Kon Knueppel's Latest Injury Completely Redirects Hornets' Season

The Charlotte Hornets can't seem to catch a break this year. Pretty much every single thing that could have gone wrong has. I'm tempted to call it karma for making such a risky move in trading LaMelo Ball, partly due to his injury history.

So far, Coby White, Kon Knueppel, and Brandon Miller have spent about five minutes on the court and posted a -41.1 net rating in those minutes. That's not how anyone envisioned the beginning of this season going.

To make things even worse, Knueppel hurt himself again in those six minutes. Miller just hurt his groin, so he's on the mend, too. Knueppel, based on the latest injury update, is going to miss a minimum of four weeks.

However, Hornets fans probably have some PTSD over the phrase "will be reevaluated in x weeks." For Knueppel, he will be reevaluated in four weeks, but there's probably not a soul out there that believes he'll return to play in four weeks.

It is plausible that Knueppel doesn't return until the calendar year is almost over. And with how ugly this team has looked in his absence, we cannot expect many wins in that time frame. We probably can't expect many wins when he returns, but for now, that is technically an unknown.

Whether or not it's the lack of Knueppel's shooting and spacing, the Hornets cannot shoot or score the basketball. That just isn't going to change until he's back. Maybe when Miller gets healthy and White knocks the rust off they can score better, but they still won't be an elite offense.

Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel (7) during pregame warm ups against the Detroit Pistons | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

So, that means that virtually half the season is going to be lost, and while they could be more competitive when Knueppel returns, it's likely that they're going to be fighting to get out of the dreaded bottom-three that is now considered persona non grata for the lottery.

The Hornets should be focused on the future now, if that wasn't the case already. Give up all dreams of the Play-In. They may not have made it anyway, but with the injury luck they've had already, they aren't going to come close.

The first half of the season should probably be about racking up losses, and the second half when Knueppel is back and rolling should be about moving out of that first tier. The second tier that has the best lottery odds should be the goal now.

And on that note, it's cruelly ironic that this is how it's turned out. The Hornets blew up a potential playoff team with an eye on something greater only to be hurt by injuries they tried to clean up with the trade.

And because of the new lottery system, they may not even be able to reap the benefits of their horrid luck. Just in time, the NBA decided to make sure that the teams who are actually the worst do not get the best luck.

Hopefully, Knueppel can return eventually and help this team enough to avoid that distinction. Regardless, it's probably time to start scouting prospects.

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