NBA Rookie Rankings: Kon Knueppel stays on Cooper Flagg’s heels in ROY race

We’ve reached the NBA All-Star break, which will allow most players some needed rest before the final two months of the regular season. But for some rookies, they’ll have the honor of competing in the Rising Stars competition during All-Star Weekend. All of the suspected names are on the rosters. No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, however, will miss the showcase due to injury. Kon Knueppel and VJ Edgecombe, amongst other top players in the 2025 class will still be there. They’ve all been drafted by a trio of coaches — Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady — to three teams. A fourth team of G League players will compete in the tournament on Friday night in L.A.

There should be some exciting matchups with this crop of players. But before we get to the All-Star break, let’s take a look at where the rookies stand at this point in the season.

5. Cedric Coward, Grizzlies

It’s been a rough few games for Coward, who in his last five games is averaging just eight points. He missed a game against the Trail Blazers with a shoulder issue, and played just 11 minutes against the Warriors after colliding with teammate GG Jackson, which forced him to remain out. But while his scoring is floundering as of late, his ability to impact the game in other ways is why he’s still so high on this list.

Take the five-point outing he had against the Kings. He only shot the ball six times, but he also had seven rebounds and six assists, and finished the game with a plus-minus of +11. Most of those assists in that Sacramento game were a product of Coward just making the right read. He’s making quick-hit touch passes to guys cutting to the rim. Or leading the break in transition and getting it to the right guy to put up a shot. That’s an important skill to already have down as a rookie. 

Coward’s not forcing up his shot over three defenders, he’s finding the open guy on the perimeter and generating a great look for his teammates. It’s an encouraging sign for the Grizzlies that even when Coward isn’t putting up points, he’s able to still be impactful in other ways.

Queen’s scoring has declined since December when he was putting up 15 a night, but that was to be expected as the Pelicans got healthier. However, it’s pretty apparent that Queen is a foundational piece for the future, so it seems like a disservice for him to be getting fewer touches — especially when the Pelicans have no intention on competing this season with a 15-41 record.

Still, though, Queen is showing flashes of being an offensive hub for New Orleans. Someone who can create offense and attract defensive pressure and setup his teammates for easy looks. Ideally, the Pelicans would probably love it if Queen and Zion Williamson could be an elite offensive duo playing off each other long term, but in reality, that might not be something New Orleans can do.

Williamson is best when he has the ball in his hands and he’s able to get downhill and make decisions in space. That can’t happen as much when Queen is on the floor, because the former Maryland product is entirely an on-ball threat. When that tandem shares the floor together this season, the Pelicans have a net rating of -9.1 The offense stalls at a 108.0 rating, which is surprisingly worse than the team’s season average of 112.4. The defense is even worse when Queen and Williamson are on the floor together, relinquishing 117.1 points which is only slightly better than the team’s average of 118.0.

This appears to be heading in a direction where the Pelicans have to make a decision on the long-term fit of Queen and Williamson next to each other. Because as of right now, it seems like Williamson’s presence is stifling Queen’s development.

There was a play in an early January matchup against the Knicks that perfectly encapsulated what Edgecombe brings to the Sixers. On defense, he closes out late to Mikal Bridges setting up for a corner 3-pointer, and somehow blocks the shot. The Sixers corralled the ball, and Edgecombe was immediately signaling to give him the ball in transition and he cuts to the middle, uses his speed and athleticism to get by Tyler Kolek with no issue and sails to the rim for a dunk.

Let’s just talk about the first half of that play. I’m not even sure how Edgecombe got out to Bridges that quickly, let alone alter the shot for it to sail behind the backboard. And then to immediately still be connected to the possession and get a bucket on the other end? Mind-blowing for a rookie. When Edgecombe makes plays like that, you can see the extra boost of energy it gives the Sixers. He’s struggled to score efficiently since early January, but he’s also averaging five rebounds and nearly five assists a game. He hasn’t racked up points at the rate he was doing early in the season, but I don’t think anyone expected for that to keep up as the Sixers got healthier.

But the reason Edgecombe remains in Philadelphia’s starting lineup and sits so high in this ranking, is because he still has those handful of plays each game that make you shake your head in disbelief. In an embarrassing blowout loss to the Knicks on Wednesday, Edgecombe hit a couple filthy turnaround midrange jumpers that really stood out in what was an otherwise demoralizing loss for the Sixers.

2. Kon Knueppel, Hornets

With each game Knueppel plays, he’s constantly making history. He’s the first rookie this season to each 1,000 points. In doing so, he became the fourth-fastest player to reach that milestone in NBA history. Knueppel did it in 53 games, putting him behind Zion Williamson (44 games), Victor Wembanyama (49 games) and Paolo Banchero (51 games).

He’s teetering on a 50/40/90 season, and if he does, he’ll become the first rookie ever to accomplish that feat. Knueppel’s the best rookie shooting prospect we’ve seen since Stephen Curry, but even the greatest shooter of all time wasn’t making 3s on this volume. The brilliance of Knueppel is how he’s able to shake free from a defender to get his shot off. He’s an off-ball movement savant, setting screens to cause traffic jams for multiple defenders, only to release out to the 3-point line and pull up from deep.

Even if the screen isn’t primarily for him, he’s still using it to cause just an ounce of confusion to the defense to create space.

Or he’ll fake like he’s coming up for a dribble hand off, only to juke his defender and slide back over to get off a corner 3-pointer.

It’s undeniable that Knueppel is the best shooter in this class, and he’s surely benefiting from two great offensive players in LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, who draw tons of defensive attention which allows for Knueppel to get open more often than not. But Knueppel’s more than just an elite shooter, he’s shown flashes of being able to score off the bounce, which will be an important skill for him to continue developing. However, in this loaded offense, there isn’t a ton of room for him to explore the other aspects of his game as much. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially when the Hornets have been on a roll lately.

In the last 10 games, Flagg has been averaging 25.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He’s shooting nearly 50% during that stretch, and unfortunately the Mavericks have gone 2-8 during that span. Or perhaps not unfortunately, as the Mavericks’ trade deadline deal to send Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards was as clear of an indication as ever that this team is rebuilding around Flagg. The day-to-day results don’t matter as much for the Mavericks now, but what does is Flagg’s development. He continues to live up to all the hype.

His efficiency has been a standout feature of his offensive game, where he’s regularly shooting over 50% from the floor most nights. Flagg’s already proven to be a mid-range master, making 49% of his shots from between 4-14 feet from the basket. That ranks in the 80th percentile in the league, and it’s evident that the mid-range shot is going to be Flagg’s bread and butter over. His 3-point shot is his weakest offensive skill, but his month-to-month splits show some improvement. He’s already shooting 46.2% from deep in February (only four games), which is an encouraging sign that he’s capable of making those shots.

But the No. 1 overall pick has played with such poise, and gets even better in clutch situations. His defense is also lightyears ahead of where most rookies are, which was one of the major selling points of him entering the league. He’s leading this Rookie of the Year race (-750 odds at FanDuel) over his former Duke teammate in Knueppel because of how much responsibility placed on his shoulders with the Mavericks. Knueppel is benefiting from the likes of LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, and while he’s also freeing himself up to get the ball, Knueppel isn’t being asked to carry the offense.

That’s what’s asked of Flagg, who has been at the center of Dallas’ offense all season, even when Davis was healthy and on this team. It’s not just that he’s being tasked with more, he’s performing at a high level while doing so. He’s been efficient, and on most nights is the reason Dallas finds itself in so many clutch situations with his play on both sides of the floor.

The downer here, is that Flagg may miss some time, as the Mavericks announced Wednesday night that he suffered a left midfoot sprain. The injury occurred during Dallas’ Tuesday night loss to the Suns earlier this week, though it didn’t stop Flagg from playing 36 minutes in that game. He’ll miss All-Star weekend, so we’ll see if he has to miss more time after the league’s annual week break. 

If Flagg is sidelined for more than just a few games, that leaves the door open for Knueppel to perhaps take the lead in this race. Because while Flagg is leading the way, the gap between him and Knueppel is not too wide.