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The careers of Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel will be inexorably linked throughout their time in the NBA. That’s bound to happen when you have two teammates who are close friends, college roommates, Top 5 picks, and both on the precipice of revolutionizing the NBA. Perception of these two players couldn’t have been more different when they were selected in the 2026 NBA Draft, but as we sit here in March it’s shaping up to be one of the the tightest NBA Rookie of the Year races in history.
Anointed for brilliance from the jump, Flagg was the most highly-touted U.S.-born prospect since LeBron James. A can’t-miss, generational talent, poised to transform a franchise, and there’s very little argument that he hasn’t lived up to the billing. The Mavericks are a mediocre team, still reeling from their disastrous Luka Doncic trade —but Flagg has been a bright spot. Dallas’ goal this season isn’t the playoffs, but rather having coach Jason Kidd throw so much usage at Flagg to get him the reps to be an even more complete player in the future.
Flagg would run away with the Rookie of the Year award without much resistance if this were any normal season, but the call is coming from inside the house. Kon Knueppel has been the NBA’s most surprising player, on the league’s most surprising team, changing the face of the Charlotte Hornets franchise in a way nobody expected. Instead of being the sidekick, a glue guy, or a plug-and-play shooter who would be additive, but not transformative, Knueppel has instead become a tone setter and culture changer for a Hornets team surging in the standings to find themselves in a play-in sport, with aspirations they could finish even higher and land a legitimate playoff series.
Kon Knueppel should be the NBA’s rookie of the year by every tangible metric. The only thing standing in his way is the weight of expectation placed on Flagg, and an unwavering belief that Flagg has to win the award as a building block of his eventual legacy. The reality is that while Flagg has been great, Kon has been better.
The raw numbers
If we remove all context from both players’ performances, it would be easy for a casual box score watcher to assume that Flagg has been ahead of Knueppel this season.
Cooper Flagg: 20.4 pts, 6.6 reb, 4.1 ast
Kon Knueppel: 19.3 pts, 5.5 reb, 3.5 ast
Its close, but Flagg’s numbers are higher, there’s no arguing that. There is a chance that Knueppel sees his overall totals rise further, but an even greater chance that Flagg pulls ahead even more — unless he’s sidelined due to injury, which is a real concern. The difference between these two players really shines when we get inside these basic numbers to contextualize each player’s performance.
What advanced stats say
It’s here that Knueppel blows Flagg out of the water, and they’re barely comparable as a result. Knueppel is shooting better in every area, with a 48.9 FG%, 44.0 3P%, and 87.8 FT% to Flagg’s 48.2/30.2/80.4 — but even more pronounced are the advanced metrics.
When it comes to true shooting percentage (TS%), which weighs threes, twos, and three throws to give an overall picture of shooting efficiency, there’s nobody like Kon Knueppel in the NBA this season. He is 14th in the NBA in TS% at 65.1. Cooper Flagg, for comparison, sits at 140th in the league at 51.5%.
In addition, Knueppel leads the NBA in 3P% among the 23 players who have attempted over 400 shots from beyond the arc this season. Only two other players in the league have shot over 40% on 400+ attempts: Collin Gillespie of the Suns (42.3%) and Tim Hardaway Jr. of the Pistons (40.3%). To put this in context Stephen Curry, the greatest three-point shooter in NBA history, has only shot above 44% from three on over 400 attempts four times in his career — Knueppel is doing it as a rookie.
The three-point shooting is a mammoth part of Knueppel’s resume, because he broke the single-season record for threes made by a rookie and did in 59 games. At this point it’s his record to stretch until the end. The trap is to assume that the shooting is all there is to Knueppel’s game, which is painfully far from the truth. Not only is he putting up elite numbers, but he’s dramatically helping the Hornets win games.
Knueppel ranks 21st in the NBA in win share with a +6.1, having a profound impact that’s almost equal to Victor Wembanyama with the Spurs (+6.2), and above Anthony Edwards (+5.8). While Flagg is still having an impactful year, his +3.2 win share ranks 111th.
You can go down the list of advanced metrics and Knueppel is lapping Flagg this season. Flagg is getting far more touches per game as the Mavericks make him the focal point of their entire offense, but Knueppel is having much more of an impact on the game with the opportunities he’s given.
| Player | TS% | WS | OFF +/- | DEF +/- | EPM | Efficiency Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooper Flagg | 56% | 3.2 | 0.1 | -0.5 | -0.4 | 198 |
| Kon Knueppel | 65.20% | 6.1 | 3.1 | 0 | 3 | 30 |
What’s the argument against Knueppel?
The core argument on putting Flagg as Rookie of the Year over Knueppel circles back to the expectations entering this season. The Mavericks are routing their entire offense through Flagg, and while that’s giving him a lot of experience being “the guy” in the NBA, it’s also hurting his efficiency. Meanwhile, Knueppel is a piece is a larger puzzle in Charlotte. On any given night he’s the second or third scoring option behind Brandon Miller, and sometimes LaMelo Ball. It’s certainly true that the biggest difference between Hornets wins and losses is having Knueppel as that ancillary offensive option, but he’s still not being asked to carry the load.
That has an impact on perception, which is impossible to ignore. It’s part of the eye test when it comes to watching both players on the court without digging into the stats. Every advanced metric might prove that Knueppel has been the better player, but turn on a game and Flagg looks like the centerpiece of a team, while Kon appears to be a piece in the puzzle.
The race for the NBA rookie of the year is coming down to the wire. A midfoot injury has sidelined Flagg and could be the difference maker in the race, but when the dust settles the arguments for rookie of the year are tantamount to bragging rights for fans, and little more. The holistic view is that both former Duke teammates could be taking over the NBA in different ways very, very soon — one as the all-encompassing, do-everything superstar, while the other is laying the groundwork for a potential run at Steph Curry’s three-point record. We can appreciate the individual brilliance of both, and just be happy we get to see two young stard shine, without trying to pit them against each other or diminish either’s accomplishments.