Kon Knueppel and Coby White are both trending toward a return Wednesday night, giving the Hornets a chance to get two key pieces back when they face the Nets in Brooklyn. Grant Williams, meanwhile, is still sidelined.
Charlotte listed Knueppel as probable with a left hamstring strain and White as probable under left calf injury management on its injury report. Williams was ruled out again because of a right hamstring injury.
The rematch at Barclays Center tips at 7:30 p.m. ET.
That building already saw Charlotte once this season, when the Hornets opened there on Oct. 21 and came away with a 110-103 win - without any of the three players available. Since then, Charlotte has dropped four straight after beating Washington on Oct. 26 and sits at 3-5.
Brooklyn has one win in seven games.
Knueppel has missed all eight games, with the injury traceable to offseason on-court work. Charlotte first announced on Sept. 25 that both he and Williams were hurt and would miss the preseason, and Knueppel sat out training camp plus all four exhibitions. The team said on Oct. 20 that he had returned to individual work on the court, and he later got practice time with the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s G League affiliate.
“Would guess he may be available on Wednesday in Brooklyn,” Boone continued. “If not, then it’s Friday vs. Boston.”
Hornets coach Charles Lee didn’t give a firm timetable Monday, but he did say the return was “right around the corner.” ESPN reported that once Knueppel is back, he’s expected to slide into the starting role Sion James has been handling.
Knueppel’s rookie season was a big one: he started 80 of 81 games, averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 31.5 minutes per game, and shot 47.5% from the field, 42.5% from 3-point range and 86.3% at the line. No one in the NBA made more 3-pointers last season than Knueppel, who knocked down 273 and broke Keegan Murray’s rookie record of 206 from 2022-23.
White’s path back has been a little different, but the result is the same: Charlotte expects him available. A left calf strain suffered Oct. 5 in training camp kept him out of the preseason and the Hornets’ first seven games, with Dennis Schröder starting at point guard in his place. White returned against Detroit and immediately acknowledged that one player doesn’t fix everything.
“It’s hard to get the offense going when you don’t even get up shots and you keep turning the ball over,” White said after the game. “You don’t necessarily have a flow when you do things like that.”
The Hornets coughed it up 27 times in that 124-91 loss, and Detroit turned those mistakes into 37 points. White finished with 7 points, 3 assists and 3 turnovers in 16 minutes while playing under a minutes restriction that Lee said will remain in place for the next few games.
“Something we have to cut down on,” White explained. “We’re just kind of gave them the ball. So that’s hard to beat a team, especially a Detroit Pistons team, who was obviously the number one seed in the East last year.”
Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 33 points in three quarters on 13-of-20 shooting, Duncan Robinson added 24 points on six made 3-pointers, and Charlotte shot 32-of-84 overall.
White was drafted seventh overall by Chicago out of North Carolina in 2019 and spent parts of seven seasons with the Bulls before being traded to Charlotte at last season’s deadline. After the Hornets dealt LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves this summer, White re-signed and took over at point guard.
Williams has not played this season, with the right hamstring issue tied to the same offseason workouts that knocked Knueppel out. He was cleared for individual on-court activity on Oct. 20, the same day as Knueppel and White.
His recent injury history is longer than that, though. In November 2024, he tore the ACL, meniscus and other ligaments in his right knee, then didn’t get back on the floor until Jan.
10, 2026. Last season, he appeared in 36 games and averaged 7.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 19.8 minutes per game while shooting 38.8% from 3-point range.
In Other News...
Hornets Offense Desperately Needs Kon Knueppel Back This Week
Charlottes offense has spent the opening stretch of the season searching for a spark, and the Hornets are still waiting for Kon Knueppel to provide the one they were counting on. After a rookie year that saw him set multiple NBA records, including the most 3-pointers made in a season and a string of 20-point games on efficient shooting, Knueppel looked like the kind of perimeter threat who could change the shape of this lineup almost immediately.
Instead, the Hornets have had to play without him while dealing with the leagues worst offense, a glaring problem that has only sharpened the anticipation around his return. The good news for Charlotte is that the wait may not be much longer, and with a pair of games on deck, the team is hoping Knueppel can give a sputtering attack the shot-making and spacing it has been missing. [Read more 🡒]
Coby White Is Back But Charlottes Offense Still Looks Like The Real Story
Coby White is back in the Charlotte Hornets starting lineup after working his way back from a left calf strain, and his return gives the team a better chance to see what its projected first unit can actually look like. He logged 15 minutes against the Detroit Pistons as Charlotte eased him back in, a sensible approach for a player coming off an injury while the Hornets try to settle into something closer to their intended rotation.
Dennis Schrder shifted to a reserve role with White back, which is another sign the Hornets are inching toward a more complete look. Even so, the bigger question remains whether the offense can clean itself up enough to take advantage of that stability, because the teams issues with scoring and turnovers have been hard to ignore while the roster has been in flux. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Could Get A Key Offensive Piece Back At The Perfect Time
Kon Knueppels absence has lingered long enough to become part of the Hornets nightly equation, with the wing missing eight straight games because of a left hamstring strain. Charlotte has had to keep moving without one of its more promising offensive pieces, even as the calendar starts to make every healthy body matter a little more.
Head coach Charles Lee has made it clear the wait may not be much longer, though he stopped short of putting a date on Knueppels return. The Hornets also locked in his salary for next season by exercising his contract option for 2027-28, a small but meaningful sign of how much the organization values his place in the rotation once hes back on the floor. [Read more 🡒]