The Kon Knueppel Thread

[fatlever]

still has us taking maluach. derek parker had us taking maluach in his mock today too. maybe people got bored putting vj at our pick. lol.

[wilson115]

Sheed: "he played in secondary creator role for Jon Scheyer which was highly beneficial for Knueppel. I think he's one of the guys who has all the requisite skills for that to translate to the NBA - shooting, multi-level efficiency size and an outstanding feel for the game"

Read on Twitter

[JMAC3]

Sheed: "he played in secondary creator role for Jon Scheyer which was highly beneficial for Knueppel. I think he's one of the guys who has all the requisite skills for that to translate to the NBA - shooting, multi-level efficiency size and an outstanding feel for the game"

Read on Twitter

best freshman BPM in 2023
3rd- Jarace Walker
4th- Brice Sensabaugh
5th- Noah Clowney
6th- Taylor Hendricks

College BPM is a cool stat to help identify NBA prospects, but people who use it to try to project who will actually be good in the NBA are chasing the wrong stick.

2022 freshman BPM
1. Chet
2. Jabari
3. Kennedy Chandler
4. Daron Holmes
5. AJ Griffin
6. Jeremy Sochan
7. Paolo

So yeah Kon should be drafted in first round, but trying to sell people he is a top 5 talent in the draft class based on BPM is terrible.

[wilson115]

best freshman BPM in 2023
3rd- Jarace Walker
4th- Brice Sensabaugh
5th- Noah Clowney
6th- Taylor Hendricks

College BPM is a cool stat to help identify NBA prospects, but people who use it to try to project who will actually be good in the NBA are chasing the wrong stick.

2022 freshman BPM
1. Chet
2. Jabari
3. Kennedy Chandler
4. Daron Holmes
5. AJ Griffin
6. Jeremy Sochan
7. Paolo

So yeah Kon should be drafted in first round, but trying to sell people he is a top 5 talent in the draft class based on BPM is terrible.

Look at the names ahead and behind him though. Almost all hyped to go in the lottery unlike most of those names from 2023 and 2022.

[JMAC3]

best freshman BPM in 2023
3rd- Jarace Walker
4th- Brice Sensabaugh
5th- Noah Clowney
6th- Taylor Hendricks

College BPM is a cool stat to help identify NBA prospects, but people who use it to try to project who will actually be good in the NBA are chasing the wrong stick.

2022 freshman BPM
1. Chet
2. Jabari
3. Kennedy Chandler
4. Daron Holmes
5. AJ Griffin
6. Jeremy Sochan
7. Paolo

So yeah Kon should be drafted in first round, but trying to sell people he is a top 5 talent in the draft class based on BPM is terrible.

Look at the names ahead and behind him though. Almost all hyped to go in the lottery unlike most of those names from 2023 and 2022.

Jase Richardson and Asa Newell are great examples of BPM, awesome they are worth top 20 picks likely because BPM but if you try to sell me they should be selected ahead of Dylan Harper because their BPM is higher than I am walking away from the convo.

[SWedd523]

It's been a while so I'll say it again

Kon is about as close to my final straw as it comes. Signals "we're scared to try and okay with mediocrity."

Guy has a so-close-to-zero-as-to-not-matter chance of being anything beyond a 5th starter that I'd rather punt that pick into the abyss.

[HornetJail]

coming out of these last two absolutely horrific seasons with Salaun and Kon Knueppel would be devastating

coming out of these last two absolutely horrific seasons with Salaun and Maluach while trading Mark Williams for peanuts would be the absolutely rock bottom scenario, and would honestly be kind of liberating, because I can safely just not watch the team for the next 5+ years knowing the Hornets aren't ever doing anything with this group in charge.

[Rich4114]

coming out of these last two absolutely horrific seasons with Salaun and Kon Knueppel would be devastating

coming out of these last two absolutely horrific seasons with Salaun and Maluach while trading Mark Williams for peanuts would be the absolutely rock bottom scenario, and would honestly be kind of liberating, because I can safely just not watch the team for the next 5+ years knowing the Hornets aren't ever doing anything with this group in charge.

I think we can talk you off the ledge if the pick is Kon, I really think his game will translate to winning. I also think VJ's game will translate to winning, but for different reasons and he has a higher upside/star potential.

I will, however follow you off the cliff if we use it on Malauch while trading Mark for peanuts.

[JMAC3]

coming out of these last two absolutely horrific seasons with Salaun and Kon Knueppel would be devastating

coming out of these last two absolutely horrific seasons with Salaun and Maluach while trading Mark Williams for peanuts would be the absolutely rock bottom scenario, and would honestly be kind of liberating, because I can safely just not watch the team for the next 5+ years knowing the Hornets aren't ever doing anything with this group in charge.

I think we can talk you off the ledge if the pick is Kon, I really think his game will translate to winning. I also think VJ's game will translate to winning, but for different reasons and he has a higher upside/star potential.

I will, however follow you off the cliff if we use it on Malauch while trading Mark for peanuts.

Still no combine athletic testing for this guy, can't say I am shocked.
If I were his agent I would hold off until the very last minute as well, gives less time for teams to react to his negative testing.

I would rather draft Maluach than Kon.

I hope the Jazz take Kon and everyone who talked him up as a top 3 talent can eat loads of crow.

[yosemiteben]

coming out of these last two absolutely horrific seasons with Salaun and Kon Knueppel would be devastating

coming out of these last two absolutely horrific seasons with Salaun and Maluach while trading Mark Williams for peanuts would be the absolutely rock bottom scenario, and would honestly be kind of liberating, because I can safely just not watch the team for the next 5+ years knowing the Hornets aren't ever doing anything with this group in charge.

I think we can talk you off the ledge if the pick is Kon, I really think his game will translate to winning. I also think VJ's game will translate to winning, but for different reasons and he has a higher upside/star potential.

I will, however follow you off the cliff if we use it on Malauch while trading Mark for peanuts.

Still no combine athletic testing for this guy, can't say I am shocked.
If I were his agent I would hold off until the very last minute as well, gives less time for teams to react to his negative testing.

I kind of assumed he wouldn't do any. Is it normal for a guy that was injured at the combine to do testing later?

[luciano-davidwesley]

I think we can talk you off the ledge if the pick is Kon, I really think his game will translate to winning. I also think VJ's game will translate to winning, but for different reasons and he has a higher upside/star potential.

I will, however follow you off the cliff if we use it on Malauch while trading Mark for peanuts.

Still no combine athletic testing for this guy, can't say I am shocked.
If I were his agent I would hold off until the very last minute as well, gives less time for teams to react to his negative testing.

I kind of assumed he wouldn't do any. Is it normal for a guy that was injured at the combine to do testing later?

Pretty sure it is mandatory to participate these days

[Braggins]

They said he is required to do the testing once he is recovered from injury during one of his official workouts or something like that. I don't know how much wiggle room or what the protocol is for determining if a player is healthy enough to be required to do his testing. It wouldn't be crazy if his agents tried to prevent him from testing if it is possible.

[Liver_Pooty]

This guy is going to be the pick. Get prepared.

[Bassman]

Sam Vecenie via his annual draft guide on Kon:

SUMMARY: Knueppel gets unfairly pigeonholed as just a shooter.The versatility of his game makes him such an attractive prospect. It’s very hard to find players in the NBA who can dribble, pass, shoot, make decisions and defend on top of having solid positional size. Knueppel proved the ability to do all of those things this year, and that’s why I’m a believer in him becoming the kind of player who helps a team win games. He’s likely going to be a truly elite shooter who can get to his shot from a variety of situations. That’s the skill he’ll be able to build his career off early on. Then, as defenders start closing out on him hard, he should be able to add to his game and build off that threat. We know he can make decisions and pass, and we know that he’s comfortable putting the ball on the deck. Realistically, the only thing I’m worried about with Knueppel is the defensive end, where the slow feet might hinder him at the highest levels, but likely won’t hurt him all that much in the regular season.

It’s possible that I end up looking silly and Knueppel ends up being nothing more than a solid rotation player. But my read is that he becomes the kind of starting-caliber wing who helps you win a lot. In the modern NBA, especially if teams are going to keep allowing the physicality to escalate, this is the kind of player who I want on my team in the biggest moments because he is purely additive to those around him.

[JMAC3]

We are going to pick this guy because of Hornets DNA and he will be an okay 4th option while teams get multiple 1st and 2nd options after us.... but hey he will say all the right things and tell us how much he wants to win and he will try really hard.

Hornets DNA is more important than drafting good basketball players.

[Chapelchilla]

I would prefer VJ at 4 but Kon is demonstrably also a good basketball player. Smart, great shooting, passes well, sturdy, wins.

[JMAC3]

I would prefer VJ at 4 but Kon is demonstrably also a good basketball player. Smart, great shooting, passes well, sturdy, wins.

His highlight film is so boring, there is not a single play from him this year that gets me excited about him as a prospect.

[yosemiteben]

I would prefer VJ at 4 but Kon is demonstrably also a good basketball player. Smart, great shooting, passes well, sturdy, wins.

His highlight film is so boring, there is not a single play from him this year that gets me excited about him as a prospect.

He still posted elite shooting stats. Conflating picking him to not caring about drafting "good basketball players" just seems like blind hate to me.

The dude shot 43% on guarded C&S threes as a freshman and projects to be an elite movement shooter. He also shot 62% at the rim in the halfcourt. He also has a good enough handle to punish hard closeouts and seems to have excellent floor vision to be able to utilize lob threats. That is worth getting excited about IMO.

I have other guys I prefer, but I think the "he is a bad basketball player" take is nonsense.

[JMAC3]

I would prefer VJ at 4 but Kon is demonstrably also a good basketball player. Smart, great shooting, passes well, sturdy, wins.

His highlight film is so boring, there is not a single play from him this year that gets me excited about him as a prospect.

He still posted elite shooting stats. Conflating picking him to not caring about drafting "good basketball players" just seems like blind hate to me.

The dude shot 43% on guarded C&S threes as a freshman and projects to be an elite movement shooter. He also shot 62% at the rim in the halfcourt. He also has a good enough handle to punish hard closeouts and seems to have excellent floor vision to be able to utilize lob threats. That is worth getting excited about IMO.

I have other guys I prefer, but I think the "he is a bad basketball player" take is nonsense.

We will see, I highly doubt he is one of the 5 best players drafted in the top 10.

[KembaWalker]

yeah I mean, all season we joked about how wasting this entire past year for Kon Knueppel would have been an unforgiveable outcome, and it was all fun and games cause half the board thought we were a Flagg lock for some reason

now that its a very likely reality are we gonna cope ourselves into acting like maybe it wouldnt be so bad?