Charlotte Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel has been the best rookie in the NBA this season. Does that sound like an exaggeration to you? It’s not. Yahoo Sports' NBA

The Charlotte Hornets are 4-9 and showing no evidence of being a playoff team now or in the immediate future, despite having a young core of players that, on paper, looks like a potential nucleus of a future contender.

The 2025 No. 1 pick, Cooper Flagg, got all the hype. But four weeks into the season, Kon Knueppel is putting up better stats and hitting bigger shots than his Duke teammate.

Against the Lakers, he recorded 19 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists, reaching an historic milestone for the former Duke star. Knueppel became the first player in NBA history to total 150-plus points and 30-plus three-pointers in the first 10 games of his career, according to NBA Stats.

Rookie’s career-high 32 points came in his hometown on night Charlotte’s star point guard returned after missing five games with ankle injury

Norman Powell scores 25 points as the Miami Heat defeat the Charlotte Hornets 126-108 in an NBA Cup game on Friday night

This season, Charlotte sits 14th in offensive rating. In the last four games without Ball, they have slid to 19th. The Hornets are used to missing Ball, and the offensive rating has struggled over the years without his shot creation for himself and for his teammates.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/hornets/onsi as Former NBA Champion Pat Connaughton has found himself a role in Charlotte. "When we made the trade for Pat, I talked to him and I said, 'You're probably not making the team."