Kon Knueppel, influx of young talent has Hornets buzzing anew

Former All-Star LaMelo Ball (right) and rookie Kon Knueppel have formed a formidable duo in Charlotte.

CHARLOTTE — Kon Knueppel was laughing at himself. Chuckling, anyway, as he went through some video clips from last season, breaking down the plays, comparing himself to himself. It’s one of several dozen ways he keeps pushing to improve in his job with the Charlotte Hornets.

“I was actually watching some old college tape,” Knueppel told NBA.com this week, a smile crossing his face, “and I think I’ve gotten so much better. Watching some Duke tape, I was like, ‘Man, I was [missing] a lot of bunnies around the rim.’ I just think the work I put in pre-Draft and the offseason really prepared me to be ready to go. And to contribute right away.

“I used to do it year to year. Last year I watched my high school stuff and each year, I’d watch the previous year. You can kind of see areas of growth and I think that’s cool.”

There’s a lot of growing and learning going on in Charlotte through the first half of 2025-26. The Hornets have four rookies, each making his mark at a different pace.

There’s Knueppel, of course, who sits atop the latest Kia Rookie Ladder. The 6-foot-6 native of Milwaukee and No. 4 pick overall last June has been locked in a 1-2 duel all season with his Duke teammate from last season, Dallas Mavericks big man Cooper Flagg, in the weekly rankings that track the league’s newcomers and their progress toward All-Rookie teams and the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy for the Rookie of the Year.

But wait, there’s more: Hornets President of Basketball Operations Jeff Peterson selected Duke guard Sion James and Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner with the Nos. 33 and 34 picks. A few days after the Draft, he picked up UConn forward Liam McNeely, the No. 29 pick, in a trade with Phoenix.

The moves deepened the Hornets’ talent base but upped its youth quotient. Eleven of the 18 players on the roster are under 25, and seven haven’t yet turned 24. Even a few prominent veterans — Miles Bridges (27 years old) LaMelo Ball (24) and Brandon Miller (23) — are still establishing themselves in the league. That influx of young guys could have altered the dynamics of coach Charles Lee’s locker room.

“I knew the four guys we were bringing in … they were just so secure in themselves,” Peterson said. “They’re about their team and that we win. And they all complement each other.”

Every GM is looking for that Goldilocks roster: neither too old nor too young. At the Hornets’ end of the time continuum, the skills and the energy are there, but experience and wisdom can’t be rushed.

“It’s like a collective patience,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said when asked what a young team needs most. “Not just as a coaching staff but as an organization. Make sure your processes are right. And if you’re not winning, how are guys developing? You can measure that.”

Atkinson has seen all sorts of roster constructions from previous stops with the New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, LA Clippers and now, the Cavs.

“Especially with the talent they have – lottery talent all around – it starts to turn,” he said. “That’s what you’re seeing with this team. A ton of talent, they’re starting to jell, guys are improving and you can see it. That road trip they just had [going 3-2 out West] was phenomenal.”

So far, the Hornets’ rookies have been an elixir, their contributions outweighing any hard lessons.

“The way they come in the building every day with their energy, with their curiosity to learn,” Lee said. “Even from the standpoint of Liam [who has split time in the NBA G League], he’s brought a new term for us to break our huddles. Most of our huddles now we break, ‘Hive on three.’ ‘One, two, three, hive!’ First day of summer league, he said it. It stuck throughout the offseason. We still use it and we love it.”

‘Sturdy’ Knueppel carves out his space

If Knueppel seemed like a reach at No. 4 in June, he looks like a no-brainer seven months later. Making his way through the league, he’s left a trail of praise in his wake from impressed opposing players and coaches.

He is averaging 19 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game in 45 games, while flirting with the elite 50/40/90 shooting club (Knueppel’s at 48.2%, 42.3% and 90%) that no rookie has reached. He ranks third in 3-pointers with 146 and seems a lock to break the rookie record for 3-pointers (206) set by the Sacramento Kings’ Keegan Murray in 2022-23.

Knueppel and Flagg have won all of the league’s NBA monthly rookie honors, and in the deep Class of 2025, they have reminded folks that there still are tiers.

Knueppel’s accuracy as a shooter is obvious as he arrived with NBA range, textbook form and a quick release. He appears to be built for this life, too.

“It seems like he has a durable body,” Atkinson said. “It sounds silly, but he has a great frame. A lot of guys come into this league and they’re too frail to compete. His skill level is super-high, but I’m impressed by how sturdy he is.”

His basketball IQ is Mensa grade – he and Flagg both are so-called sponges as quick studies – and he started early, with parents Chari and Kon both playing college basketball in Wisconsin. They have five sons, all of whom play, with the Hornets’ new star as the oldest (the family famously hosted a Hornets team dinner on the first trip into Milwaukee this fall). It was in the long-standing men’s league his dad runs in Milwaukee that Knueppel, as a teen, learned to play up to more experienced competition and earn his keep without the ball.

So excited to host the Hornets at our home in MKE! pic.twitter.com/btmkBHBpEz

— Chari Nordgaard Knueppel (@ChariNKnueppel) November 14, 2025

“I didn’t really like playing early on,” Knueppel said after an individual workout this week. “Then I got into the history of the game. I was reading basically NBA encyclopedias and that’s how I fell in love with the game and the history of basketball.”

His GOAT? “MJ,” Knueppel said. “My favorite player is Larry Bird, though.”

Knueppel has adhered to a regimen of continuous improvement, with no one on the Charlotte coaching staff required to prod him. “Today we were working on some ‘catch high, keep high,’ which is catching the ball without dipping it and shooting it. Just a real quick release,” he said.

“Generally, throughout the season, I’ve been working on my pick-ups. In the NBA, the pick-up rules are a little different. As soon as you get two hands on the ball, now you’ve got two steps. So it doesn’t matter how many steps you take before that until you gather.

“I’m not a high-flyer, so being able to be crafty with those pick-ups is something I can take advantage of, for sure.”

Meanwhile, Knueppel has the comfort of a ready peer group, three others who engage in texts together, go out for rookie dinners on the road and share some of the traditional menial rookie duties serving the veterans.

“Coming into the NBA is tough your first year, you don’t know what to expect,” Knueppel said. “It’s just like being a freshman in college – having guys who are going through the same thing is good. You have a little bit of camaraderie.”

Kalkbrenner, James and McNeeley chip in

Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) and Sion James (4) are already showing some veteran-like skills on defense.

If you really want to get Knueppel to open up, ask him about his draft mates on the Hornets squad.

Kalkbrenner? “Just a massive rim presence,” he said. “Blocks a lot of shots. Also a guy who’s a real lob threat … down on the block, he can convert at a high rate. When he catches it in the short roll, he’s a pretty good passer. He’s becoming more comfortable with that, catching it and making the right pass out.”

Kalkbrenner, 7-foot-1, was a four-time Defensive Player of the Year in the Big East while at Creighton. He ranks seventh in the NBA with 1.5 blocks per game and is seventh among the rookies in total rebounds despite playing only 33 of 45 games (left elbow injury).

James, who has been compared to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Lu Dort as a defender and eventual deep threat?

“For sure,” Knueppel said. “He also played point guard for us at Duke, so he’s been showing that more, his ability to handle the ball and make plays with pressure on him. Kind of a jack of all trades. … He’s guarding the best player every night when he comes in. To carve out that role for himself as a second-round pick is really impressive.”

Said McNeeley of James: “Everybody talks about Sion’s defense and his body. I think he could be one of the best linebackers in the NFL. Watching him guard guys and them getting so frustrated, I’m glad I don’t have to play against him.”

And McNeeley, who has averaged 12.4 minutes in 27 games with Charlotte but 34.4 and 20.6 points in eight games for the Greensboro Swarm?

“A good dude, which sometimes is half the battle,” Knueppel said. “If you’re a better dude you’re a better teammate, which is good for the culture of the team. When he came back [from Greensboro] after a couple of games, you could see he was confident. Coming in, he can space the floor, crash the glass, play hard.”

All four rookies are adjusting in their own way. Kalkbrenner has a little extra since he and his wife, Rachael, welcomed a baby girl in November. That’s made this season a little more of a whirlwind for the St. Louis native.

“You know how many games there are, but you really don’t realize how fast they come,” Kalkbrenner said of NBA scheduling. “We just played a game in San Francisco and flew overnight, played in Denver – and it didn’t even feel like I was in Denver because we were there for less than 24 hours. That’s been the most surprising part for me, but it’s been good.”

Myriad challenges face NBA rookies every year, whether they’re a solo act somewhere or in a quartet like these Hornets.

“Every day is part of the preparation,” Lee said. “How are you building your body up. How are you eating? How are you watching film to prepare for the games? Coming from college, these four guys also value practices. In the NBA, you don’t get a steady stream of that, or it’s a mindset of [just] checking a box.

“When we have a practice day, they recognize how valuable it is.”

Veterans, rookies build a bond

“All the pieces matter” was a theme of HBO’s classic series “The Wire.” That applies to NBA teams, too. This doesn’t work if the rookies can’t assimilate and play. It goes off track quickly, too, if veterans don’t embrace newcomers.

One aspect of the Draft that often goes unspoken is how it delivers a team’s future replacements for players holding the jobs. Last June, Peterson grabbed four of them, with Lee and the rest of the organization grooming them for bigger roles.

That could be a source of tension with veterans. Ball is a one-time All-Star still defining himself for better or worse in the league. Bridges is in Year 2 of a three-year contract extension. Miller is in his third season, averages 20 ppg and is eager to earn both acclaim and that next big deal.

Hornets forward Grant Williams dismissed the idea of any resentment or rancor.

“Not with the rookies that we have,” Williams said. “These rookies are so humble. They’re also competitors, they understand their position, and you can tell a lot about a rookie when they’re willing to do their rookie duties, too. From top to bottom – Kon’s the fourth overall pick and he smiles doing rookie duties. This next generation of guys we drafted has been phenomenal.”

Said Kalkbrenner, who is entrusted with carrying Williams’ game-night gear and stocking drinks for postgame buses: “I don’t know if we worried about ‘stepping on toes.’ Like any team, there are roles. You know obviously that Brandon and Melo and Miles are big-time scorers, so they’re going to get buckets for us. But there’s not a pecking order in an egotistical sort of way.

“It’s just like, ‘Hey, this is what these guys are good at and this is how we help the team win.’ Then it’s everyone buying into that. Not like getting in someone else’s way.”

The development and talent accumulation figures to continue, with a board of future Draft picks in Peterson’s office – a possible 25 in the next seven years, 11 first-rounders – that smacks of Sam Presti’s haul in OKC.

“Since I got here [in March 2025], we’ve been about acquiring assets,” Peterson said. “You never know exactly how those picks are going to turn out, but the key for us is to take as many shots as you can.”

The Hornets’ hoops boss leaned into the alma maters of his rookies — Duke UConn and Creighton — as character witnesses and proven brands.

“All of their coaches are amazing,” Peterson said. “We knew when we got them, they already had a maturity to them. And that winning was a priority.

“It’s a breath of fresh air when you don’t have to push guys to get into the gym. You don’t have to make them understand how important it is to take care of your body – they already knew that. They truly take an active approach in ‘How can I get better?’”

Knueppel, who has the biggest role of the new guys, hasn’t sensed any friction.

“I sit by Mason [Plumlee, 13-year NBA veteran] on the plane and he’s like, ‘You don’t see that everywhere,’” Knueppel said.

“We’re all just generally happy for each other’s success. It’s really cool – Miles just moved into third all-time [in Hornets scoring] and everybody was pumped for him. Or even for being Rookie of the Month. It’s a real good locker room right now, with guys all for each other.”

The comfort level obviously helps with chemistry and timely tips.

Said Kalkbrenner: “Sometimes it’s easier to go up to a player and ask a question, instead of a coach. You’re like, ‘Man, I probably should know this but…’ You don’t want to do that with a coach.”

Said Lee: “The veterans have to have patience at times. But it’s forced them to have more vocal leadership. Now Brandon has to step into a place of ‘OK, I’ve been there. Now I have to be the guy who’s talking to these guys.’ Melo, Miles, the same thing. That’s where it helps having a [Pat] Connaughton on your roster, a Plumlee. They’ve seen a lot of thing and they can impart some wisdom. They also know if they’re going to talk about something, they have to back it up.”

The entire group, young and old, sputtered on Wednesday at home against Cleveland in a rare ESPN appearance. Ball, on a minutes restriction to limit wear and tear, didn’t start, and the Hornets trailed 13-2 by the time he entered the game.

Then Miller, after scoring two points in a minus-33 first half for him, got 17 in the third quarter as Charlotte caught fire. It wasn’t enough, but the home team did outscore the Cavs 55-38 in the second half, locking in defensively.

“It’s never hero basketball,” Miller said. “No, we play this game of basketball as a team.”

Twenty-four hours later in Orlando, they did to the Magic what the Cavs had done to them. They built a 62-41 halftime lead en route to a 124-97 victory. They rode that two-night roller coaster together and are 6-6 in 2026 heading into Saturday’s home game vs. Washington (Noon ET, NBA League Pass).

The Hornets have an evolving rotation and pecking order, but no one is pulling rank or resentful of the rookie help.

“No,” Lee said, “you never feel like anyone’s jockeying for position to be the leader of the pack or to get more attention. We all recognize how much we need each other to have success. The fact that Melo, Brandon and Miles are your better players, when they don’t feel that threat of young guys coming in, it becomes contagious.

“They all try to elevate one another. During the games, they celebrate each other’s success. It’s never anything that’s contentious. Postgame, we talk about everybody and they’ll cheer for each other. If a player gets an award, another player announces that award.”

The mix in Charlotte is working these days, from old heads to the young and younger. And “these days” are seen as just the start.

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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.