Brandon Miller, LaMelo Ball fall out of prestige group but one Hornets star joins

For a few years, both LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller were considered among the best players under 25, which is just an arbitrary age cutoff to suggest that these players, and the teams that have them, have bright futures.

ESPN does a top 25 under 25 list, and Miller and/or Ball were usually on it. They were both promising talents who looked like they could be true stars someday for the Charlotte Hornets. But if the latest list for 2025-26 is any indication, that opinion has faded.

Miller is just barely 23, and Ball won't be 25 until next August. They both fit the criteria for the list, but they've both been removed by ESPN insiders Tim Bontemps, Zach Kram, Bobby Marks, Kevin Pelton, and Jeremy Woo.

Now, this isn't all that shocking for Ball, because the media, particularly some members of the list above, have never really liked him, so with more injuries and some efficiency issues, it's not surprising that he's been removed.

Miller's removal is a little more frustrating, because he was a player the media liked and saw as a real, legitimate star that the Hornets could build around. But now, perhaps thanks to injuries, he has also fallen out of favor.

He's shooting below 40% from the field and below 30% from three this year in just eight games due to a shoulder injury, so it's not hard to see why he's not included here. The other players are just playing better basketball, but Miller's talent, assuming that shoulder is really healthy, should win out eventually.

However, it's not all doom and gloom at the Spectrum Center. In fact, while Ball and Miller have fallen out, Kon Knueppel is now on the list. He's not just one of the best young players in basketball, but he's also better than everyone in his loaded draft class who is not named Cooper Flagg.

The wing placed 17th, ahead of players like Dylan Harper, VJ Edgecombe, Jalen Suggs, Dyson Daniels, Alex Sarr, Josh Giddey, Ausar Thompson, and Reed Sheppard.

To evolve and continue to rise, Kevin Pelton argues he "must keep showing he's more than a shooter. He came within an assist of a triple-double last month against the Lakers and can leverage the defensive attention his shooting draws to create open shots for teammates."

Knueppel's shooting got him here, as he's on pace to shatter NBA rookie shooting records and is clearly the best and most prolific shooter in this rookie class. It's no wonder he's one of the best under 25, and he might, at least based on this, be the new face of the Hornets.

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