The NBA's deadline for players from the 2023 draft class to sign rookie-scale contract extensions passed at 6 p.m. ET Monday, one day before opening night, and it left one marquee name unresolved: Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller.

Four of Miller's draft classmates beat the clock. San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama agreed in July to a five-year rookie-max extension worth roughly $252 million with no statistical escalators, choosing it over a 30 percent supermax path that could have topped $300 million. Houston locked up Amen Thompson on a five-year, $208 million extension, while his twin brother Ausar Thompson signed for five years and $155 million with Detroit in September. Utah's Keyonte George (five years, $157.5 million) and Golden State's Brandin Podziemski (five years, $110 million) also got deals done before Monday.

Miller, the No. 2 pick in that same 2023 draft, did not have one to announce. There was no report of an agreement as the deadline passed, leaving him on track for restricted free agency next summer unless a deal still comes together before the regular season tips off.

A Franchise Bet Without LaMelo Ball

The stakes are higher in Charlotte than almost anywhere else in the league. The Hornets traded franchise point guard LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to Minnesota in June for Naz Reid, an unprotected 2033 first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps and three second-round picks. That left Miller, alongside second-year wing Kon Knueppel, as the building blocks of Charlotte's rebuild heading into the new season.

Miller's camp has reportedly been seeking a deal near the top of the rookie-scale max, which could run as high as five years and $275 million, with other reporting pegging a realistic landing spot above $200 million overall. Hornets president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson has acknowledged the talks directly, saying the front office has been in regular contact with Miller's representation and wants him in Charlotte for the long haul, while declining to detail specific numbers.

Talks have stretched across the offseason, and as recently as mid-October insiders described negotiations as ongoing but unfinished, with Miller's recovery from May shoulder surgery adding a wrinkle to how the team values him long term.

Missing Monday's deadline doesn't make Miller a free agent tonight. He simply plays out the final year of his rookie deal and becomes a restricted free agent next summer, when Charlotte would retain the right to match any offer sheet he signs elsewhere, or extend him a qualifying offer worth roughly $21.2 million to preserve those matching rights.

That path isn't catastrophic for either side — restricted free agency has produced plenty of extensions elsewhere in the league — but it does mean the Hornets head into the season still writing the final chapter of their most important contract conversation, with a rebuilt roster, a new backcourt pairing, and a fan base still processing the trade of its franchise point guard.