For the umpteenth time of their historical past, the Charlotte Hornets have been left pissed off by the NBA Draft Lottery as they failed to attract the No. 1 general decide, that means they misplaced out on the prospect to draft a possible franchise-changing participant in Cooper Flagg. However they could very nicely have gotten the next-best factor.
After ending up with the No. 4 general decide within the NBA Draft, the Hornets chosen fellow Duke standout Kon Knueppel, maintaining the 2025 ACC Match MVP within the Carolinas for his skilled profession. Naturally, comparisons between Knueppel and Flagg have been bandied about, and Hornets government vice chairman of basketball operations Jeff Peterson identified one space the place Knueppel may very well be superior when requested in regards to the comparisons.
“They’re each winners, they’re each versatile — I might say we acquired the higher shooter,” Peterson mentioned. “However look, they compete on the defensive finish, they’re each versatile. They’ll make performs with the ball of their fingers, they’ll play off the ball. So that they do have a variety of, I might say, parallel traits to at least one one other that in the end, in my thoughts, in our thoughts, they on the finish of the day equate to successful.”
A former five-star recruit, Knueppel starred alongside Flagg at Duke, along with his former teammate changing into the Draft’s belle of the ball because the No. 1-overall decide by the Dallas Mavericks. Whereas the 2’s paths now diverge within the NBA, Knueppel likewise laid out the way in which during which he and his wingman have widespread threads in how they method basketball.
“We’ve the same thought course of on play the sport,” Knueppel mentioned. “It isn’t about particular person accolades or no matter, it is all about successful, making the correct performs and giving effort one hundred pc of the time.”
Knueppel was considered one of two Duke gamers chosen by the Hornets, because the crew additionally chosen Sion James with the No. 33-overall decide within the second spherical. Along with the pair from Duke, Charlotte additionally drafted UConn’s Liam McNeely and Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner.
