Mike Miles Jr: 2022 NBA Draft Scouting Report
A quality PNR creator with off-ball prowess, Miles is one of our favorite hidden gems in the 2022 draft class
If an undersized lead guard is going to make it in the NBA, there are a few traits that must acquire in order to do so. First and foremost is elite pick-and-roll ability or feel — not many guys 6’0” or under are creating separation on an NBA floor without a decent screening partner, knowledge of where to move and the dual threat of passing and playmaking.
Requisite speed and/or strength is a must as well. Without blow-by quickness to leave their man in the dust or the physical bulk to handle contact at the rim these undersized guards become little more than jump shooters.
Finally, that shooting is vital to a great degree. The threat of being guarded in certain ways and having slower defenders crowd them on the perimeter is ultimately leveraged by their ability to knock down shots.
By our measure, Mike Miles Jr. out of TCU clearly checks at least two of those boxes. Listed at 6’1” but built like an NFL fullback, Miles combines great feel in ball screens with the physical strength to finish in the lane and enough quickness to create separation on the perimeter.
The skill most important for Miles is his 3-point shooting. While capable in many ways and displaying flashes of pull-up acumen, he finished the season below 30% from 3 and a mere 27.5% on all triples in the half-court. Because this was Miles’ sophomore season, we have seen efficient shooting lines from him before and can look at this high-volume campaign at TCU as a bit of an outlier driven by circumstance. The other roles we’ve seen Miles play — like as point guard for the Team USA U-19 Gold Medal group — give us optimism that his best days are ahead while playing a more balanced role.
At TCU, Miles was saddled with nearly all the creation burden. He was utilized a lot out of the pick-and-roll (397 play finishes created from the PNR, 12th among major conference players in the nation) due to the lack of offensive firepower elsewhere on the roster. His teammates weren’t great shot-makers (the Horned Frogs shot 32.2% on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers while turning down many open looks), limiting his assist numbers. The lack of spacing cramped his runways on rim attacks out of ball screens and opposing defenses focused on him a great deal.
Miles is quick but does not possess elite acceleration; he isn’t the type of point guard to burn his man in isolations and just get a paint touch. He needs those ball screens, but by inviting an additional defender to his space, opponents could blitz him at the point of attack.
Throughout the year, Miles faced every type of coverage known to mankind. Texas Tech and Baylor iced him, keeping him away from the middle. Kansas and Texas hard hedged or trapped, as did Georgetown early in the year. Kansas State and Iowa State were aggressive in trying to show and force the ball out of his hands. Yet Miles, operating in less-than-ideal contexts, carried that creation burden to make the right play more times than not. His pick-and-roll passing stands out as an elite skill worthy of NBA notoriety.