Kon Knueppel and Grant Williams will miss the entire Hornets preseason with hamstring injuries, and Charlotte will not reevaluate either player until the first week of the regular season.
Knueppel injured his left hamstring, while Williams injured his right. Both players are scheduled for reevaluation during the first week of the regular season, leaving their availability for the October 21 opener against Brooklyn uncertain.
That schedule puts both players’ availability for opening night in doubt. Charlotte has announced the next assessment rather than a return date, with its preseason plans now proceeding without a starting wing and an experienced rotation forward.
Knueppel is coming off a rookie season in which he became the first NBA rookie to lead the league in total three-pointers made. He hit 273, surpassing the previous rookie record of 206 set by Keegan Murray.
The fourth pick in the 2025 draft averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 81 games. He earned first-team All-Rookie honors, won four Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month awards and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Cooper Flagg.
Knueppel shot 47.5 percent from the field, 42.5 percent from three-point range and 86.3 percent at the foul line, according to Hoops Rumors. He averaged 31.5 minutes per game, making his absence a significant change to the group coach Charles Lee used last season.
Williams faces another interruption after returning in January from the major knee injury that had sidelined him for approximately 14 months. That earlier injury involved his ACL, meniscus and other ligaments; the current announcement concerns his hamstring.
The 27-year-old forward averaged seven points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 36 games last season. He played 19.8 minutes per game and shot 38.8 percent from beyond the arc after working his way back into the rotation.
Charlotte’s other wing and forward options include Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, Sion James, Tidjane Salaün and Liam McNeeley. Lee will use the preseason to prepare without Knueppel and Williams, whose next scheduled assessments come after the exhibition schedule has ended.
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This page is an original Sporting Page summary. The reporting remains with AP: team announcement and season opener.
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