Charlotte Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel shoots a free throw in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s 111-105 win over Utah in Las Vegas Summer League. Roderick Boone roboone@charlotteobserver.com
Kon Knueppel collected the loose ball near midcourt, gathered himself and raced to the basket facing an uncluttered path.
With two hands, the Charlotte Hornets’ prized pick threw down an uncontested dunk, earning applause from the well-wishers in the Thomas & Mack Center stands who were aware of what just happened. Knueppel registered his first made field goal, finally getting something besides a free throw to drop through the net.
Finally, he thought.
“Yeah, that’s what it felt like,” Knueppel said. “I don’t think anybody would have bet that my only field goal would have been a dunk. But here we are.”
Turns out the Hornets didn’t even need Knueppel’s best to start their NBA Summer League schedule out in positive fashion on the strength of a 111-105 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday in Las Vegas.
The other three members of the Hornets’ 2025 draft class — Liam McNeeley, Sion James and Ryan Kalkbrenner — each had their respective moments, drawing praise from Hornets assistant Chris Jent, who’s serving as Charlotte’s summer league coach.
“I thought they were great,” Jent said. “It’s hard to play out here for your first game. It’s much easier if you go to Utah to (Sacramento), play a couple of games, get them under your belt. The first game in Vegas? That’s a tough one, so I thought they were great.
“We’ve been preaching, as I’ve told you, the competitive nature and the togetherness. I thought that was at a very high level.”
McNeeley had an early coming out party, pumping in 22 points to go with 12 rebounds and six assists. His jump shot looked pure, highlighted by a pair of successive 3-pointers on consecutive possessions.
Not bad for someone who drained only 38% of his attempts during his lone season at Connecticut, something he attributed to an ankle injury. He even displayed a nice passing touch, tossing a perfect alley-oop to Kalkbrenner to put the Hornets ahead by a bucket late.
“I’ve shouted my whole career that I’m more than just a shooter — I’m a basketball player, I’m a hooper,” McNeeley said. “I just go out there and try to make the right play.”
Kalkbrenner posted 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and three blocks, clogging the middle effectively with one emphatic swat that drew an audible response from the crowd. As the Hornets’ future at center, he’ll be tasked with doing plenty of the dirty work and other inevitable duties like setting screens, and seemed to have no problem with the lunch pail mentality..
“I’m happy that I get to play with him and not against him anymore,” McNeeley said, referring to the college matchups between the two in the Big East this past season. “That’s such a good rim protector, such a good big man. He’s a great guy as well. I’m happy we are on the same team.”
Charlotte Hornets rookie Liam McNeeley conducts a postgame TV interview after first game in Las Vegas Summer League. Roderick Boone roboone@charlotteobserver.com
James ran the point effectively and displayed an ability to leave an imprint on the action in more ways than one, pumping in eight points to go with three rebounds and a pair of steals.
But a host of the attention was focused on Knueppel, the fourth overall pick and player the Hornets fell in love with during the pre-draft process. Although he struggled in his summer debut, finishing with five points and connecting on only 1 of 8 attempts — including an 0-for-5 effort beyond the 3-point arc — there’s little concern on his end.
“Probably one of the worst games I’ve played in a while,” Knueppel said. “I just couldn’t get one to go. Didn’t feel great, especially missing free throws. But I thought I did a good job defensively, held my own. I’ve got to be a little smarter with the ball. A couple of bad turnovers but it’s good to get my feet underneath me a little bit and get ready for the next game.”
Despite the misfires against the Jazz, Jent has been impressed with Knueppel’s stroke after eyeballing it from up close over the past two weeks, beginning in the immediate aftermath of him landing in Charlotte to start getting acclimated to his new environment and surroundings. Things have already reached the point of Knueppel’s teammates spotting him frequently, delivering the pass directly to him for a shot.
Charlotte Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel shoots a free throw in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s 111-105 win over Utah in Las Vegas Summer League. Roderick Boone roboone@charlotteobserver.com
“They find him,” Jent said. “They know where he is on the floor and they are trying to find him to set good screens for him. They understand, too. But it’s a very easy looking shot. His legs are going to be a little tired as to be expected.
“But yeah, he’s a heck of a shooter.”
Knueppel smirked a bit when that was relayed to him.
“Yeah, it’s nice,” Knueppel said. “Guys are looking for you, especially the defense. They know you are out there, they are guarding you tight. It’d be nice if a couple more of them were going down right now, but we’ll get there. I’m not worried about it.”
Mostly because that’s not the main focus. While statistics are nice, it’s more about the intricate things the Hornets are attempting to instill into the group.
James got a taste of that before even arriving in the desert during a chat with coach Charles Lee, a one-on-one conversation to prepare the 22-year-old for moments he’ll be dealing with over the coming days.
“We just keep talking details,” James said. “I talked to him last week after one practice and we just talked about some of the plays that happened in practice and some of the adjustments I’ll have to make.
“The thing I really appreciate about Coach Lee and the rest of the summer league staff is that they are giving us the freedom to make mistakes and figure it out, so that, one we could improve and, two, once we get on the court for summer league and throughout that we’ll have got some mistakes out and be ready to succeed once we get out there.”
That’s the key and the edict delivered by Jent during the team’s four-day mini camp, with three coming at Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada, before Thursday’s final tune up leading into games on consecutive days, the second coming against the Philadelphia 76ers at Thomas & Mack Center.
Drilling the message into the player’s heads, centering around team concepts and philosophies, was a big part of their daily sessions. An individualistic approach isn’t going to cut it in summer league.
Explained Jent: “It’s hard to do, but you’ve really got to lean into what you’ve been doing in camp and kind of be relaxed and rely on things you’ve been doing and not play outside of the game if you will and that’s hard to do. You want to go out there and want to prove what you can do, which I completely understand.
“But can we stay within the structure of what we are trying to do and allow that structure to be successful?”
That’s the only chance the Hornets have to make a deep run in summer league action.
“Yeah, the two words he talks about are competitiveness and togetherness,” Knueppel said, “and that will go a long way” and especially in summer league when a lot of guys go out there and try to get their own. But if we play together and we are competitive, we can win the whole thing.”
Of course, the newcomers aren’t the only ones under the microscope.
KJ Simpson and Tidjane Salaün represent the Hornets’ 2024 draft class and they’re participating in summer sessions, too, with the hope of continuing their growth. Simpson was aggressive from the outset, pouring in 11 of their initial 15 points. Salaün didn’t do too shabby, either.
Charlotte Hornets guard KJ Simpson shoots during an April game at Spectrum Center. Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images
The hope is the on-court chemistry the duo has already formed thanks in part to their time shuffling back-and-forth between Charlotte and Greensboro to play for the Swarm.
“I talked about it a little bit last year when we were in the G League together — it’s going to help our bond, just our chemistry is going to grow,” Simpson said. “We obviously understand the NBA pace, we understand what the play style is. We are still young ourselves, but that year of experience is helping us to help the rookies out and then just going out there and playing for each other.
“We’ve been playing together for a year now, so we understand our tendencies and where we like to be on the floor. I think overall me being the point guard that I am, I’ve just got to be vocal and I’ve been for sure. And I know that Coach CJ, he’s been stressing that a lot. So as long as I can be the loudest voice in the gym, especially not just Tidjane, for all the rookies and all the other guards, it’s going to help our whole team.”
Which in turn, could lead to more nights like this.
“It was really cool,” McNeeley said. “The whole bench was talking, we had the vets on the sideline talking. So, it was really cool. I really love the culture in Charlotte.”