Kon Knueppel Gone in 2025 Re-Draft — Who Would the Hornets Have Taken Instead?

It's wild to think that at one point, Kon Knueppel was viewed as the "safe" pick for the Charlotte Hornets in the 2025 NBA Draft. In the weeks and months leading up to the draft, mock projections had a heavy dose of Ace Bailey, VJ Edgecombe, and Tre Johnson, with the link to Knueppel being in play here and there.

It turns out, the Hornets did the right thing by taking Knueppel over the extremely athletic Ace Bailey, who has had a decent rookie year with the Utah Jazz, but nowhere near the type of impact the Duke product has brought to the Queen City.

If we were to go back in time, I'd be willing to bet both San Antonio and Philadelphia would opt for Knueppel over Dylan Harper and VJ Edgecombe. And in a recent redraft exercise on Bleacher Report, that's exactly what happened as they slotted Knueppel going right after his college teammate Cooper Flagg, second overall to the Spurs.

Feb 14, 2026; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Kon Knueppel (7) competes in the three point contest during the 2026 NBA All Star Saturday Night at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"Spurs fans might disagree here, and honestly, their decision-makers might, too. That's fine. This isn't anti-Harper adjustment, it's just a holy-crap-Knueppel-is-awesome acknowledgement," Zach Buckley wrote. "Maybe Harper has elite basketball in front of him, but Knueppel is flashing elite skills right now. He's trailing only Flagg in scoring (18.9 per outing), angling for 50/40/90 club access (48.5/42.8/89.9 slash line) and playing a huge part in the Charlotte Hornets' 2026 surge."

With Knueppel going off the board at two and Edgecombe staying in place at No. 3, Buckley gave Charlotte Dylan Harper. Although I don't love the fit, it would be giving them the best player available on the board, at least as far as upside is concerned, so I'd probably agree with the selection.

However, Harper isn't a strong three-point shooter, which would leave Charlotte's offense in the same place it's been stuck in for the last handful of years. The reason they've been so efficient this season is that Kon takes up so much attention, creating more opportunities for LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller.

Harper to Charlotte wouldn't be the end of the world whatsoever, but I'm sure the Hornets are thrilled with how it all played out in real life.

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