Kon Knueppel is Showing Star Potential Early for the Hornets

Knueppel is quickly cementing himself as an impactful NBA wing already, particularly on the offensive end. His stellar shooting ability is certainly the star of the show, but the Duke product compliements his shooting with an array of ancillary skills that bring out the most in his value.

For starters, Knueppel is an aware floor-mapper, who strategically relocates across the floor to preserve spacing and create three-point opportunities. This has show itself in every type of offensive situation from transition, to finding pockets of space after screening to simply shaking around the perimeter during teammates' drives.

Further, Knueppel's decisivenss has also been a key driver of his success. This not only helps him increase his three-point volume off of feeds, but also allows him to make the most out of LaMelo Ball and Collin Sexton's creation through quick drives to the cup or extra swing passes.

Knueppel's Star Potential

Knueppel hasn't taken long at all to set his floor as an NBA player. At the same time, however, he has also put his star potential on full display. His sharpshooting ability combined with his handling comfort, positional size and passing vision make him an enticing creation prospect.

This star potential would likely not manifest itself as a primary creator, for it would be quite the development for Knueppel to achieve that level of proficiency as an off-the-dribble threat. However, as he continues to ascend as an off-ball scorer, he can mix in more on-ball repetitions to develop as a pick-and-roll creator who leverages pull-up shooting and shrewd pacing to compromise defenses. This type of archetype is highly coveted in today's NBA, and would make Knueppel a potent secondary creator for the Hornets.