Overreaction or truth? All-Rookie status could be in play for Kalkbrenner, Knueppel

It's hard not to get excited about what we saw from the Charlotte Hornets last night. They did play the expectedly disappointing Brooklyn Nets, but they looked incredible from top to bottom. It's easy to overreact to 136 points and some franchise records on opening night.

One NBA analyst detailed an "overreaction" to every single team, and for the Hornets, Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey said that the overreaction is that Charlotte will have two All-Rookie team members this year. In immortal words, it's not ridiculous to say that.

Analyst's Hornets overreaction is anything but

The Charlotte Hornets are probably still not a playoff team, but they sure looked like one last night. Everything worked, from the offseason moves to the unique starting lineup. Because of that starting lineup, it's really easy to predict two All-Rookie players for Charlotte.

"Any team facing the Nets' defense is primed for overreactions. But even when you account for the context, Charlotte Hornets rookies Kon Knueppel and Ryan Kalkbrenner both looked good enough to get in the mix for All-Rookie nods," Andy Bailey wrote.

This is not at all surprising for Kon Knueppel because he was the fourth overall pick, and his game was always likely to mesh well with LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. An 11-point debut, which included 75% shooting from three, was really nice to see anyway.

"The more surprising turn of events is Ryan Kalkbrenner (picked 34th overall) joining Knueppel in the starting five, anchoring a decent defensive effort and finishing with an 11-rebound, 10-point, two-block double-double in his NBA debut," Bailey continued.

Kalkbrenner looked really good and comfortable down low. Recording a double-double in your first NBA game is a major statement. The 34th pick in the NBA Draft did nothing to suggest anyone, even Moussa Diabate, who also played very well, is going to take his spot, and with all those minutes, it's once again easy to see an All-Rookie team.

"He'll face stiffer tests than Brooklyn throughout the season, but Kalkbrenner played well enough in the opener to suggest he should have the starting spot for the foreseeable future. And that should help him produce enough for that All-Rookie selection," Bailey concluded.

Sion James looked good on defense, but he didn't do much on offense. Liam McNeeley didn't play at all, which was interesting. Nevertheless, Knueppel and Kalkbrenner are doing the heavy lifting to ensure this is a great rookie class in Charlotte.

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