It's Cooper vs. Kon for Rookie of the Year

Last thing for you, a lot of great races out there.

Um, I'm Black, Asian, Hispanic, Mexican race.

You're absolutely right.

We, uh, people in Boston don't like to acknowledge that, but yeah, there's a lot of great races out there for sure.

Caucasian, all that stuff.

Yeah, all that, man.

Aryan, not just.

Uh, speaking of Caucasian, the rookie of the Year race is between Cooper Flagg.

This is crazy.

I know a two-man white race.

This is a Kobe.

This is what Brian and Carmelo of y'all time.

It's big time.

Sure, we'll go with that, um.

This is an interesting one, because if you just look at the numbers on paper, you would think Cooper Flagg would be running away with this.

Uh, Cooper Flagg is having the statistical, statistically superior year.

He has been on a run over these last month of the season.

He had a 50+ point game, like he has been, uh, performing down the stretch.

But he's been playing in games that haven't mattered one bit .

The Dallas Mavericks have not been in contention, really all season long, but the last couple of months have just been about this team.

Effectively tanking, playing out the string, not being in competitive games.

Whereas the Charlotte Hornets.

have been playing for something really since opening night and especially down the stretch as they've been trying to get out of the play-in and into the playoffs.

And they have been leaning on K Knipple during these stretches and he has performed.

He has played really well for this team.

And so, as I'm thinking about my ballot, and I'll be honest, as we sit here taping Friday afternoon, I have not decided who I'm voting for, for Rookie of the Year.

But if you were a voter, where would your mind go and how much would you value The games these guys are playing, the, the, the fact that Knippel is in a winning situation and Cooper Flagg is not.

I , I'm leaning towards Khan in general.

Like I think one thing I have to give Cooper credit for, I think it's very impressive, he's doing it at his age, cause it can't be easy.

Then when you're doing like the usage rate, like back to back 40 point games it's lit, but like you gotta go back to Charlotte.

How bad the team has been in the past 9 years.

Khan, is he still leading the league in 3-point attempts?

I mean, 3 pointers, 3 pointers, shattered the rookie.

He did that on top of the fact that he's averaging around like 1718 a game.

Like he, he, he's done it in meaningful minutes and he's helped.

I didn't think we talked about it before and I we were joking at the beginning of the year.

I didn't think, I thought Charlotte was maybe 2 or 3 years off from doing anything of significance, and I think when it's coming down to like You know, playing real games and then playing games when you're trying to develop, you have to take that into consideration.

And, and I feel like it's night and day and and one guy is in the top 3 rotation, everybody that you talk about are like, man, he's solid.

Like Khan's playing like a vet.

Like, do you understand what I'm saying ?

He's not playing like a rookie, and I just feel as though to come in and average 18 points per game.

To lead the league in, you know, 3-point shooting and all that, that, and , and then to do it and make the first playoffs or going to make the first playoffs in 9 or 10 years.

I, I, I gotta go with Khan.

I don't, I don't even think it's close.

If y'all want to do code Rookie of the Year, I understand that like what Cooper has done is special, but Khan is different.

And he had, we could argue if he had the same usage rate and Khan got to shoot for this whole second half, he might mess around and break 3-point records, even more, like, you know what I mean?

Hm.

Um, generally, the Rookie of the Year award goes to players putting up big numbers on bad teams.

You look at Stefan Cassel last year , Wemby, Paolo Banquero in 2023, Scotty Barnes before that, LaMelo, John Morant, um, Luca, uh, you know, you go back to, to these years when these guys were, We're just putting up big numbers for bad teams, and I think you have to go to Malcolm Brogdon in 2017 to find a guy that was putting up numbers for a winning team.

Brogdon was a second-round pick at that time, I think.

Was he second round or late first or second round, I think.

Um, so you have to go back far to find a guy that was putting up numbers on winning teams where winning became a variable in all this.

Um, winning has to be a variable in all this.

The fact that Konn Knippel is doing this in impactful games every single night has to be a variable.

On top of that, like, if you, Cooper Fly's got better numbers, but if you stack them up the per 36, they're, they're really damn close.

Like they're, they're right there.

So it's not like he is overwhelming Knipel in, in overall production.

Production.

I just look at some of these games and the impact on winning.

I know it's not, it's not all because of Kon Knipple because health has been a factor, but Charlotte won what, 19 games last year.

They more than doubled that this year.

Like you got to take that into account.

He's been a big factor in that.

This guy is a two-way player who is contributing to winning.

Every single night, and I, I can't overlook that.

I, I, I just can't overlook that.

I, I think, look, if you ask me who I would take to build my team, it's Cooper Flagg all day long.

I'm drafting Cooper Flagg first overall.

But if you're asking me who is the rookie of the Year, who has had the most impactful season.

It's hard to say that Con Knipple isn't that guy right now.

I guess I'm kind of saying where I'm leaning, but it kind of, it feels like Con Knipple is, is, has done that this season.

Yeah, and I think we're all on the same page, man.

Like if, if they do co-MVP, I mean, Rookie of the Year, cool, bro, but That was so rare though.

Like you have to give this shit to Khan, give it to Khan then, cause go ask his teammates.

Like there's one thing where you comprehend the difference, like when I play, when I played on a team, if I didn't play that night, I know my team didn't miss me much.

Like, that team misses Khan, a 19 year old.

Rookie.

Like, do you know what I mean?

Even when they went head to head, what kind of had 35, Cooper had 41, he's leading the NBA in fucking 3-point field goals and they're going to the postseason.

And they've been watchable basketball and arguably besides like OKC and maybe Celtics, the Team of the Year.

Like when it's coming down to like the up and down, like, bro, we talk about it now, but the Charlotte Hornets were in deep despair before this season.

You know what I mean?

I thought it was gonna be another rebuild, you get rid of LaMelo, you, you hope Brandon Miller kind of trends the right type of way.

You figure kind of come around in 3 years and, you know, Charles Lee, he'll teach them the right type of stuff and then he'll find the right type of coach.

But it's, it's back jumping and he's killing, and I don't think it's close.

I, I think it's gonna be close because I think people are gonna look at Cooper Flagg and say that's the better player, um, so that's the guy that's put up the better numbers.

That's why I'm gonna vote for him.

He's gonna get a lot of first-place votes, but if you look just at the winning, and I'm, I'm looking back now.

At that 2016, 202017 Rookie of the Year race because there were two guys from Philly in the top three.

There was Dario Sarri and Joel Embiid were both rookies that year, and that Philly team was very bad, not bad by Philly standards at that point, but they were a 28 win team Embiid, I think, only played 31 games that year.

2016, 2020171, the Bucks were a 42 win team.

They made the playoffs and Brogdon.

Uh, was a huge part of that team's success.

Uh, played 26+ minutes, only averaged 10 points, so he wasn't putting up great numbers either.

But this feels kind of like one of those years where you've got to reward the contributions to winning, and there's no doubt.

And it's, look, it's not Cooper Flagg's fault.

Like he came into this year thinking he was gonna win.

Like they had Anthony Davis.

They're getting Kyrie Irving back.

They're gonna push the postseason.

That all changed in January.

That was over.

That was a wrap.

So he's been playing out the strings since then.

Uh, but Knipple.

These games matter and he's contributing to them.

Contributing, killing, when you're talking about contributing.

The only thing that probably hasn't been done is him speak about it, you know what I mean?

Like it's not like he will say this, the, the, the Hornets.

One of the things that is working for K Knipple in addition to all the stuff that, that we just talked about.

They have done a fantastic job of getting him out there.

Like he has done more mainstream media than any small market rookie.

That may be a tight criteria, but a small market rookie that I have seen.

He's on Bill Simmons.

He's doing like different podcasts.

He's doing different shows.

Um, you want Con Knipple, you can get him.

Like they will happily, I mean, I, I was somebody in Charlotte.

was asking me this past week if I was in Boston, you want to talk to Khan?

You want to do something with Khan?

Like they want Con Knipple out there telling his story, which is a great one, talking about his season, which has been fantastic.

And I think it's been, it's been effective.

It's, look, it's part of the game, you know, every team is pushing their guys at this stage of the season , but I think the Hornets and their PR staff has done a really, really good job of getting Con Knippel's name out there.

Yeah, and, and, and like I said, for the sake of trying to build up the East or even for the sake of.

Franchises, this is a great way to go in the right direction, especially after 9 years of quote unquote despair or even, you know, the lack of consistency that the Charlotte Hornets have had with the rebuild again, you know what I mean?

Ever since they've really switched from Bobcats and gone on, you know, they had that.

Yeah, yeah.

At one point their highlight was the backcourt of Jeremy Limb and Kemba Walker, you know what I'm saying?

And, uh, shout out, no, that was legit, but I'm just saying that was their prestige, you feel me?

Yeah, the rest in peace, the Bobcats name.

Get your Bobcats gear somewhere on the black market, I would assume.