The Cooper Flagg hype train rolls on but with a twist this time: according to Clutchpoints, he hasn’t been the best player in practice.
Quoting ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, that honor goes to fellow freshman Kon Knueppel – and he says it wasn’t even particularly close.
Givony says this about Knueppel, who is the first of five brothers, all with names that start with K:
“Knueppel already looks like he might be one of the best shooters in the ACC from Day 1. His NBA intrigue is going to revolve around his ability to spot up and shoot pull-up 3s like he did all afternoon with balance, footwork and confidence.”
“He’s also a capable distributor, lifting up Maluach for a lob finish out of pick-and-roll in one instance, and whipping the ball all over with touch and bounce passes to cutters and kickouts after crashing the offensive glass with physicality. Defensively, he’s competitive and strong, fighting over screens and getting back into plays when beat. It was difficult to nitpick with how complete and serious-minded a player he appears to be.”
He even goes so far as to to say that Knueppel could be a Top Ten pick next summer in the NBA Draft.
Depending on how things go with Khaman Maluach, that could give Duke 30 percent of the Top Ten of the 2025 draft, which would be pretty amazing.
