The Charlotte Hornets had a plan entering the 2025 NBA Draft. The team had two bonafide stars in LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, but needed a glue guy to be the No. 3 to put it all together. Fate had it that the ideal prospect was there for them in Duke’s Kon Knueppel, whose basketball IQ, spot up three-point shooting, and desire for team play made him the ideal guy to plug in and elevate the games of Ball and Miller.
Over the first part of the season fate has intervened once more, this time tearing those plans to shreds. As a result the Hornets have some soul searching to do, because in the wake of another LaMelo Ball injury there’s a staunch reality facing the organization: They need to trade Ball and be all-in on Knueppel leading this team
That was on full display Thursday night as the Hornets won 111-100 over the Bucks, who were playing with Giannis Antetokounmpo. It was a rare occasion for Charlotte to play a team also facing injury concerns, and they made the most of it — especially Knueppel who finished with 16 points, and 6 rebounds. While Miles Bridges led the team in scoring, Knueppel led them on the court as the catalyst of the offense, much as he’s been over the last five games while Melo has been sidelined.
The expectation for this season was that Knueppel would be little more than an option for Ball to find on the perimeter to knock down some threes. Instead the Duke rookie has proven to be a three-level scorer, creating his own shot, slashing to the lane when available, and making the smart pass after drawing people in, much to the benefit of fellow rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner.
It’s a touch too early to make grand proclamations, but the early returns for the Hornets draft class are stratospheric. Kneuppel looks like a star in the making, Kalkbrenner has turned into the center Charlotte has been missing, putting up 19-and-9 on Wednesday and almost averaging a double-double. Heck, even Knueppel’s former teammate Sion James has emerged as a solid pro, showing lockdown perimeter defense on one end of the court — while shooting a preposterous 58.6% from three on 29 attempts.
When Brandon Miller returns from injury he’ll add another level to this offense as well, filling the role as a more athletic wing to complement Knueppel’s effort based interior play and shooting.
This puts the role of LaMelo Ball in a very, very weird place. The core problem is that Melo is extremely ball-dominant. He doesn’t just want to have the rock in his hands on every possession, but he needs everything to flow though him. There’s no doubt about the talent he possesses as a passer, and his court vision is remarkable, but it still puts a ceiling on the Hornets offense. If someone wants a chance to shoot it will be because LaMelo allows them to, not because they choose to. More often than not he’s happiest doing what he’s always done: Shooting in volume, from anywhere on the court, simply because he can.
It’s impossible to envision a world where Ball can return from injury and Knueppel can keep up his current form. From game to game Kon’s ability to run the offense jumps exponentially, and that creates a jog jam that doesn’t mesh with a team putting everything through Ball.
There’s also the elephant in the room: Health. This marks yet another year where Ball is being plagued by ankle injuries, which have been an unfortunate hallmark of his career thus far. Ball has averaged just 35 games year since being named an All-Star in 2021-22, and his punctuated presence is a huge problem for the Hornets. The team is forced to play two distinctly different brands of basketball: The high movement, everyone touches the ball style of coach Charles Lee when Ball is hurt, then reverting to “Mel0 ball” (forgive the pun) when he returns, once again being the nexus of the offense.
It’s been impossible to build continuity under this dichotomy. However, it’s been necessary over the last three years, because without Ball on the floor the team has been abysmal. At the end of the day he’s the only guy the team can reliably count on to score and create the chance for wins, so it’s been easier to justify playing these two distinct brands of basketball. That’s simply not the case anymore. The emergence of Knueppel and Kalkbrenner changes the face of this team, and it’s growing apparent that if this team would be much, much better if it had a defensive-minded point guard who wasn’t the focal point of the offense.
Now the rubber has met the road: The Hornets need to try and trade LaMelo Ball.
That’s a complicated reality with his injury history, but there’s no question that when healthy he can be a difference maker. Charlotte wouldn’t get a superstar haul for him, but they would free up the team to evolve and move on without him, while allowing Ball to establish an identity on a team whose needs fit his play better. If Ball went to an established team of veteran scorers it would likely reduce the pressure he feels to be the star player, whereas in Charlotte he’s bizarrely become the veteran in the room on such a young roster.
There’s no doubt that the recent history of the Hornets have been defined by LaMelo Ball, but their future isn’t. This is fast entering a new era where Knueppel and Miller can be the stars, with Bridges and Kalkbrenner being third and fourth options. It might be a hard pill to swallow for the Hornets to trade away their best player right now, but it’s a move that could finally put them over the hump in the future.
