Kon Knueppel's Hamstring Sidelines His 273 Threes for Hornets Preseason

Photo: NBA.com. Official Kon Knueppel headshot, Charlotte Hornets.

The Charlotte Hornets ruled Kon Knueppel out of the entire preseason Friday after he injured his left hamstring during offseason on-court work.

Knueppel made 273 threes last season, the first rookie ever to lead the NBA in that category, and the team will reevaluate him during the first week of the regular season with the opener at Brooklyn on Oct. 21 still unmarked on his status.

That is not a bruise you shrug through media day. Charles Lee's staff opens camp Tuesday in Charleston without the wing who stretched every defense Charlotte faced for 81 games. Knueppel averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 31.5 minutes on .475/.425/.863 splits. He was runner-up for Rookie of the Year to Cooper Flagg, a four-time Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month, and the No. 4 pick in 2025. The 273 threes also blew past Keegan Murray's prior rookie record of 206. When a team builds its spacing around that volume, camp without him is not a light practice plan. It is a different offense on the floor.

Grant Williams went down the same way on the other hamstring. The Hornets announced both injuries together: Knueppel left, Williams right, both out for the full preseason, both due for reevaluation in week one of the season. Williams played 36 games last year after a long ACL recovery and averaged 7.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 19.8 minutes. Two rotation wings gone before the first whistle leaves the depth chart talking. Hoops Rumors listed Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale, Sion James, Tidjane Salaün, and Liam McNeeley among the names who can absorb minutes. McNeeley is Knueppel's draft classmate. Allen arrived in the summer. None of them made 273 threes last year. The minutes can be filled. The shot profile is harder to replace.

The larger context is the post-Ball rebuild. ESPN noted Charlotte wants to lean harder on Knueppel after trading LaMelo Ball to Minnesota over the summer. That trade shipped the franchise create button north and left the Hornets building around young wings and a different pace. Knueppel was the clearest piece of that next step: a starter who spaced the floor at a historic rate and defended enough to stay on the floor for 31-plus minutes. Camp without him means the first two weeks of tape are about who can hold that spacing job when the real games tip. It also means Brandon Miller's May shoulder surgery stays on the watch list. Local coverage still had no clearance update heading into Charleston, so Charlotte may open camp without both of its young wing pillars available for five-on-five.

Hamstrings are not season sentences by default. The team's own language is a full preseason sit and a first-week reevaluation, not a multi-month shutdown. AP framed the regular-season opener as possibly in doubt. Stein reported the same window. The calendar still points at Oct. 21 at Barclays Center.

What camp cannot do is put Knueppel through the late-clock closeouts that turn last year's 3.4 threes per night into October readiness. He needs those reps against live bodies, not a stationary shootaround. Every other Hornets wing gets that work now. Allen can hold a starter's minutes on the wing. O'Neale can switch and knock down open looks. McNeeley gets a longer look than a healthy Knueppel would have allowed him in Charleston. The film that matters when the reevaluation lands is whether Charlotte already found a starting five that can play without him for a week, or whether the offense looked unfinished every time the ball swung to the corner he usually occupied.

Preseason is where Lee decides who starts next to Miller when Miller is cleared, who closes, and who eats the second unit. Without Knueppel on the floor this preseason, those answers get written with a different cast. That is the cost of a left hamstring in late September: not a declared multi-month absence, but a camp that cannot install the spacing identity Charlotte sold after the Ball trade.

Sources

• ESPN, Ohm Youngmisuk. Sep 25, 2026. Left hamstring; out at least entire preseason; Williams right hamstring; both reevaluated during first week of regular season; opener Oct 21 at Brooklyn; 273 threes first rookie to lead league; 18.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 42.5% from three; Hornets leaning more on Knueppel after trading LaMelo Ball to Minnesota.
• Associated Press via Sportsnet. Sep 25, 2026. Miss entire preseason; possibly regular-season opener; reevaluated first week; No. 4 pick 2025; 18.5/5.3/3.4 in 81 games; ROY runner-up; first-team All-Rookie; four-time East Rookie of the Month; 273 threes past Murray's 206 rookie record; Williams also out.
• Associated Press via Yahoo Sports. Sep 26, 2026. Same AP wire; opener Oct 21 vs Brooklyn.
• Marc Stein on X. Sep 25, 2026. Hornets: Knueppel left hamstring, Williams right hamstring during offseason on-court activity; miss preseason; reevaluated first week of regular season.
• Hoops Rumors. Sep 25, 2026. 81 games, 31.5 MPG, .475/.425/.863; 273 threes / 3.4 per game; first rookie to lead NBA in total threes; Williams 7.0/3.9/1.6 in 36 games, 19.8 MPG after ACL return; depth names Allen, O'Neale, James, Salaün, McNeeley; opener status in doubt.
• WBTV. Sep 25, 2026. Camp starts Tue Sep 29 in Charleston, SC; Miller May shoulder surgery still without clearance update.
• SI Hornets. Sep 25, 2026. Official Hornets release quoted; Allen trade context; McNeeley draft classmate; Knueppel missed one game to injury as a rookie.
• Charlotte Hornets on X. Sep 25, 2026, 3:01 PM CT. Official: Knueppel left hamstring, Williams right hamstring during offseason on-court activity; both miss preseason; reevaluated during first week of regular season.
• Photo: NBA.com official Kon Knueppel headshot, player ID 1642851.