The Hornets’ offense was already limping out of the gate. Now the injury report has made the problem even uglier.
Charlotte announced in separate social media posts that Kon Knueppel and Dennis Schroder both have left hamstring strains and are expected to miss multiple weeks. Knueppel will be out at least four weeks before being re-evaluated, while Schroder is set to miss at least two weeks before his next checkup.
Knueppel’s setback is the latest twist in a frustrating start to his season. He opened the 2026/27 campaign on the shelf for eight games while recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered in the preseason.
He finally returned for the Hornets’ Nov. 4 game against the Nets, but his night ended almost immediately after he played just under six minutes and re-aggravated the injury. He then sat out the next game against the Celtics before the team confirmed the strain.
Schroder’s situation adds another hit to a backcourt that had already been shifting around. He started Charlotte’s first seven games while Coby White was still working back from a calf strain, then moved to the bench for the next two once White returned. Schroder was then unavailable for Friday’s game against the Celtics, and now the Hornets know they’ll be without him for at least a couple of weeks.
And the bad news didn’t stop there. Brandon Miller, Charlotte’s most dependable scorer so far, will miss Monday’s game against the Cavaliers with a right hip strain, according to Hornets reporter Rod Boone.
That leaves a team that was supposed to build on a strong 2025/26 offensive season looking lost on that end of the floor. Last year, the Hornets finished fifth in offensive rating.
This season, they’ve fallen all the way to the bottom, as the only team in the league with an offensive rating under 100.0. Their net rating sits at minus-14.2, second-worst in the NBA behind only the Bulls at minus-17.5.
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