Kon Knueppel Continues Impressive Year With NBA Summer League MVP

During practices last summer entering his freshman season at Duke, Kon Knueppel emerged as one of the Blue Devils’ most impressive players. Knueppel, a highly regarded prospect, was better than even the coaches and teammates expected.

This month, Knueppel had a similar standout performance. On Sunday, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Summer League championship game after leading the Charlotte Hornets to the title over the Sacramento Kings.

Knueppel scored a team-high 21 points in the final, including a deep 3-pointer with 32 seconds remaining that gave the Hornets a four-point lead. Knueppel, a 6-foot-7 forward, struggled in Charlotte’s opener, making just 1 of 8 field goals, missing all 5 3-pointers and scoring 5 points. But in the final four games he played, he averaged 18.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.

While most of the players in the Summer League won’t likely be significant contributors in the NBA next season, Knueppel nonetheless stood out, as he has done in every step of his young career.

The Hornets selected Knueppel fourth overall in last month’s draft following an impressive season at Duke. Knueppel was second on the team in scoring (14.4 points per game) and made 47.9% of his field goals, including 40.6% on 3’s, as well as 91.4% on free throws.

Although Knueppel was overshadowed by fellow Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, the national player of the year and No. 1 pick in the draft, Knueppel proved to be a reliable second option on one of the best teams in recent years. Duke lost to Houston in the Final Four, blowing a nine-point lead with just over two minutes remaining, but the Blue Devils finished No. 1 in analyst Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. Duke’s 39.29 KenPom net rating was the second best since he started the ratings in the 1996-97 season.

Knueppel showed he could play alongside Flagg and Duke’s other talented players, including the three other starters who were selected in last month’s draft: center Khaman Maluach (No. 10), guard Sion James (No. 33) and guard Tyrese Proctor (No. 49).

Knueppel also proved that he could take over games as he did in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament when Flagg missed two-plus games with an ankle injury. With Flagg out, Knueppel was named the tournament’s MVP, averaging 21 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. And in the NCAA tournament’s East Regional, he averaged 20.5 points per game and had more plays run for him.

“I don’t know if that was the plan going in or if I just got a hot hand early,” Knueppel said after Duke defeated Alabama in the Elite Eight. “I just tried to step up in whatever role I need to do for the team.”

Knueppel, who turns 20 on Aug. 3, will have the same attitude when the NBA regular season begins in October. Knueppel is likely to start at shooting guard alongside point guard LaMelo Ball, forwards Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges and center Mason Plumlee. Ball (25.2 points per game in 47 games), Miller (21.0 points in 27 games) and Bridges (20.3 points in 64 games) were Charlotte’s top three scorers last season, while Plumlee, a former Duke player and 12-year NBA veteran, signed as a free agent earlier this month.

The Hornets are coming off a season in which they went 19-63, the third-worst record in the NBA. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2016 and haven’t won a postseason series since 2002. As such, it will be a major change for Knueppel, who is accustomed to team success. He won a high school title as a senior in Wisconsin, leading his team to a 30-0 season, and the ACC regular season and tournament title this past season.

Still, Knueppel gives the Hornets another young player to build around, joining Ball, the No. 3 pick in the 2020 draft who turns 24 next month, and Miller, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft who turns 23 in November. While the Hornets aren’t likely to make a deep run in the playoffs next season, they at least now have some promising players who are eager to make the franchise relevant on the national stage.