Ranking the top five assets the Charlotte Hornets acquired this offseason

The most predictable name on this list, Knueppel was a crucial acquisition by the Hornets in the 2025 NBA draft, especially considering he could have been selected higher. 

It’s tough to know where to start — and end — when discussing what’s awesome about Knueppel. Beyond the elite shooting and basketball IQ, he’s a vicious competitor who isn’t afraid of the bright lights. Knueppel proved that all year long at Duke, a program that received even more intense national scrutiny than usual last season due to Cooper Flagg’s presence.

Knueppel looked equally as effective as Flagg at times, and when Flagg went down with an injury late in the ACC tournament, Knueppel immediately embraced Duke’s alpha role, scoring 18 points in a win over Louisville in the ACC title game, skyrocketing his draft stock in the process.

Knueppel’s clutch gene and toughness reappeared this summer in epic fashion as he sank the clinching bucket for the Hornets in the NBA Summer League Championship game, one day removed from suffering a face laceration.

2. Collin Sexton

Jeff Peterson turned a rapidly declining center (Jusuf Nurkić) and a second-round pick (2030) into Sexton, a 26-year-old, career 18.6 PPG scorer. What’s not to like about that? Not a fan of Sexton’s $19 million salary in 2025-26? No problem — he’ll be off Charlotte’s books and entering unrestricted free agency next summer.

Sexton raises Charlotte’s floor in the short-term and doesn’t do anything to handicap the Hornets’ long-term cap flexibility — an obvious win-win for Peterson. In fact, Sexton might fit in better with the youthful Hornets than most people realize; you can count Peterson among that crowd if he’s already resigned to Sexton being a one-and-done player.

Less than three years older than LaMelo Ball, Sexton low-key fits on Charlotte’s timeline and also offers the three-point efficiency (40.6 percent last season) that Ball and Brandon Miller need around them, but have lacked. It’ll be fascinating to see who starts for the Hornets on opening night between Sexton and Knueppel.

3. Liam McNeeley

It was shocking to see McNeeley fall as far as he did in the draft (pick No. 29). McNeeley was one of the best freshmen in college basketball last season, and he has a Big East Freshman of the Year trophy to prove it. It wasn’t just UConn’s Dan Hurley calling McNeeley a top-10 talent. FOX Sports’ John Fanta viewed McNeeley as a top-seven pick at one point last year.

McNeeley came over to Charlotte in the draft-night trade sending Mark Williams to Phoenix. The Hornets also slyly landed a future first-rounder in the deal, which leads to the next asset on our list.

4. 2029 first-round pick from the Phoenix Suns

The official details of the McNeeley-Williams deal were as follows (per NBA.com): “Hornets have acquired the draft rights to forward Liam McNeeley, the No. 29 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, a 2029 first-round draft pick and guard Vasa Micic from the Phoenix Suns for center Mark Williams and a 2029 second-round pick via Phoenix.”

A 2029 first-rounder from Phoenix looks mighty valuable at the moment, especially with how the Suns are being managed lately. Phoenix’s front office under owner Mat Ishbia has been a mess, with all due respect, and there’s a good chance the Suns won’t be a winning squad in the 2027-28 NBA season.

Micić, by the way, won’t be enjoying his second stint with the Hornets; he was dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks on July 6 (and shortly thereafter waived) in exchange for Pat Connaughton and two second-rounders (2031 and 2032).

5. Ryan Kalkbrenner

A lot of assets could have landed here at No. 5. Veterans Spencer Dinwiddie and Mason Plumlee — both signed on July 13 — are deserving. So, too, are the aforementioned pair of second-rounders from Milwaukee, which could grow in value if Giannis Antetokounmpo leaves the Bucks in the next few years.

Kalkbrenner gets the nod here, though. Like McNeeley, Kalkbrenner fell further in the draft than he should have.

While his ceiling at the next level is still hard to decipher, his floor is high after spending five years under the tutelage of elite basketball mind Greg McDermott, who helped transform Kalkbrenner into a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and four-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year at Creighton.

Let’s not give all the credit to McDermott, though. Kalkbrenner’s athleticism has its limits, but he’s much tougher than most people realize — especially mentally — and he was incredibly durable in college for a seven-footer, averaging 34.5 starts per season for the Bluejays between 2021 and 2025.

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