Kon Knueppel's Hamstring Puts His Sophomore Leap on Ice to Open 2026-27
The Hornets' 18.5-PPG sharpshooter will miss preseason and gets re-evaluated in Week 1 — a soft spot for a sneaky breakout pick.
Draft-day discount is coming; don't reach until the Week 1 re-eval clears.
- Strained left hamstring in offseason on-court work
- Misses all preseason; re-eval in Week 1
- Averaged 18.5 pts, 5.3 reb, 3.4 ast as rookie (2025-26)
- Led NBA with 273 threes on 43% shooting (2025-26)
- Regular-season opener vs Nets is Oct. 21
Charlotte's timeline for its most intriguing sophomore just got murky. Kon Knueppel, 21, strained his left hamstring during offseason on-court work, and the Hornets say he'll sit out all four preseason games before being re-evaluated in the first week of the regular season. Veteran forward Grant Williams joins him on the shelf with a right hamstring strain and the same wait-and-see designation.
That matters because Knueppel isn't a fringe name anymore. He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting last season (2025-26), losing only to No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, while posting 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists and leading the entire league with 273 made threes on 43% shooting. Training camps open Sept. 29, Charlotte's first preseason tilt is Oct. 6, and the regular-season opener lands Oct. 21 — all against Brooklyn.
The context makes this sting a little more. With LaMelo Ball shipped to Minnesota and Miles Bridges dealt to Phoenix, Charlotte handed the keys to Knueppel and Brandon Miller. A bigger usage role was coming for the No. 4 overall pick out of Duke, and now the runway to claim it gets shortened by a preseason he won't play.
What It Means for the Hornets' Pecking Order
Miller is the clear alpha here regardless — he sits at #64 overall in our rankings (#24 at his position) after averaging 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists across 65 games in 2025-26, good for 33.6 fantasy points per game. Coby White (#124, 26.7 fantasy pts/game in 2025-26) got re-signed and slots in as the backcourt engine. If Knueppel opens the year limited, expect a few extra touches to flow to both while the new-look roster — with Naz Reid, Grayson Allen and rookies Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson — finds its footing.
Williams is the easier fantasy call: at 7 points and 3.9 rebounds on 39% from deep last season (2025-26), and just 52 games over the past two years while recovering from a torn ACL and meniscus, he's a deep-league name at best. Leave him on the wire unless your format is 16-plus teams deep.
For Knueppel, this is a classic buy-the-dip setup. A hamstring that costs a chunk of preseason and maybe a week of the schedule shouldn't scare you off a player who led the NBA in threes as a rookie and is walking into more usage. Let the injury tag knock his draft-day price down, target him a round or two later than his ceiling suggests, and pounce if the Week 1 re-evaluation trends positive. Don't reach before the update — but don't let someone else grab the discount either.
