The highlight of a lousy Hornets franchise! The guy who topped the rookie list!

With 4 wins and 11 losses, ranking third from the bottom in the Eastern Conference. Under the Hornets' sluggish record, Knupel, the fourth overall pick in the first round of 2025, is definitely one of the few bright spots.

So far in the new season, Knuupel has played 15 games on behalf of the Hornets. The 20-year-old rookie has quickly established himself as a starter this season, averaging 18.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3 assists per game, ranking first on the rookie list.

For a rookie who moved from the NCAA to the NBA, Knupper's rookie start was quite good, but after his outstanding performance in the first few games, he began to encounter core-level defenses in the league.

Knupel also encountered many downturns when facing high-level defensive teams such as the Magic and Timberwolves.

Judging from these two games, his shooting performance was 2 of 6 and 1 of 9 respectively. While his shooting percentage dropped significantly, the number of turnovers also increased significantly. Judging from NBA standards, Knupel still has a lot of parts that need to be adapted and improved at this stage.

But surprisingly, Knuupel quickly showed a psychological adjustment ability that is different from that of a rookie, and was able to make timely adjustments after a brief trough; facing the Jazz, he scored 24 points with a shooting rate of over 50% and 9 of 17.

Based on the content of the game, Knuupel's offensive advantage mainly lies in the stability of his shooting, especially in catching and shooting. He currently averages 8.3 three-pointers per game. Of the 205 total shots, more than 60% are from three-pointers; and more importantly, he has a 40.3% outside shooting rate from beyond the three-point line. From the perspective of shot distribution, his shooting range basically covers the entire half of the court, and there is no obvious shooting shortcoming.

This is not surprising. As early as his college days, Knupel was the best off-ball shooter in the team, and even in the entire D1. He played 39 games at Duke University and shot 40.6% from three-point range, which is enough to prove his shooting potential.

In addition, Knupel's shooting stability is also reflected in his extremely high free throw shooting rate. So far this season, his free throw shooting rate is as high as 88.6%.

Another point worth mentioning is that his pull-up jump shot rate from the three-point line is as high as 55%. Although he only averages 1.3 shots per game, if he can develop it steadily in the future, this will also be a threatening enough offensive weapon.

At the same time, Knuupel has another stat that deserves attention. His effective field goal rate after one dribble is as high as 76%. Although this is only based on averaging 1 shot per game, it is enough to show his ability to adjust his shooting after receiving the ball. He may have the opportunity to develop into a top-level off-ball shooter in the future.

Based on the Hornets' tactical system, this newcomer has a very keen sense of judging shooting gaps. He is often placed at the free throw line. After the defender dribbles the ball across half court, he immediately runs to a 45-degree angle to look for a shot opportunity. At the same time, he adjusts his footsteps to find an open shot opportunity.

At this stage, the pick-and-roll offense between Knupel and LaMelo Ball will be the Hornets' main offensive method in the future. Even a hand-to-hand offense with this year's second-round pick Karl Buklena at the top of the key is an efficient offensive model worth trying.

Even when Ball was injured, when Sexton was appointed as the starting guard, the coach arranged for Knuupel to choose to go inside more during the pick-and-roll instead of his better outside shooting. From this perspective, it may also hint at the Hornets' development plan for the newcomer. In addition to three-point shooting, the development of other skills is also highly valued.

Especially after Ball and Miller are injured and absent, Knuupel has the opportunity to get more opportunities in the future, and even show his offensive and defensive value far beyond that of a role player.

For reference, in college, when teammate Flagg retired from injury, Knuupel relied on his excellent golf intelligence and calm reading to eventually lead the team to win the ACC championship. In three championship games, he averaged 21 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game, which is enough to prove his ability to lead the team.

In addition to the advantages, the most obvious weakness for Knupel is the defense.

By defensive standards, Knupper's physical fitness is not excellent. Of course, this link can rely on acquired training and improvement, especially considering his excellent golf intelligence. Once the subsequent basic defensive awareness is established, he will definitely have a huge potential value for the team's defensive system in the future. There should be no need to worry about this aspect.

To sum up, for Knuupel, his future value should still lie in being a team's top second-in-command, using running without the ball and catching and shooting as the main offensive methods, coupled with the defensive value worth developing, it is enough to be worthy of developing into a top 3D direction.

The Hornets have reason to believe that they not only selected an outstanding starter, but also an important core cornerstone that can support the team's future.