The Charlotte Hornets will enter training camp without two rotation pieces available for preseason work, with guard Kon Knueppel sidelined by a left hamstring injury and forward Grant Williams also dealing with a hamstring issue.
Knueppel’s preseason is over
Charlotte said Friday that Knueppel was hurt during on-court activity. The club expects him to miss the full preseason schedule and will check his progress again in the opening week of the regular season.
That timetable puts his availability for the Oct. 21 season opener against the Brooklyn Nets in question. The Hornets have not provided a specific return date.
A major scoring piece on the shelf
Knueppel comes off one of the most productive rookie shooting seasons in league history. The No. 4 selection in the 2025 NBA Draft played 81 games and gave Charlotte a high-volume perimeter option from opening night through the finish.
- 18.5 points per game
- 5.3 rebounds per game
- 3.4 assists per game
- 273 made 3-pointers, most in the NBA last season
- First-team All-Rookie honors
- Runner-up finish in Rookie of the Year voting
- Four Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month awards
His 273 made threes broke the NBA rookie mark previously held by Keegan Murray, who connected on 206 shots from deep in his first season.
Grant Williams facing the same early evaluation window
Williams will not take part in preseason action either after suffering a hamstring injury. Like Knueppel, he is scheduled to be reevaluated in the first week of Charlotte’s regular-season schedule.
The twin absences take a guard and a frontcourt veteran out of the Hornets’ preseason rotation, leaving the club to sort through its early combinations before Brooklyn arrives on Oct. 21.
