Kon Knueppel is thriving with the Hornets, and he'd be doing this on 29 other teams

It’s been a drama-filled week for the Charlotte Hornets amid an up-and-mostly-down season, but rookie Kon Knueppel has been a steadying presence in the storm. Knueppel has been Charlotte’s best player in 2025-26, and he’s averaging a healthy 18.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists so far.

Not surprisingly, Knueppel has already garnered the utmost respect from his teammates, opposing players, and analysts alike, the latter of whom have lately been calling Knueppel the Rookie of the Year front-runner (it's still early, of course).

Former NBA wing and current analyst Chandler Parson joined the Knueppel praise train recently, talking up the rook during FanDuel TV's Run It Back program.

Former NBA forward Chandler Parsons loves Kon Knueppel's game (but who doesn't)?

"Kon Knueppel is a robot. You can put him on any single team and he's gonna be a valuable player." 💯@ChandlerParsons & @TeamLou23 ranked the rookies so far this season... do you agree? 🤔

1. Knueppel
2. V.J. Edgecombe
3. Cooper Flagg
4. Cedric Coward
5. Ryan Kalkbrenner pic.twitter.com/ChJvGLP1R4
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) November 17, 2025

In a rookie "Power Rankings" segment on the show, Parsons ranked Knueppel as the No. 1 rookie in the NBA right now (ahead of Cooper Flagg and others).

"(Knueppel) is a robot," Parson said. ""You can put him on every single team and he's gonna be a valuable player. He defends, big 6-6 guard. ... He's gonna be one of the perennial shooters in this league for years to come."

No matter what you thought about Knueppel's ceiling during the 2025 NBA draft process or heading into the 2025-26 NBA season, it's been surprising to see how much of a finished product he's looked like on an NBA floor during the first 15 games of his career.

Knueppel turned 20 in August; he's still unthinkably young. The fundamental mastery he's already attained (and is able to execute at the highest level of basketball) is the kind of stuff that a lot of NBA players take a decade to develop, if they ever do.

Knueppel already looks like the owner of one of the most well-rounded offensive skill sets in the NBA, and he's no slouch defensively, either.

The most notable aspect of Parsons's comments was the point he made about Knueppel being valuable on any team in the NBA. You could plug Knueppel into a contending roster, and he'd make them better. You could put him on a tanking squad, and he'd still produce.

Knueppel has been drawing more and more attention from defenses recently, especially with Brandon Miller having been out. It hasn't mattered. Knueppel finds a way to get to his spots and knock down shots or find others.

The Milwaukee Bucks were able to get an initial look at Knueppel in a November 12 matchup before the Hornets-Bucks NBA Cup game on November 14, but Knueppel still burned them in the second game, dropping a career-high 32 points in his hometown city.

This kid's special. While Hornets fans fret over a 4-11 record or LaMelo Ball rumors, Knueppel remains a big reason to be optimistic about this franchise.

- TRENDING STORIES FROM HORNETS ON SI -

LaMelo Ball mock trades: Finding the right split for star guard, Charlotte Hornets

It's already time to have a difficult conversation about 2025-26 Charlotte Hornets

Hornets' Kon Knueppel more impressive than Cooper Flagg to this NBA veteran

What LaMelo Ball's & Mason Plumlee's assignment to Greensboro means for the Hornets