Jay Bilas says NCAA Tournament showing will not hurt Brandon Miller's draft stock

Brandon Miller proved to be the best of the best college basketball had to offer this season, but you wouldn’t guess that purely based on his NCAA Tournament showcase.

He averaged 9.3 points per game on a 20% field goal percentage (8-41) and 16% from three (3-19) for Alabama over three tournament games. Still, the star freshman was playing through an injury and ESPN’s Jay Bilas is telling us to throw out the tape when it comes to Miller’s March Madness performances.

“He had injuries, dealing with a groin injury so I don’t think that’s a big deal at all,” Bilas said of Miller on the Dan Patrick Show. “He established a body of work where everybody knows that he’s the real deal. So, I’m not sure that’s a big issue. Even if [an NBA team] at No. 3 said, ‘you know, well, he didn’t play well in the tournament,’ and they said, ‘we’re going to take somebody else,’ he would go at No. 4.”

Even with his groin injury, Miller was still able to score 19 points in a 73-51 win over Maryland in the Round of 32. He played 34 minutes in the contest and recorded seven rebounds to boot — that’s a typical performance from him, which means a healthy Miller had the potential to be the tournament’s MVP if the stars had aligned.

That wasn’t the case, and the Crimson Tide were bounced in the Sweet 16 by San Diego State — who is now set to battle Florida Atlantic in an unlikely Final Four matchup on Saturday.

Miller finished the outing against the Aztecs with 9 points on 3-of-19 shooting. He went 1-of-10 from beyond the arc in 31 minutes on the floor but was able to haul in 11 rebounds in what is expected to be his final game in an Alabama uniform.

Once Miller decides to turn pro, he could go as high as No. 2 overall. Victor Wembanyama is the unquestioned No. 1 overall pick, and the G League’s Scoot Henderson has been the long-thought No. 2. But Miller’s national spotlight at Alabama versus Henderson’s under-the-radar G League career could go a long way in whichever team has the opportunity to choose between the two.

While Wembanyama has been widely regarded as a generational talent, Miller and Henderson going head-to-head for the No. 2 overall selection is likely going to be the biggest story heading into the night. Still, it might all come down to the NBA Draft Lottery, which will be held on May 16 and coincides with the start of the NBA Conference Finals.

After that, the 2023 NBA Draft is set to take place on Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Brooklyn at Barclays Center.