Kon Knueppel (right) and Ryan Kalkbrenner have given Charlotte 2 strong frontcourt players to build around.
If you’re going to make a name for yourself, people should know how to pronounce it.
So for the record, Charlotte forward Kon Knueppel — the new No. 1 choice on this week’s Kia Rookie Ladder — is said “kon kuh-NIP-ull.”
In other words, you say the K, as with the Lakers Dalton Knecht (“Connect”) and unlike Kevin Knox, the former Knicks lottery pick, most recently with the NBA G-League’s Windy City Bulls.
Knueppel is the leader of a stellar group of first-year Hornets players, which includes Liam McNeely, Sion James and Ryan Kalkbrenner (another Ladder riser this week). And their Draft positions – in order, No. 4, 29, 33, 34 – has opened eyes to the team’s talent evaluation staff under general manager Jeff Peterson.
Even Knueppel was considered by some as a reach at No. 4, feeling the Duke product’s athletic skills didn’t merit that slot. But there hasn’t been a lot of criticism along those lines lately, with Knueppel showing his versatility, some on-floor leadership and a 3-point shot that has him leading all rookies in that stat (32) through 10 games, more than anyone else since the shot was adopted by the NBA in 1979.
At his current pace, Knueppel would shatter the rookie record for threes set by Sacramento’s Keegan Murray (206 in 2022-23).
“Kon just continues to be Kon, and he’s growing every day,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said. “The matchups he’s getting defensively, the different coverages, he’s able to expand his game on that end. Offensively, he wants to mix it up in every possible facet and impact the game in every way he can. Rebounding, making the right plays for his teammates and himself.”
Knueppel and his fellow Hornets rookies have soaked up a cumulative 96+ minutes per game, with a rotation of necessity plugging around injured starters LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and recently Collin Sexton. It’s uncertain what a healthier crew will mean to the newbies’ development, but one this is certain: an abundance of options like this has rarely been a Charlotte problem.
Here is the latest ranking of the NBA’s top rookies:
Weekly recap
• When you do these sorts of things, you get these types of reviews. Nicely done, Derik Queen.
• And a resounding spanking at Phoenix didn’t stop Queen and fellow Pelicans rookie Jeremiah Fears from giving as good as they got from the Suns’ feisty Dillon Brooks.
• An indication of what top rookies face in most often joining struggling teams, consider that the combined record from this week’s Top 10 is 35-73. And that mark is buoyed somewhat by Will Richard’s ladder debut, adding Golden State’s 6-6 to the mix. Then again, the winning percentage of .324 is better than eight NBA teams that boast, y’know, veterans.
Storyline to watch
Harper’s injury return. The Ladder’s sixth spot in recent seasons had become the “green room” for Top 5 rookies dealing with injuries, a place to stash them until they got busy again. But the depth of this rookie crop doesn’t allow for that in 2025-26, especially so early in the schedule. That’s why you don’t see Spurs guard Dylan Harper this week. The left calf strain from which he’s recovering has cost him four games so far and dropped him across the board (16th in minutes among the rookies, 11th in points, 15th in rebounds and 8th in assists).
(All stats through Tuesday, Nov. 11)
1. Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets
Season stats: 16.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3 apg
Last Ladder: No. 4
Draft pick: No. 4
Knueppel has led the Hornets on various nights in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. He has two double-doubles, strung together four games with 20 points or more (including 30 vs. Miami), then followed up with a near triple-double Monday against the Lakers (19 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists). Then there is stuff that is more nuanced, like this and this. Meanwhile, he is learning and adapting on the fly.
2. Cedric Coward, Memphis Grizzlies
Season stats: 14.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.1 apg
Last Ladder: No. 2
Draft pick: No. 11
Coward has been a rare and beaming bright spot in a Grizzlies season weighed down so far by injuries, losing and other issues. He already looks to be a steal offensively, and his uncommon wingspan is grabbing attention on the defensive end, both on the perimeter and even at the rim.
3. Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks
Season stats: 15 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.1 apg
Last Ladder: No. 3
Draft pick: No. 1
Since he’s not where he’s supposed to be – by age, a freshman in college – Flagg is right where he needs to be as 2025’s top pick. Battling the most hype and expectations of the rookies and navigating the Dallas dissatisfaction that resulted in GM Nico Harrison’s removal Tuesday, Flagg still has had his fingerprints all over the Mavs’ game, particularly Monday. He had 26 points, nine rebounds, and a gutsy finish over Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo in crunch time. And the league’s Last 2 Minutes report absolved him on that gaffe near the end.
4. VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers
Season stats: 15.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.3 apg
Last Ladder: No. 1
Draft pick: No. 3
Let’s face it, the confident new guy from Baylor finds himself in a different context than most of his Draft classmates: the Sixers aren’t rebuilding, they have playoff ambitions and he has to accept his spot in the pecking order beyond Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and eventually Paul George (knee). He’s in a shooting slump now (17 of 61 his past five games), but his heavy minutes have tapered off. Plus, he still has a rabid fan club. “The speed, and just how dynamic he is, he reminds me of Derrick Rose when Derrick Rose was young,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said Sunday.
5. Ryan Kalkbrenner, Charlotte Hornets
Season stats: 9.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.3 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 9
Draft pick: No. 34
Come for the historic field-goal accuracy (82.4%, tops in the NBA), stay for the deleterious effect his defense has on other guys’ shooting percentage. The 7-footer from Creighton ranks third in blocked shots (2.3 per game) and block percentage (7.8). Of his efficiency at the other end, Kalkbrenner said: “It’s just a credit to my teammates who let me get easy looks. I mean, it’s not my role to take tough shots, so of course I’m at a decent percentage, but my teammates do a really good job of finding me on dump-offs when I’m wide open and whatnot.”
The next 5
6. Jeremiah Fears, New Orleans Pelicans
Season stats: 13.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3 apg
Last Ladder: No. 6
Draft pick: No. 7
Fears and Queen are providing some hope for New Orleans fans frustrated by Zion Williamson’s injury issues and some growing impatience with coach Willie Green. Fears has as many steals (15) as Edgecombe, topping the rookies (in about 150 fewer minutes) and has a full offensive repertoire.
7. Tre Johnson, Washington Wizards
Season stats: 11.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.5 apg
Last Ladder: No. 7
Draft pick: No. 6
Going 1-on-5 isn’t ideal, but it can be impressive. Johnson has scored 10+ points eight times and, with 21, is tied for second among rookies with Edgecombe to Knueppel’s 32 in 3-pointers made.
8. Derik Queen, New Orleans Pelicans
Season stats: 9.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.9 apg
Last Ladder: No. 10
Draft pick: No. 13
The only thing Queen can do to tamp down all the fretting over the price the Pelicans paid for him – sending an unprotected 2026 pick to Atlanta for the right to move up and grab the Maryland big man – is to keep balling out. He bumped his output this week to 12 points, six boards and 3.7 assists, all in 25 minutes nightly.
9. Ace Bailey, Utah Jazz
Season stats: 7.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.5 apg
Last Ladder: Not ranked
Draft pick: No. 5
There’s a Jazz pattern for that team’s rookies, a slower ramping-up than what new guys on many other teams face. Last year, Isaiah Collier and Kyle Filipowski improved as the season got deeper. Bailey is already earning longer looks … and it shows. From 4.6 ppg in 17.4 minutes in his first seven appearances, he has boosted his output to 12.8 in 24.3, including 20 points against the Pacers on Tuesday.
10. Will Richard, Golden State Warriors
Season stats: 10 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.6 apg
Last Ladder: Not ranked
Draft pick: No. 56
Last week’s Ladder was already posted by the time the 6-foot-5 wing from Florida followed up two straight DNP-CDs with his first NBA start and a 30-point outburst in 34 minutes at Sacramento on Nov. 5. Coach Steve Kerr is using Richard off the bench again, but with full confidence. “He can shoot and guard the ball, but he also understands the game off-ball at both ends,” Kerr has said of the Florida product. “You feel his energy when he is out on the floor.”
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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
