Our player previews of the 2024 Clippers starts with rookie Jordan Miller, the most recent addition to the roster.
Basic Information
Height: 6’6”
Weight: 202 pounds
Position: Shooting Guard/Small Forward
Age: 23
Years in NBA: Rookie
Key Stats: Averaged 15.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.2 steals in 35 minutes per game across 37 games in his senior season at U Miami on 54.5/35.2/78.4 shooting splits (61.6 True Shooting)
Contract Status: Signed a two-year, two-way deal in August
Expectations
While Jordan Miller is a very old rookie who will turn 24 in January, it’s very unlikely he plays much for the Clippers the NBA in the 2024 season. At 6’6 and around 200 pounds, Miller will hopefully be able to play both wing positions in the NBA, and maybe even slide to power forward if he bulks up a bit due to his wingspan. Unfortunately for him, the Clippers’ two best players play the 2 and 3, and their most reliable and best role player, Terance Mann, is most utilized at those positions as well. That’s not counting the high-flying addition Kenyon Martin Jr., veterans Norm Powell and Amir Coffey, and third-year Brandon Boston Jr., who’s still a couple years younger than Miller. In short, at least three of those players would probably need to be injured for Miller to even sniff rotation minutes. Instead, it’s likely he spends most of the season in the G-League, and picks up a handful of NBA games played in garbage time.
Strengths
Miller’s calling card in the NBA will probably be on the defensive end. He consistently generated a lot of steals and blocks in college, rated well by defensive metrics, and has the size at 6’6 with a nearly 7 foot wingspan to cover multiple positions at the NBA level. He will probably need to bulk up a bit to defend larger forwards, but a multi-positional sized defender with good instincts, effort, and athleticism should be at least playable on that end in the NBA fairly quickly.
Much like Terance Mann, who was also selected at 48th in the draft, Miller was a phenomenal finisher in college. He shot 60.2% on twos his senior year and an absurd 65% in his junior season at Miami. Miller’s length allows him to get shots off against all sorts of defenders and he is clever in finding angles to score at the rim. He does a lot of damage as a cutter, showing great instincts in timing and finding gaps in the defense. The Clippers have not always been great off-ball, and Jordan Miller is someone who thrives in those settings moving and finishing.
Finally, Miller is just a sound basketball player who contributes to winning in a variety of ways. While not a great playmaker, he’s someone who can certainly find the open man, will move the ball, and is fairly turnover-averse. Miller is also a very solid rebounder for his size, a nice quality for a Clippers team that has had some anemic rebounders over the years at the wing and guard positions. In addition to the low turnovers, Miller is not someone who commits a lot of fouls – he’s just generally a low-mistake kind of a player. That sort of guy, who won’t take away much anywhere, has a lot of value.
Weaknesses
Jordan Miller’s biggest weakness is probably three-point shooting. Across his five-year college career, he shot just 32.9% from deep on a meager 2.4 attempts per game. He did shoot 35.2% in his senior season, a high mark for him, but at only 2.5 attempts, which was actually less than he shot earlier in college. In Summer League, admittedly a tiny sample, Miller looked equally as reticent to fire away from deep. His form looks fine, but his shot is a bit slow and he just doesn’t seem comfortable out there. There are wings who thrive in the NBA without great three-point shots, but they’re great at other things like defense, playmaking, or shot creation. If Miller is to have a lengthy NBA career, he will more than likely need to be more comfortable shooting threes – if he can maintain 34 or 35% but up his attempts to where he’s at least a threat to shoot consistently, he will be much better off.
Miller’s other major weakness is a lack of shot creation. He does not have the handle or moves to create for himself (or other) consistently, instead serving mostly as a play-finisher. Miller should be able to attack closeouts, make positive decisions in the open court, and pass out of the short roll, but he’s not someone the Clippers will be able to give the ball to and ask to create offense against a set defense. That’s fine – he wasn’t drafted to be that kind of player. But his upside will be limited accordingly.
Summary
I liked the Jordan Miller pick when it happened, and he still has a shot to make an impact on this team in the 2025 season if he’s still here, but I’d be pretty surprised if he played more than 30 NBA games in 2024 or played more than 20 minutes in any NBA game outside of one where the Clippers rest all of their veterans. Hopefully he has a nice season in the G-League in the Clipper’s system and proves himself ready for a real role the following year.
