star, guard LaMelo Ball led Charlotte with averages of 23.9 points and 8.0 assists per game, but he played in only 22 contests in the 2023-24 season.

With Ball back on the court, Miller expects the Hornets to take a big jump this season.

“He’s really elite at the play-making style,” Miller said. “Can score, can shoot, can do everything. Kind of like a big guard, and then you got other players that can space the floor, knock down shots. It’s going to be a long season this year. It’s going to be a great one.”

Charlotte tips off its season against the Houston Rockets at 7 p.m. CDT Wednesday at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.