The 39-year-old Miller isn't done yet. After signing a one-year pact with Minnesota, the veteran should serve as a mentor to the young point guards on the Timberwolves roster. In terms of fantasy utility, Miller isn't particularly exciting. He averaged 4.4 points, 3.5 assists, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.4 steals in about 16 minutes per game in Washington and Sacramento last season. It's safe to assume a similar workload in his first season in Minnesota, with Ricky Rubio firmly entrenched as the starter and young prospects Tyus Jones and Zach LaVine also vying for minutes at point guard. Even if something happened to the oft-injured Rubio, it's tough to see Miller taking on a full starter's role given his age and the team's alternatives. And, it wouldn't be shocking to see Miller's role decrease as Jones grows more comfortable in the NBA, capping any upside that Miller may possess. Miller is no longer much of a scoring threat. He has not scored more than 10 points per game since 2010-11 and has made 18 three-pointers the last two seasons combined. The veteran point guard is unlikely to put up enough numbers to factor into most fantasy formats. Miller's impact will be seen more so in his veteran leadership than his statistical contributions, and he is of interest in only the deepest of leagues at the beginning of the season.
Andre Miller had a falling out with the Denver Nuggets last season, and he eventually landed in Washington to serve as John Wall's top backup. The Professor will presumably be back in that same role for his 16th NBA season, as the Wizards don't have any other true point guards on the roster, and they picked up Miller's $4.6 million team option, rather than opting for a $2 million buyout. Given that Wall often plays upwards of 35 minutes, Miller will likely log 10-15 minutes per game. The 38-year-old averaged 3.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.1 blocks over 15 minutes in 28 games with the Wizards last season. He'll likely land in that same range this time around, and should provide decent percentages. A career 46-percent shooter from the field and 81-percent shooter from the line, Miller has been rather consistent in that regard. He still can't shoot threes and is no longer much of a scoring threat, but his per-minute assist production remains strong. Should anything happen to John Wall, the Wizards don't really have another option at the point.
The 37-year-old point guard had another productive season last year. However, at this age, he should only be slowing down, and with the signing of Nate Robinson, the point just got a lot more crowded. Miller will continue to contribute, but it seems likely his role will be diminished.
The old man came through in a big way last year when most critics felt he was probably used up. Miller was a great mentor to Ty Lawson, a calming influence, and fully bought into George Karl’s system which helped set the tone for the year. We expect to see more of the same in 2012-13, although with Iguodala around Miller might see a few less minutes than the 27 he averaged last year.
Miller was sent to Denver on draft night, as part of a three-way deal with the Nuggets and Mavericks. In theory, he’s headed to Colorado to serve as backup to Ty Lawson, but Miller could have a lot more value than the average bench player. George Karl split playing time fairly evenly between Lawson and Raymond Felton last season after the latter arrived from New York, and the Nuggets could lose J.R. Smith (unrestricted free agent), Arron Afflalo (restricted free agent) and Gary Forbes (restricted free agent), which would open up even more playing time in the backcourt. Miller is remarkably durable, even for a 35-year-old guard, having played in 80 or more games in every season of his career, and is one of the league’s better passers (7.0 apg last season), but a dreadful three-point shooter (just 10 made threes last season).
Miller's move to Portland was far from painless; there were reports that Brandon Roy preferred playing with Steve Blake, that Miller's game too closely resembled Roy's. But Miller eventually won the team over, playing particularly well down the stretch (not coincidentally, after Blake was traded to the Clippers). He'll enter this season as the unquestioned starter – and really, with very little in the way of backup, as Jerryd Bayless has shown he's more scorer than lead guard. The days of Miller leading the league in dimes are long gone – and bear in mind, the Blazers are among the league's slowest-paced teams – but Miller should be able to post numbers similar to last season's without too much trouble.
After three mostly successful seasons as the lead guard in Philadelphia, Miller will take on a very different role this season, as a complementary player on an up-and-coming Portland team. Miller has the most impressive resume of any Portland point guard this season – and the competition isn’t close – but he may be a bit too similar in style to Brandon Roy to play alongside the Trail Blazers’ star as a starter. Coach Nate McMillan has said Miller will come off the bench behind Steve Blake, at least initially. The complementary role means a decrease in Miller’s numbers greater than the natural decline you might expect from a player entering his 11th NBA season. Expect efficient scoring, coming from Miller’s ability to get into the paint and to the line, and good assist totals – but not a whole lot else.
Miller is the steady hand guiding the Sixers’ return to playoff contention. It was presumed in some corners that Miller wasn’t in Philadelphia’s long-term plans when he arrived via trade. But the emergence of Andre Iguodala moved up the Sixers’ rebuilding timetable. Now with Elton Brand, Philadelphia needs Miller more than ever for a team looking to go deeper into May and even June. Miller’s in the final year of a deal and will be 32 before the end of the season, but this team isn’t ready to hand things over to Louis Williams quite yet. Miller’s still a top playmaker and a very heady player, who likes to drive to the basket and involve others that way. He isn’t much of an outside scoring threat, and he won’t be needed to score as much with Brand around. And though the scoring may drop, Miller’s still a steady producer in the rebounding (4.2 career rpg) and steals (1.38 career spg) categories. Miller’s been remarkably healthy his whole career, having missed just five games over nine seasons.
The trade from Denver to Philadelphia looked like banishment to some far off gulag, but things turned out okay for Miller fantasy-wise. While his assist numbers went down by nearly two dimes per game, he shot and scored more with his new team. Even Andre Iguodala’s emergence from Allen Iverson’s shadow was not enough to keep Miller’s assist totals from dropping. As one of the better passers in the league, Miller could benefit from having another guy emerge as a target, but that may not be the case in 2007-08.
George Karl’s frenetic style seems to suit Andre Miller; Miller closed out the 2005-06 campaign with an 8.2-assist-per-game average, his best since his days in Cleveland, when he led the league in dimes. His production tailed off towards the end of the year; he seemed to tire a bit late in the season, but he didn’t miss a single game due to injury – a useful trait on a team that features regular invalids like Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin. Miller also has value to fantasy owners as one of the league’s better rebounding points – he’s grabbed more than four boards per game every year since his rookie season.
Though Miller’s offensive and rebounding stats were down last season we attribute it almost exclusively to the arrival of Kenyon Martin and not to fading skills or a diminished role. Andre is still a big-time NBA point guard and the arrival this season of PG Earl Watson won’t affect Miller’s job safety one bit. While it’s true that Miller lacks a three point shot, he takes the ball strong to the hoop, draws fouls (an average of 350+ a year over the last two seasons), and makes foul shots. His ability to rebound well from the PG position is also advantageous to fantasy owners as is his 48% field goal percentage and decent assist-to-turnover ration of 2.5. Statistically we expect Miller to play 35 minutes a night while averaging 12-14 points, 4-6 rebounds, 6-8 assists, and 1-2 steals in 75-80 games.
The only thing Miller doesn't do for you is shoot threes, making just 12 shots from long range on the season. What Miller does have is a nice mid-range game, averaging 14.8 ppg on 46 percent shooting. Miller's assist numbers were down a little bit last season at 6.2 per game, but don't forget that he was getting to know his new teammates last year, has another proven scoring option around him in Martin, and is just two seasons removed from averaging almost 11 assists per game with the Cavaliers. With Kenyon Martin, Carmelo Anthony and an improving Nene on board, Miller should have plenty of opportunity to dish the rock and have people knock down shots for him. Miller remains one of the best rebounding PG's in the game and will give you a few steals as well. We think he may be ready to emerge as a leader on a Denver team that is ready to bust out.
After struggling in L.A. Miller is out to prove that he's still the same point guard who took the league by storm four years ago. He'll definitely get his chance in Denver as the club is young and in need of a solid leader. We expect this to be a very good season for Miller in the form of 14-17 points a night along with 8+ assists, 4+ rebounds, and a couple of steals in roughly 34 minutes. Consider him a top ten guard who shouldn't last past the fourth round in any draft.
