Who is Kon Knueppel? Duke’s teammate for Cooper Flagg could join the NBA draft party party

Duke He has won four in a row to advance to 24-3 in the season. He AP TOP 25 He has acquired a strong flavor from the SEC this season, leaving the Blue Devils as the only ACO team in the Top 10, currently at number 3, behind Auburn and Florida.

Cooper Flagg generates naturally Most headlines Around this Duke team. He is the best first -year student since, what, Zion Williamson? It is also immensely fun to see, with the type of total skills set that makes it a higher perspective in a 2025 loaded 2025 NBA Draft class.

While Flagg orders the center of attention and the gaze of millions of university basketball fans, he is not the only Blue Devils player who is worth talking in terms of the NBA. Khaman Maluach, Duke’s careless 7 feet 2, is a Possible selection of the five best in own right. Then is Kon Knueppel, who has silently built a strong lottery box next to Flagg in the wing.

A former high school from Wisconsin outstanding with NBA lineageKnueppel does not have the sexiest statistics line. It is averaging 13.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in .452/.383/.896 are divided from this writing, collecting 29.5 minutes per game. That said, its impact feels deeply almost every night, and its skills set will surely generate many fans in the NBA front offices.

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Kon Knueppel is Duke’s hidden potential lottery team in the 2025 NBA draft

Knueppel was the tenth general selection for San Antonio in the last NBA Simulated Draft. He is ours Specific classified prospect also. It is a bit difficult to stop the exact draft range of Knueppel so early in the process, but a lottery selection, even a top 10 selection, is very in the cards. There are so many positive features that NBA explorers will assess that it is difficult to get too much in limited athletics.

Knueppel concerns are right on the surface. It is a solidly built wing with 6 feet 7 and 217 pounds, but lacks the speed and explosion of its NBA standard elite perspectives. He will lose certain defensive confrontations in the perimeter and is a ending mainly below the edge, which could lead to efficiency challenges once faced with NBA shooting blockers.

On the other hand, we have seen many “average” athletes prosper at the next level due to the correct combination of skill and IQ, which Knueppel has in swords. It also competes extremely hard, which has led to a positive impact on defense, even if you are not going to handle the most difficult tasks every night or accumulate stocks (0.9 robberies, 0.1 blocks this season).

Knueppel is one of The best draft shootersperiod. He went through a slight cold spell at the beginning of the campaign, but even its current percentage, which rests well above the NBA average, feels misleading. He has the NBA range in his sweater and feels comfortable shooting from different configurations, whether it is flying around a screen or detecting from a stationary position. It is averaging a healthy 7.7 attempts for 40 minutes from the depths, a number that could even improve at the next level, where the schemes tend to bow more aggressively in 3s than university crimes.

However, it is more than a shooter. Knueppel will not create much space as a ball handler or ends with vertical pop on the edge, but feels comfortable by placing the rock in the wood to attack a closure and have downhill. Duke also uses it in many Pick-And-Roll actions, where his passenger vision is on full exhibition. The holes in the Knueppel game are few and distant. He will space the floor, provide a secondary play and, in general, process the floor to a high level, all while providing an appreciable competitive fire. There is much to like him, especially at age 19.

Too often, people inspire athletics and physical tools when projected to the rise of stars, but ignores the benefits of high sensation. Knueppel plays the game in the right way and includes the limits of his skills set, in addition to how to exploit the advantages. It is strong enough to intimidate the smallest guards in the post, for example, and it is good to find angles on the edge, even without elite.

Do not be surprised if Knueppel hides a long and successful career in the NBA.