Kon Knueppel is finally set to make his season debut, and the Hornets will have him available Wednesday night at Brooklyn after upgrading him from probable on their afternoon injury report. The rookie had missed Charlotte’s first eight games because of a left hamstring strain.
The injury traces back to a pickup run in the team’s practice facility, when Knueppel came down with a defensive rebound and pushed the ball coast-to-coast before feeling something in his hamstring. He described it this way: “[We] were just playing pickup up here, right in our practice facility,” Knueppel said.
“And just got a rebound, defensive rebound, and went coast-to-coast with it and just felt my hamstring pull up on me. Then I was like, ‘I don’t think that’s a cramp.’
So just a little tug of the hamstring.”
By media day on Sept. 28, the discomfort was gone, just three days after the team announced the injury and ruled him out of the preseason. Knueppel said the final checkpoints were getting back to five-on-five work and contact.
“It feels good,” Knueppel explained. “Like, I’m not dealing with any pain now ...
It’s just going through the steps of starting to run, getting back to playing 5-on-5, playing against contact and ramping myself up from there.”
He began individual on-court work Oct. 20, then practiced with the Greensboro Swarm on Oct. 29 before being recalled the next day. The Oct. 21 game at Brooklyn had already been the target he had in mind.
“We know that I want to play in every game,” Knueppel said. “We saw that last year, [I] pretty badly rolled [my] ankle and only missed one; I didn’t miss any games in college or high school.
So I’m going to do my best to get myself prepared for that.”
Charlotte is still without Grant Williams, whose right hamstring injury was announced the same day as Knueppel’s. Williams remains out and was sent to Greensboro for Wednesday’s Swarm practice.
Knueppel’s rookie season last year was a big one. He played and started all but one game, then on Dec. 26 at Orlando he exited in the second quarter with a sprained right ankle after scoring 16 points and missed the following game. He finished the season with averages of 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 31.5 minutes per game, while shooting 47.5% from the field, 42.5% from three and 86.3% from the line.
He also led the league with 273 made threes, breaking the rookie record previously held by Keegan Murray, who had 206 in 2022-23. The Rookie of the Year vote came down to Knueppel and Duke teammate and roommate Cooper Flagg, who won 412-386 with 56 first-place votes to Knueppel’s 44. Both were named to the All-Rookie First Team.
Charlotte drafted Knueppel fourth overall in 2025, and on Sunday the Hornets exercised the third-year option on his rookie contract, which runs through the 2027-28 season.
Sion James has held the starting job for now, though ESPN reported Monday that Knueppel is expected to take it back once he returns. Charlotte enters Wednesday at 3-5 after Monday’s 124-91 loss to Detroit, its fourth straight defeat, while averaging 97.4 points. Brooklyn is 1-6.
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Hornets Finally Get Kon Knueppel Back At A Desperate Time
The Hornets are getting a needed boost just as their offense has sputtered through the opening stretch. Kon Knueppel has been upgraded to available and is set to make his season debut Wednesday against Brooklyn after sitting out the first eight games with a left hamstring strain, giving Charlotte another option as it tries to dig out of the leagues offensive cellar.
There is still work to do on the injury front, though, with Grant Williams heading to the G League for practice as he continues to recover from a right hamstring strain. For a team already dealing with a sluggish start, getting one wing back helps, but the Hornets are still piecing together the rest of the rotation and waiting for more reinforcements to follow. [Read more 🡒]
Grant Williams Return Still Leaves Hornets With A Frontcourt Problem
Grant Williams road back from a right hamstring strain has taken him to the Hornets G League affiliate, where Charlotte sent him to Greensboro for practice as he continues working toward a return. He has missed the first eight games, and for a team trying to sort out its frontcourt rotation, every day without him matters a little more.
Williams absence carries extra weight because this is not just a routine setback. He already worked back from a torn ACL and other knee injuries suffered in November 2024, then returned to play in January 2026, so the Hornets are being careful with a player whose recent injury history has already tested their depth. For now, the only certainty is that Charlotte still does not have a firm timetable for when he will be back in game action. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Finally Get Back A Shooter Their Offense Desperately Needed
The Hornets are getting a much-needed boost to their perimeter game with Kon Knueppel set to rejoin the lineup on Wednesday, giving the offense another shooter after a sluggish start to the season. The 2025 fourth overall pick made an immediate impression as a rookie, finishing as the runner-up for NBA Rookie of the Year and quickly establishing himself as one of the teams most reliable threats from beyond the arc.
Charlotte has been piecing together its rotation as other pieces have come back into the fold, including starting guard Coby White, while Grant Williams was recently sent to the G League affiliate for practice. Knueppels return matters because the Hornets have been searching for spacing and shot-making, and his presence should help open things up for a group that has been trying to find a better offensive rhythm. [Read more 🡒]