{"id":139756,"date":"2025-05-15T17:56:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T21:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=139756"},"modified":"2025-05-15T17:56:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T21:56:37","slug":"hawks-interview-kon-knueppel-at-nba-draft-combine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/15\/hawks-interview-kon-knueppel-at-nba-draft-combine\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawks Interview Kon Knueppel At NBA Draft Combine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2025 NBA Draft season is upon us after the lottery happened earlier this week. The Atlanta Hawks received the Sacramento Kings&#8217; 13th overall pick this summer from the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/huertke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Huerter<\/a> trade in the 2022 offseason. Atlanta moved quickly to interview prospects at the NBA Draft Combine, meeting with <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/kon-knueppel-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kon Knueppel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Duke\u2019s Kon Knueppel had six interviews today at the NBA Combine. <\/p>\n<p>Here are five of the six teams he shared:<br \/>&#8211; Bulls <br \/>&#8211; Hornets<br \/>&#8211; Nets<br \/>&#8211; Hawks<br \/>&#8211; Magic<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tmj4?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TMJ4<\/a> | <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NBACombine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NBACombine<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eidjt0fDlt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/eidjt0fDlt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ashley Washburn (@ashleyjwashburn) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ashleyjwashburn\/status\/1922717435930587155?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Hawks Interview Kon Knueppel At NBA Draft Combine<\/h2>\n<h3>The Hawks are Hoping Knueppel Falls to 13<\/h3>\n<p>Knueppel, who officially measured at 6-foot-5 inches barefoot, will almost certainly go in the lottery when the draft gets underway on June 25, joining Duke teammates <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/cooper-flagg-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cooper Flagg<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/khaman-maluach-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Khaman Maluach<\/a>. However, Knueppel might be off the board when Atlanta&#8217;s 13th pick arrives. Three top mock draft sources, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/45076130\/2025-nba-mock-draft-pick-projections-picks-post-lottery-cooper-flagg-dallas-mavericks\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ESPN<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/nba\/draft\/?view=default&amp;board=0&amp;filter=round%3Aall\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yahoo<\/a>, and <a  href=\"https:\/\/nbadraft.theringer.com\/mock-draft\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Ringer<\/a>, all place Knueppel in the top eight. In fact, the latter two have him going at pick five.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Duke\u2019s Kon Knueppel\u2019s official measurements from the NBA Draft Combine:<\/p>\n<p>6\u20195 barefoot, 219 lbs with a 6\u20196 \u00bc&quot; wingspan and 8\u20195 \u00bd&quot; standing reach <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Kg2wVJtOvz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Kg2wVJtOvz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DraftExpress\/status\/1922023356708147552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/13\/kon-knueppel-2025-nba-draft-desmond-bane\/\" target=\"_self\">former Duke forward<\/a> averaged 14.4 points per game and shot 40.6% from beyond the arc on 5.3 attempts per contest. When Flagg went down with a sprained ankle, <a  href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/duke-kon-knueppel-mvp-acc-7172e9cf5aff67a0d9757ecf6fe47426\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Knueppel stepped up<\/a> and captured the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament MVP. He averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game for the tournament. He is not just an average catch-and-shoot, &#8220;3 and D&#8221; role player. Knueppel, especially later in the 2025 college basketball season, showed he could handle the ball in the pick-and-roll and make solid reads in the halfcourt.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_139792\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-139792\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-139792\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25860499_168414264_lowres-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25860499_168414264_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25860499_168414264_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25860499_168414264_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25860499_168414264_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25860499_168414264_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25860499_168414264_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/USATSI_25860499_168414264_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-139792\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apr 5, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Kon Knueppel (7) grabs a rebound against Houston Cougars forward Joseph Tugler (11) during the second half in the semifinals of the men&#8217;s Final Four of the 2025 NCAA Tournament at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It often takes time for the game to slow down for young players and prospects. Knueppel already displays a great feel for the game in the halfcourt, a rarity for most secondary or even tertiary ball handlers leaping to the NBA.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NBA | DRAFT PREVIEW | Kon Kneuppel P&amp;R Scoring<\/p>\n<p>Kon has the ability to be a teams 2nd\/3rd primary ball handler if needed. He plays at his own pace as a BH. <\/p>\n<p>Strong frame and tends to play off 2 feet in the paint especially when he rejects ball screens. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WpVOIJLUmb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/WpVOIJLUmb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Coach Chuck Smith (@ChuckSmith414) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChuckSmith414\/status\/1923044384758526134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In many of the clips above, Knueppel displays patience driving and finishing in the paint. While he lacks explosive athleticism, he makes up for it with his strength, finishing, and touch inside. He is able to utilize pump fakes to his advantage. He converted 63% of his rim attempts in his one season at Duke.<\/p>\n<p>While Knueppel is not a standout defender, he is more than capable of holding his own on that end. His strength gives him the ability to bump offensive players off their spots. However, he needs to improve his lateral quickness to stay in front of the NBA&#8217;s quick, shifty guards in the future.<\/p>\n<h3>Knueppel Fits Well with the Hawks<\/h3>\n<p>Barrring any big trade, Atlanta has its 2025-26 starting lineup set with <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/y\/youngtr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trae Young<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/daniedy01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dyson Daniels<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/risacza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zaccharie Risacher<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/johnsja05.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Johnson<\/a>, and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/o\/okongon01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Onyeka Okongwu<\/a>. Knueppel would add much-needed scoring, shooting, and play creation off the bench in a sixth-man-type role. The Hawks have struggled to generate quality looks with Young off the floor for multiple seasons. Knueppel\u2019s ability to run the pick-and-roll could change that. Pairing him and Johnson in screen actions might prove deadly because defenders would have to cover the rookie&#8217;s three-point shot while stopping Johnson from diving to the rim. Knueppel would also find himself open a lot when defenses collapse to defend the Young-Johnson pick-and-roll.<\/p>\n<p>Two of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/09\/3-keys-hawks-playoffs-next-season\/\" target=\"_self\">Atlanta&#8217;s most important needs<\/a> for next season are shooting and secondary play creation in the halfcourt. Knueppel checks both of these boxes. If he happens to slide on draft night, look for the Hawks to take the former Duke standout.<\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: \u00a9 Bob Donnan-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2025 NBA Draft season is upon us after the lottery happened earlier this week. The Atlanta Hawks received the Sacramento Kings&#8217; 13th overall pick this summer from the Kevin Huerter trade in the 2022 offseason. Atlanta moved quickly to interview prospects at the NBA Draft Combine, meeting with Kon Knueppel. Duke\u2019s Kon Knueppel had [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5516,"featured_media":139791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1608,62,556,3],"tags":[49375,49839],"class_list":["post-139756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hawks","category-basketball","category-nba","category-nba-draft","category-news","tag-2025-nba-draft","tag-kon-knueppel"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5516"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139756"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139793,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139756\/revisions\/139793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}