Kon Air: The Kon Knueppel Thread

[Bassman]

Looking into the other guys in our range more, he seems like a mix between ceiling and floor.

Highest upside: Ace
Lowest Floor: Tre (because he can't defend)
Middle: VJ and Kon. VJ because he should be a good defender at least. Kon because he should be a good shooter at least.

And interestingly enough, their weaknesses are the opposite. VJ isn't a great shooter, Kon may not be a great NBA defender.

If we really did like Reed as much as were supposedly did, and we did try to trade for Knecht, maybe Kon will be higher on our board than we think. He's pretty much Reed but with Knecht's size and with our 3pt shooting offense, Lee may prefer that to a defensive/slasher.

Spot on, and it reiterates my fear/lack of trust in Peterson. Taking Kon at 4 would be a reach…not as bad as Tiddy last year but still a reach. If Utah or Washington wanted to give us a future pick to swap back to their spot, maybe. But at this point I wouldn’t pass on Ace or VJ for Knipples. Tre is a different story. I think he may slide back behind Kon, and perhaps Fears.

[Chapelchilla]

Our teams collective Basketball IQ (leadership and knowing what to do, where to be and when to do it) to play winning basketball is pitiful. Larry Bird wasn't the greatest athlete but his game smarts were the difference between him and some of his more skilled peers. Not saying Kon is all that but at the same time drafting smart dudes who are great at something (shooting and making plays) may help raise the collective results of our team more then just his physical ability would indicate.
He never looked like he didn't play at the highest level for Duke.

[vexco]

Our teams collective Basketball IQ (leadership and knowing what to do, where to be and when to do it) to play winning basketball is pitiful. Larry Bird wasn't the greatest athlete but his game smarts were the difference between him and some of his more skilled peers. Not saying Kon is all that but at the same time drafting smart dudes who are great at something (shooting and making plays) may help raise the collective results of our team more then just his physical ability would indicate.
He never looked like he didn't play at the highest level for Duke.

Come on, Kon is nowhere close to the player that Bird is. Bird could rebound and defend, Kon can...shoot? Is he a better shooter than Tre?

[Braggins]

Knueppel will be one of the least athletic players in the league at his position and has poor length for a guy that realistically needs to play SF because of how slow/stiff he is. I find it hard to imagine him not being straight up bad at defense in the NBA. Early on he could be extremely bad.

[KingCat]

Knueppel will be one of the least athletic players in the league at his position and has poor length for a guy that realistically needs to play SF because of how slow/stiff he is. I find it hard to imagine him not being straight up bad at defense in the NBA. Early on he could be extremely bad.

Honestly Kon missing out on the movement drills at the combine is a huge reason he is getting so much hype right now.

[Chapelchilla]

Our teams collective Basketball IQ (leadership and knowing what to do, where to be and when to do it) to play winning basketball is pitiful. Larry Bird wasn't the greatest athlete but his game smarts were the difference between him and some of his more skilled peers. Not saying Kon is all that but at the same time drafting smart dudes who are great at something (shooting and making plays) may help raise the collective results of our team more then just his physical ability would indicate.
He never looked like he didn't play at the highest level for Duke.

Come on, Kon is nowhere close to the player that Bird is. Bird could rebound and defend, Kon can...shoot? Is he a better shooter than Tre?

Didn't read the whole quote, ehh?

[vexco]

Our teams collective Basketball IQ (leadership and knowing what to do, where to be and when to do it) to play winning basketball is pitiful. Larry Bird wasn't the greatest athlete but his game smarts were the difference between him and some of his more skilled peers. Not saying Kon is all that but at the same time drafting smart dudes who are great at something (shooting and making plays) may help raise the collective results of our team more then just his physical ability would indicate.
He never looked like he didn't play at the highest level for Duke.

Come on, Kon is nowhere close to the player that Bird is. Bird could rebound and defend, Kon can...shoot? Is he a better shooter than Tre?

Didn't read the whole quote, ehh?

No, I did. But your entire premise rested on kon being a smart player which is fine, but if hes not half the player bird is then there's really no point in bringing him up in the first place.

[wilson115]

This one's make-or-break for me, long thread on Kon's defense:

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Spoiler:

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Read on Twitter

[yosemiteben]

I don't think I'd want to bet on it happening, but I could see Kon being a mini-Doncic, like Sengun is a mini-Jokic.

[wilson115]

Athleticism:

"not an NBA athlete"

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or not...

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Spoiler:

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Read on Twitter

[wilson115]

I don't think I'd want to bet on it happening, but I could see Kon being a mini-Doncic, like Sengun is a mini-Jokic.

His dribbling looks really good, really low to the ground. Still scares the hell out of me at #4...

Spoiler:

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Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[SWedd523]

I can't believe y'all are talking yourselves into this kid

I just saw "mini Doncic"

I cant

[Diop]

Our teams collective Basketball IQ (leadership and knowing what to do, where to be and when to do it) to play winning basketball is pitiful. Larry Bird wasn't the greatest athlete but his game smarts were the difference between him and some of his more skilled peers. Not saying Kon is all that but at the same time drafting smart dudes who are great at something (shooting and making plays) may help raise the collective results of our team more then just his physical ability would indicate.
He never looked like he didn't play at the highest level for Duke.

if he had Larry Birds size I could consider it, but he is more Mitch Richmond size and that's where he needs the athleticism.

[Diop]

This one's make-or-break for me, long thread on Kon's defense:

Read on Twitter

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

those defensive clips were encouraging, if it turned out he can be a good/decent defender, then his smarts and shooting make him a solid sg prospect.

[yosemiteben]

I can't believe y'all are talking yourselves into this kid

I just saw "mini Doncic"

I cant

A smaller, less effective Doncic that maxes out as a fringe All Star seems like a realistic best case scenario. Limited athleticism and on ball defense, production both on and off ball, top shelf anticipation. Mock it if you like I guess? I literally said I wouldn't bet on it happening so I'm not talking myself into anything, but I can see a universe where it's true.

[SWedd523]

You don't get to compare him to Doncic and then get defensive when someone calls it out.

He doesn't have anywhere near the ball handling, anywhere near the passing, anywhere near the rebounding, anywhere near the scoring. Their games are nothing alike. There is quite literally nothing that should allow you to draw a straight line between the two other than them being unathletic white dudes. Mock it if you like I guess but you're doing nobody any favors with statements like that

[JMAC3]

my concern with Knips is the defense, does his athleticism and size allow him to be a decent defender or will the athletic nba guards torch him time and time again.

i love a lot of what Kon brings, if he was bigger where he could defend the post a little or be put on a slower wing, i'd be more keen.

Who does he guard in the NBA? His measurements moved him further down the board for me because at 6-5 with 6-6.5 wingspan and 8-5 standing reach isn't big enough to guard threes which was my hope at 220 lbs. I don't think he has showed the quickness to guard most 2s in the NBA either.

Size wise here is who he compares to closest in my combine database.

Kennard, Tim Hardaway Jr, Austin Reeves, Joe Harris, Jared Dudley, Dillon Brooks.

Brooks is the only one from this group that was a plus defender, everyone else is below average.

In college Brooks averaged 2.2 Stocks per 36, Kon averaged 1.4 stocks per 36- so not the same level of defenders as prospects.

[Bassman]

I could see Peterson getting physically excited over the prospect of Knipples. He really could be a very good fit on an established playoff level team, but not as useful here. Love those charts from draftcasual.com. Very good analytics site. And it is the analytics that has Philly seriously considering Kon. One draft video YT’ber has mocked a speculated trade where the Nets hand over the 7 and a later 1st round pick to jump to 3 for Ace Bailey. Sixers then pick Kon at 7. That could work for both teams.

[JMAC3]

Kon is a great shooter, shot 40% on Duke. Elite right? Great shooter anywhere? Right?

Proctor 40%
Sion 41%
Evans 41%
Flagg 38.5%

Yup, playing for Duke probably didn't help any of these guys, they are all future elite shooters as well.

The Kon defensive highlights are so funny, it is a bunch of plays where he barely stays in front of his man. These are the best clips you could farm from 39 game season? No blocks, no steals, no incredible help plays? Just a bunch of plays where he stays somewhat with his man lol...

While Maluach stands 5 feet from the rim, Flagg also lurking around the rim. Yep Kon is elite defender lol. Oh and the 2 other starters are probably getting drafted? Basically the point of the clips are if Kon is the worst defender on the floor surrounded by 4 NBA defenders vs college players he is okay.

[JMAC3]

I get it isn't Kon's fault that Duke is awesome, but even when he drives to the rim could he have it any better? He drives very slowly to the rim and the defense doesn't send help because who are you going to help off of? You going to leave a 40% three point shooter open like Proctor, Sion or Evans? You going to help with the big and let Kon throw it 15 feet in the air in the general area of the rim to the guy with the highest standing reach in the Draft? or you going to help off Cooper Flagg the best college basketball prospect this decade?

So yeah the advanced stats love him playing 1vs1 vs smaller college guards, shooting wide open threes and passing the ball to 4 other NBA players.

Then we are like man Tre Johnson, Fears, Ace and VJ numbers finishing and getting the rim are concerning... while they all played with maybe 2 combined NBA player collectively (2 of their teammates got invited to combine). Duke had 6 guys invited to combine.

I am supposed to be down on Fears or Tre because if they were in Kons position they wouldn't have been successful playing with that supporting cast?