Kon Knueppel warmly greets and appreciates his fans during a heartfelt visit to his hometown of Milwaukee!
A bright sidebar to Charlotte rookie Kon Knueppel’s first game back in his hometown of Milwaukee was his family’s invitation to bring the entire team over for dinner. The image of the Hornets’ chartered team bus rumbling down Knueppel’s street even dazzled the 6-foot-7 rookie.
“Taking the bus down my street, going home, that was weird,” Knueppel said before the game against the Bucks last Friday. “And a bunch of NBA players in my house. It was a lot of big people, but my family enjoyed it.
“Mason [Plumlee], one of our vets … he was like, ‘I’ve never done this before, never gone to a teammate’s house. So that was cool to hear him say that. It was a special hour and a half for us.”
So excited to host the Hornets at our home in MKE! pic.twitter.com/btmkBHBpEz
— Chari Nordgaard Knueppel (@ChariNKnueppel) November 14, 2025
Over the coming months of this NBA season, it could get weird for Knueppel that another teammate with whom he rode team buses — Dallas’ Cooper Flagg, his Duke sidekick last season — could be vying with him for the NBA’s Wilt Chamberlain Trophy as the Kia Rookie of the Year.
Flagg arrived as the favorite, drafted first overall by the Mavericks. But Knueppel has overachieved his spot at No. 4 to command the highest perch on the Kia Rookie Ladder one month into 2025-26. It is his second week at the top after averaging 20 points and five rebounds while hitting 40.6% of his 3-pointers in Charlotte’s past four games.
Here is the latest ranking of the NBA’s top rookies:
Weekly recap
• Utah’s Ace Bailey, who initially didn’t seem eager to land in Salt Lake City, now is benefiting from that destination in the form of veteran mentor Kevin Love. Love at 37 has shown himself to be a team-first Jazz man, including guidance of the roster’s next generation. Love spoke recently with DJ Siddiqi of RG.org, saying of Bailey: “We were both the fifth pick, so we have his nickname for each other, P5 [pick five], and I think that’ll just continue to grow. … I really see ways that I can help him.”
Love, whose locker adjoins Bailey’s, added: “Just embrace the challenge and embrace being a rookie and understanding it’s going to be a steep learning curve. … You’re so young, there’s gonna be a lot coming at you, there’s gonna be a lot of voices, but try and find ways to balance and center yourself.”
• Another NBA vet got on the court with a touted rookie Monday when Paul George returned to action and synced up with VJ Edgecombe. “He can hoop,” George said. “He always seems to make a timely, timely basket in the fourth quarter. … So he’s got a tremendous confidence, but he reminds me of just letting the game come to you and picking and choosing when to attack and be aggressive.”
• Lottery Ladder no-shows: So far, 10 of the 14 players drafted as lottery picks have grabbed a rung for one or more weeks. The ones who have not yet include No. 8 Egor Dëmin of Brooklyn; No. 10 Khaman Maluach of Phoenix, No. 12 Noa Essengue of Chicago, and No. 14 Carter Bryant of San Antonio. Dëmin has been the most productive of this lot (7.4 ppg, 3 rpg, 3.4 apg), while Essengue has yet to see action for the Bulls.
Storyline to watch
• Rookie Ladder showdowns. It would make for pretty interesting TV if these top rookies could jostle for position up close and personal, on a huge Ladder constructed on a Hollywood set. Unfortunately, we have to settle most of the time for virtual Ladder-fare, stats and trends as proxies for face-to-face combat. Getting two or more of these rookies on the same court, though, can goose interest. Some upcoming actual clashes include Knueppel’s team facing Flagg’s on Jan. 29 and March 3. Cedric Coward is set to meet Flagg’s Mavericks for the second time Saturday and the Pelicans’ promising pair next Wednesday. VJ Edgecombe clashes with Toronto’s Collin Murray-Boyles tonight in Philadelphia. Mark those calendars.
(All stats through Tuesday, Nov. 18)
1. Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets
Season stats: 17.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.7 apg
Last Ladder: No. 1
Draft pick: No. 4
It’s always something for NBA rookies. The most highly rated ones typically get drafted into tough situations. Many experience coach firings (see New Orleans’ two Ladder dwellers for more on that). Some get plugged into new-to-them roles, often off the bench. Then there’s Knueppel, whose emergence during injury absences for relative team elders LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller opened the door to a new pecking order in Charlotte. Ball is back, Miller could return soon, and it will be interesting to see how K2 and the Hornets’ rookies are blended into coach Charles Lee’s mix (and vice versa). Hey, you know you’re doing lots right when you’re being used, after just 14 games, as a comparison for other prospects.
2. Cedric Coward, Memphis Grizzlies
Season stats: 14.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.9 apg
Last Ladder: No. 2
Draft pick: No. 11
Some foot soreness, a long road trip and a 1-9 record since Halloween have thrown curves at the Grizzlies newcomer, but Coward stepped up for 19 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double, posting a +3 in Tuesday’s injury-depleted contest in San Antonio. It’s no surprise that Coward has a bigger impact at home (16 ppg, 51.9% shooting) than away (12.4, 42.9%), and it might be more than coincidental that when Coward thrives, Memphis wins (19 ppg and 68.4% shooting in victories and 12.6 ppg on 40.5% shooting in defeats). Former Grizzlies wing Chandler Parsons gushed recently about the no-longer-unheralded Coward.
3. Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks
Season stats: 15.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.1 apg
Last Ladder: No. 3
Draft pick: No. 1
Coward’s fresh performance on Tuesday kept Flagg on the third rung, but he’s looking more comfortable and flexing his versatility nightly. The rookie ranks 11th in clutch points, his 25 trailing Kevin Durant by one and more than Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaylen Brown or Stephen Curry. He also seems to get more excited about subtle moments on successful nights rather than putting crooked numbers on the score sheet. He doesn’t turn 19 until Dec. 21, yet he already has played more games as a Maverick than Anthony Davis.
4. Ryan Kalkbrenner, Charlotte Hornets
Season stats: 9.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 2.2 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 5
Draft pick: No. 34
Kalkbrenner’s showing through his first four NBA weeks tracks well with the player he was after his five-year stay at Creighton. From 65.8% shooting and 2.4 blocks per college game, the 7-footer is at 81.2% and 2.2 swats, ranking first and second, respectively, in this league. He hasn’t been timid about taking the lumps that the most dedicated rim protectors risk, either.
5. VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers
Season stats: 15.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4.3 apg
Last Ladder: No. 4
Draft pick: No. 3
History suggested there was nowhere to go but down after Edgecombe burst on the scene in the Sixers’ backcourt. Some have blamed his recent drop – from 21.2 ppg on 49.4% shooting in October to 11.9 on 34.7% this month – on coach Nick Nurse’s overuse. No doubt Nurse coaches the 20-year-old from Baylor hard, but Philadelphia is getting healthier, and Edgecombe’s minutes have come down. There is still a lot to like here. Said Sixers basketball boss Daryl Morey: “He’s the first player I’ve had that, at this age, has this much poise.”
The next 5
6. Jeremiah Fears, New Orleans Pelicans
Season stats: 15.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.8 apg
Last Ladder: No. 6
Draft pick: No. 7
Only Flagg and Knueppel have taken more and made more shots than Fears (82 of 183) among the rookies, and none of them has a higher usage rate (26.2%). With coach Willie Green out and interim James Borrego in since the previous Ladder, the Pelicans have leaned in to their first-year point guard, who averaged 18.8 points and 2.3 steals in a 0-4 week. That included 41 points on a back-to-back vs. Golden State and OKC.
7. Derik Queen, New Orleans Pelicans
Season stats: 10.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.6 apg
Last Ladder: No. 8
Draft pick: No. 13
Like Fears, Queen has established himself as a foundational piece for the Pelicans, with Borrego starting him in the past two games. His net rating (+17.5) takes New Orleans from the No. 30 hole defensively when he’s not on the court to 17. Queen has shown sponge tendencies, too, gleaning tips wherever he can find them.
8. Ace Bailey, Utah Jazz
Season stats: 8.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.5 apg
Last Ladder: No. 9
Draft pick: No. 5
It’s a sign of the times that Bailey’s sideways appearance Sunday – starting but fouling out in just 10 minutes in a game against Chicago that went to double-overtime – had online proposition bettors more upset than the Jazz or their fans. Set aside that schooling, though, and the Rutgers product has averaged 16 points on 53.2% shooting as a starter.
9. Tre Johnson, Washington Wizards
Season stats: 11.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.4 apg
Last Ladder: No. 7
Draft pick: No. 6
Reviews have slid considerably since the preseason, with Johnson both contributing to and suffering from Washington’s dreary start. The Wizards’ league-worst net rating has been a group effort, while Johnson’s care of the ball has dipped (eight assists to 14 turnovers so far this month), and he’s back to the bench after four starts. Don’t worry, though – this is a new hobby, not a career change.
10. Collin Murray-Boyles, Toronto Raptors
Season stats: 8.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.2 apg
Last Ladder: Not ranked
Draft pick: No. 9
Second in defensive rating (110.9) among rookies averaging 20+ minutes, behind only Spurs Dylan Harper (108.1), Murray-Boyles has been essential on that end of the floor. And his True Shooting percentage (.617) has perked up in November, extending his impact.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X
