By Avi Tyagi
Less is more with Kon. He’s an excellent movement spacer, with the size, strength, and athletic burst to still power his way to the rim and to the free throw line. He’s a 2018 Rockets player, if there ever was one. Almost his entire shot diet with Duke consisted of catch and shoot 3s, movement 3s, layups, or free throws. A few short pull-up jumpers and turnarounds were interspersed in the mix, but that’s it. Kon’s best ability is his general feel. With an almost 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, Kon offers safe and sound secondary playmaking. He can find the roller easily and knows how to consistently put defenders in mismatches on actions with his big. Kon is a very decisive player who doesn’t need a lot of shake or dribbling to find straight lines to attack the rim. As a movement shooter, Duke loved to run actions to free Kon up for difficult wing 3s. Knueppel can fly off multiple actions for open shots. He has some of the best feel in the class in terms of attacking closeouts. That feel is what provides so many quality 3-point and rim looks because he can sense defender angles approaching him at the line and find the right approach to leave defenders stranded.
Kon’s a bulky mover and it’s part of why he’s struggled to be a source of go-to pull-up offense. The best pull-up shot creators tend to be excellent side hoppers capable of finding extra lateral and diagonal separation to free up their shot. That’s not Kon’s movement style and it’s difficult to add pull-up shooting to the mix when you’re working from a ground-level foundation, but when that’s your only major concern as a prospect, it’s a wonderful starting place. Kon also had almost no real experience as a late clock shot option (which makes sense considering the team) so a long term Cam Johnson style development arc isn’t off the table.
Defensively, Kon’s aware and active, although that same bulky lateral movement makes an appearance here too and he’s not as tight to the ball guarding defenders as a more agile player would be. Kon’s best outcome would be emulating Max Strus. Kon’s already got the frame of a wing. Adding muscle mass as he ages and continues to build on defensive intelligence will eventually make Knueppel a solid wing defender, even with a shorter wingspan and height profile. Even if not, it’s unlikely Kon is ever a true liability. He’s just unlikely to be a plus defender at that size with that lateral speed.
Despite his limitations, Kon’s varied strengths and relatively simple fit as a contributor on any team makes him a clear selection as the 4th best player on my board. Charlotte is desperately lacking his type of wing presence. Shot creation isn’t an issue in Charlotte, disciplined defense and consistent shot finishing are. Kon can help alleviate those concerns and bring Charlotte into a new era. A smaller, less vertically bouncy but better on-ball version of Lauri Markannen is a high-end outcome for Kon. It makes sense why Will Hardy and Utah are also reportedly interested in drafting Knueppel. The comp is merely a signifier of Kon’s polished talent and the situational role that can help a player of his archetype find stardom outcomes.
