There's increasing noise that the Charlotte Hornets may end up selecting Kon Knueppel with their fourth-overall pick in next week's NBA Draft. All things considered, I think Knueppel would be one of the best picks they could make. However, making that decision would also reveal Charlotte's need for more perimeter-oriented players that can create off the dribble on offense.
Knueppel is one of the best pure shooters in this draft. He's one of the more polished offensive players in the entire draft class, but he's also not a lead ball-handler. Kon isn't going to be the type of guy to run a lot of pick-and-rolls or manipulate defenses with high-level passing. There's a strong case to be made that Knueppel is the best pick at four, but the Hornets are also going to have to acknowledge the need for a secondary initiator behind LaMelo Ball as well.
We all saw what happened for extended stretches during this past season. Charlotte repeatedly had lineups on the floor where LaMelo didn't have much support in the playmaking department. That obviously led to habitual bad clutch-time offense, especially when number one was off the floor.
The Hornets will still need more guys that can create off the dribble
If Knueppel is Charlotte's guy at number four, that's a perfectly fine decision to make. But what the Hornets' front office should make sure they do is immediately address this need for another ball-handler with their remaining picks in the draft. Charlotte will head into draft night with the number 33 and 34 overall picks at their fingertips as well.
It's probably not likely that the Hornets make a selection with both picks, given that they don't need to add three rookies to this already-young roster. Whether they opt to trade one and keep one or if they decide to package both and move up into the late first round, there will be several solid options for them to pick up.
Marquette's Kam Jones, North Carolina's Drake Powell and Ben Saraf of Ratiopharm Ulm would all be players of the archetype Charlotte needs that would potentially be available with a late first or early second-round pick. Each of these players would give the Hornets a little more insurance when it comes to on-ball creators that can grow into meaningful roles at the professional level.
As the 2025 NBA Finals are proving to us, you need multiple ball-handlers that can create their own offense on your roster to have success in this era. Taking Kon Knueppel would be a great pick, but Charlotte may find themselves behind the eight ball if they don't subsequently bring in another lead ball-handler to further alleviate pressure off LaMelo Ball.