HoopsHype published its ranking of the 27 best shooting guards in the NBA for 2026-27 on Friday. Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel came in seventh, ahead of every other player entering a second season.
Knueppel shot 42.5% from three as a rookie on nearly eight attempts per game. No rookie in league history has shot better on that volume. Keegan Murray is next at 41.1% among first-year players with at least six attempts per game. Egor Dёmin is third at 38.5%.
Charlotte's rookie ranked in the NBA's 87th percentile as a spot-up shooter, ahead of Payton Pritchard, Jalen Brunson, and Desmond Bane. On pull-ups, he posted a 56.6 effective field-goal percentage. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was at 56.2%.
Knueppel finished second in Rookie of the Year voting to Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks, his former Duke teammate. He made the All-Rookie First Team alongside Flagg, Cedric Coward, VJ Edgecombe, and Dylan Harper.
He is scheduled to make $10,516,560 in 2026-27, the 171st-highest NBA salary.
Anthony Edwards finished first, Donovan Mitchell second, Devin Booker third, Amen Thompson fourth, and Austin Reaves fifth. Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs took sixth, one spot ahead of Knueppel. Edgecombe was eighth. Shaedon Sharpe, Aaron Wiggins, and Brandin Podziemski missed the cut.
Charlotte traded LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid. Miles Bridges went to the Phoenix Suns for Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale. Coby White re-signed for three years and $74 million. Dorian Finney-Smith came over from the Houston Rockets, and Charlotte acquired Dennis Schröder from the Cleveland Cavaliers in a five-team deal completed Aug. 20.
The Hornets spent the summer looking for a distributor to run the bench offense, an NBA scout told Hornets Roundtable.
The scout said Schröder is "somebody that fits the mold of what they're looking for."
Hornets president of basketball operations and general manager Jeff Peterson told Marc J. Spears of Andscape he was comfortable trading Ball because of Brandon Miller and Knueppel.
Miller is the highest-rated Charlotte player in NBA 2K27 at 85 overall. He averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 65 games last season.
Hornets coach Charles Lee is expected to start White, Miller, Knueppel, Reid, and Moussa Diabaté. Schröder, Allen, O'Neale, Grant Williams, Hannes Steinbach, and Ryan Kalkbrenner are among the reserves.
Charlotte went 44-38 and has missed the playoffs in each of the past 10 seasons, the longest active drought in the league. The Hornets were 4-14 through late November. They won nine straight between January and February, the longest streak of the franchise's current incarnation.
The Hornets open the regular season on Oct. 21 against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. The home opener is against the Atlanta Hawks.
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