Kon Knueppel stays hot and drops 28 points on the Pacers.
“Irrational exuberance” is a Wall Street term frequently used to describe shareholders’ runaway enthusiasm when the market gets overheated.
It’s also a good way to describe what we’ve seen over the past week or two about Kon Knueppel, the Charlotte Hornets’ rookie forward. In almost record time, one player has (in almost record time) gone from a selection at No. 4 that raised some eyebrows to an alleged shoo-in as Kia Rookie of the Year.
Some folks don’t even stop there, suggesting Knueppel will be the first rookie to make an All-Star team since Blake Griffin in the 2010-11 season. Or that he’ll eventually chase down in the record books the greatest 3-point shooter in league history.
To which there’s only one reasonable response: Whoa.
“He’s winning ROTY,” gushed Reggie Miller, NBC’s lead NBA analyst. “Dare I say this … is Stephen Curry gonna be a little nervous in about 15 years? Just go back and look at Steph’s first two to three years in terms of 3-pointers made and what Kon has done this year.”
No doubt Miller was having fun, but it isn’t fair to Curry, this season’s other rookies and most of all Knueppel to get so far out, so soon, over one’s sneakers.
Fortunately, no one is more sober on the topic of Knueppel than the kid himself. Sure, he’s held the top spot on the Kia Rookie Ladder for three weeks. And yes, he was a candidate for the East’s player-of-the-week for the second time, vying with the conference’s best vets.
But perspective for now is everything.
“Even going into my freshman year of high school, I knew I was a good player in the state and in middle school,” the one-and-done Duke product said recently, “but I still thought I’d probably end up playing Division III ball at Wisconsin Lutheran College or something.”
Meanwhile, Charlotte’s 4-13 start should keep its whole roster humble and focused away from postseason awards or in-season honors.
“We just gotta play with our mind a little bit better,” Knueppel also said. “Get the matchups we want, think about what we’re doing, execution offensively, and know our personnel defensively.”
Here is the latest ranking of the NBA’s top rookies:
Weekly recap
• How ‘bout we take an invisible eraser to the unwritten rules that allegedly got violated Saturday when New Orleans’ Derik Queen angered the Hawks with his late steal and dunk in Atlanta’s lopsided victory? Guard Vít Krejčí was dribbling out the clock and considered Queen’s move a breach of basketball etiquette. To which the Ladder committee says: Balderdash! Play all 48 minutes and move on. That said, the rookie’s attempt to justify it as a grudge play was a little silly, too.
• Clippers wing Kobe Sanders went from eight consecutive DNPs and just eight minutes of court time in L.A.’s first 10 games to 25.1 minutes per game and three starts over the next seven. The No. 50 pick in June and a five-year product of Cal Poly and Nevada is on a two-way contract but offers something few Clippers can match: He was born in this millennium.
Sanders averaged 8.9 points, shot 36.7% from three, and sank 11 of his 12 free throws during his excellent adventure bailing out assorted injured teammates. With Kawhi Leonard’s return Sunday from a foot sprain, the 23-year-old Sanders isn’t starting, but he has stayed in the rotation.
• Despite much pre-Draft and summer hype about Portland’s move to land Chinese center Yang Hansen, the going has been slow and bumpy for the 7-foot-1 native of Zibo, China. He is averaging 3.1 points in nine appearances, with his biggest night coming in garbage time Sunday at OKC (eight points, four rebounds and three assists on 3-of-11 shooting).
It’s clear why the Trail Blazers and the NBA were eager to catch Yao Ming in a bottle again, but reality is starting to pinch because Hansen essentially was swapped on Draft night for Memphis’ Cedric Coward, a player who spent four college years in the Pacific Northwest. Coward’s shooting and defense have been on display from the start.
Storyline to watch
• Flagg vs. Dončić. That’s how the Crypto.com arena marquee might read, anyway, as Dallas and our No. 2 rungholder Cooper Flagg faces the Los Angeles Lakers Friday (10 p.m. ET, Prime Video). Flagg had nothing to do with the notorious trade last winter that dealt Luka Dončić away from the Mavericks, but he got sucked into the narrative by the bounce of Draft lottery balls. The rookie sounds wise to have his mind elsewhere, even if Mavs fans are unable to let go.
“I would say to me, it’s another game,” Flagg said. “I know there’s gonna be a lot of other things that go into that game and through a lot of these guys’ mindsets and whatnot. For me, it’s just another game. I’m trying to survive day by day, take everything one day at a time, one game at a time. Right now, we’re just trying to find ways to win.”
(All stats through Tuesday, Nov. 25)
1. Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets
Season stats: 19.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.9 apg
Last Ladder: No. 1
Draft pick: No. 4
The past week contributed to the Knueppel excitement: 27.3 ppg on 59.2% shooting and 56.3% from the arc. Through 17 games, his 63 3-point field goals have him on pace for 303, which would shatter Keegan Murray’s NBA rookie mark (206). Mathematically, Knueppel’s 3.71 3-pointers per game so far rank second to Curry’s all-time 3.97. But 17 vs. 1,041 games? C’mon. Here is a better comparison. Then there is this: Curry – before he changed the game – was 19 of 49 (38.8%) on 3-pointers through his first 17 games, to Knueppel’s 63 of 144 (43.8%). Over his final 63 games as a rookie, Curry upped his rate to 147 of 331 (44.4%).
2. Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks
Season stats: 15.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.1 apg
Last Ladder: No. 3
Draft pick: No. 1
He has logged more games in Dallas (18) than his highly paid (and often drydocked) teammate, Anthony Davis (14). He also has more defeats in six weeks (14) than he and his teams endured over four previous years (eight). After going No. 1 overall in the 2025 Draft, Flagg has been on a crash course through NBA 101 with the Mavs. Rough night Monday and he’s 1-for-11 from the arc in his past three games, but the good reviews continue to roll in. Said coach Jason Kidd: “To go through this tough time of losing close games is only going to make us better as we go forward. Especially for Cooper, because he’s getting to see a lot of different close games and how to handle different situations.”
3. Cedric Coward, Memphis Grizzlies
Season stats: 13.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.8 apg
Last Ladder: No. 2
Draft pick: No. 11
Coward hit his first offensive rough patch coming out of the weekend, with nine points in the victory at Dallas on Saturday and just five vs. Denver on Monday. In the process, he shot 5-of-17 and 1-of-8. But without Ja Morant in the lineup to occupy the defense, he’s drawing more game-plan attention. Coward has stepped into the breach as a vocal leader, too — something in short supply at times in Memphis.
4. Derik Queen, New Orleans Pelicans
Season stats: 12.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.3 apg
Last Ladder: No. 7
Draft pick: No. 13
The 6-foot-10 man/child from Maryland had a busy week, from averaging 19.5, 7.5 and 5.5 – with 2.5 “stocks” – to getting up almost 15 shots nightly. He hit 51.7% of what he put up there and even found time to tick off the Hawks with his late-blowout hustle. Not only has Queen thrived under the alleged pressure of costing the Pelicans their 2026 unprotected first-round pick, but he has shifted some of the burden to whomever that pick becomes to prove he’s better than Queen.
5. VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers
Season stats: 15.6 ppg, 6 rpg, 4.2 apg
Last Ladder: No. 5
Draft pick: No. 3
Edgecombe missed his second straight game Tuesday with left calf tightness. He still ranks high in his class across the board: first in minutes, assists and shots per game, third in points per game and fourth in rebounds. His arsenal stirred memories for a Hall of Famer comp “guard.” “The similarities between my game as a two guard and his game as a two guard is the right at you, downhill, ‘I’m going to punch on you and I don’t care,’” Dwyane Wade said.
The next 5:
6. Jeremiah Fears, New Orleans Pelicans
Season stats: 15.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.7 apg
Last Ladder: No. 6
Draft pick: No. 7
Despite the Pelicans’ dreary team fortunes, Fears – like Queen – has been a bright spot and building block. He has been clockwork in November, averaging 16.2 points and making 41.3% of his 3-point attempts – although at 3.3 per game, he’s either being judicious or shy on those hoists.
7. Ryan Kalkbrenner, Charlotte Hornets
Season stats: 9.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.9 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 4
Draft pick: No. 34
Kalkbrenner left Saturday’s game with left ankle soreness and did not play Sunday at Atlanta. His 3.2 offensive rebounds lead all rookies and are 19th overall in the league, as does his 80.3% accuracy among all players averaging at least 10 minutes.
8. Ace Bailey, Utah Jazz
Season stats: 9.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.7 apg
Last Ladder: No. 8
Draft pick: No. 5
After starting his career with eight straight games of single-digit scoring, Bailey has scored 10+ in eight of his past nine. And he’s getting noticed for more than just buckets. “He’s not afraid to ask questions, he’s not afraid to ask for help on something if he doesn’t know,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “And his personality is magnetic. The kid … brings a lot of joy and energy to our building.”
9. Egor Dëmin, Brooklyn Nets
Season stats: 7.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.4 apg
Last Ladder: Not ranked
Draft pick: No. 8
One of five rookies on the roster as the Nets try to fast-track a rebuild, Dëmin has seized opportunities to post some crooked numbers. His usage is up, his accuracy is down in November, but the 6-foot-9 Russian knows it’s all about confidence and reps. “Understanding that the coaching staff is believing in me and believing in all of us, I think this is where we can get even more power and even more energy to play as hard as we can,” Dëmin said last weekend. (Oh, and this is how you pronounce it.)
10. Tre Johnson, Washington Wizards
Season stats: 11.5 ppg, 3 rpg, 1.3 apg
Last Ladder: No. 9
Draft pick: No. 6
Turns out Johnson’s “unannounced minutes restriction” was due to a left hip injury that now will sideline the Wizards rookie for a couple of weeks. Not that everyone is persuaded it’s real, given Washington’s log jam of youth. Johnson’s shooting and savvy had won admirers.
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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.
