The Charlotte Hornets will begin the season without Kon Knueppel after the young guard suffered a hamstring injury during offseason on-court work.
Knueppel is expected to miss the opening portion of the regular season, with Charlotte planning to reevaluate him during the first week of the campaign. His recovery timeline will become clearer following that examination.
The setback comes after an impressive rookie year in which Knueppel appeared in 81 games. He averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists while shooting 47.5% from the field and 42.5% from three-point range.
Knueppel finished second in Rookie of the Year voting and was selected to the All-Rookie First Team. He also collected four Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month awards during his debut season.
His outside shooting was particularly notable. Knueppel connected on 273 three-pointers, becoming the first rookie in NBA history to lead the league in total three-pointers made during a season.
Charlotte is also dealing with another hamstring injury, as Grant Williams suffered an issue with his right hamstring. Williams will miss the entire preseason while recovering.
Williams had previously spent 13 months sidelined because of a torn ACL and meniscus before returning to action on Jan. 10. Through three seasons with the Hornets, he has averaged 10.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists across 81 games.
