2025 NBA Draft: Kon Knueppel Scouting Report
Evaluating the Duke sharpshooter ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft.
DRAFT EVALUATION: Lottery pick
NBA ROLE: Three-point specialist with secondary playmaking
REMINDS ME OF: Corey Kispert, Cam Johnson as a guard, JJ Redick on a narrow shot diet
RAW STATS: 14.4 PTS, 4 REB (1o/3d), 2.7 AST to 1.4 TOV, 1 STL, 0.2 BLK, 2.1 PF in 30.5 MINS over 39 GAMES
ADVANCED STATS: 9.5 BPM, 20.9 USG%, 64.2 TS%, 4.3 OREB%, 10.3 DREB%, 15.7 AST%, 12.9 TOV%, 2.0 A/TO, 2.0 STL%, 0.6 BLK%
Background:
Birthday: Aug. 3, 2005
Height: 6-foot-7
Weight: 217 pounds
Huge basketball family. Mother is Chari Nordgaard Knueppel, the all-time leading scorer at Wisconsin-Green Bay (she also captained her high school volleyball team. Father is named Kon Knueppel (Duke prospect is Kon II), who used to be the all-time leading scorer at Wisconsin Lutheran College and is a Hall of Fame inductee there. Parents now also run Closed Gyms basketball program. Uncle is Jeff Nordgaard, who played in 13 games for the Milwaukee Bucks and carved out a long career in Europe.
Has four younger brothers who all play basketball: Kidman (c/o 2030), Kash (c/o 2029), Kinston (c/o 2028), and Kager (c/o 2027).
Extensive piece on his extended family via The Marshall Independent’s Oscar Hansen: “The Nordgaard extended family has seen success in everything from basketball and volleyball to swimming and archery. The family has been putting together feats of athletic excellence from Dawson to Wisconsin for four generations of athletes now.”
Averaged 25.9 PTS, 8.6 REB, and 5.3 AST as a high school senior at Wisconsin Lutheran on 59.4/39.5/84.9 splits. Was named Wisconsin's Mr. Basketball, Wisconsin AP Player of the Year, Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year…
Takeaway:
Kon Knueppel is a great shooter and a tidy decision maker who will have a long NBA career. In a high-end outcome, he could be the fourth or fifth starter on a playoff team. More realistically, he profiles as a valuable role player for a contender, while a lower-end scenario still has him as a useful bench piece.
Knueppel will knock down his catch-and-shoot threes for as long as he plays basketball, so I’m not worried at all about that. He can also attack a closeout to pass and score. Instead, I’m wondering about the difficulty of his shot diet. At Duke, he gets a lot of relatively clean and easy stationary looks. That wasn’t necessarily the case at the high school level, but the NBA is a completely different beast. Can Kon adapt to a tougher and larger volume of shots coming off screens, movement, hand-offs, etc? Is he primarily a spot-up shooter who can put the ball on the floor, or does he have more self-creation juice than what’s been displayed at Duke?
I’m also wondering about Knueppel’s volume when it comes to his passing. He’s played as Duke’s point guard for stretches, but I’m skeptical that he’ll be asked to do this in the NBA. He lacks the first step, wiggle and space creation skills needed despite having good vision and a safe enough handle. Duke has him running pick-and-rolls and such, but I feel like Kon is more of a second side guy in the NBA who will handle the ball largely to relieve his team’s primary initiators.
Contextually, I think Knueppel benefits on both ends from playing for a very strong Duke team. He doesn’t have to force the issue on offense at all, even though I’d like to see him take more risks at times. On defense, Knueppel competes and doesn’t rack up errors, but I think he’ll generally lack footspeed at the next level and he’s a little bit of a positional question on this end. Right now, he’s very well covered.
Offense:
Awesome shooter who already looks like a catch-and-shoot specialist with great numbers from three and the free throw line. Has a quick, compact shot that looks very easy and repeatable.
Shooting 39.5 3P% (66/167). That’s on 5.6 threes per game, 11.4 threes per 100 possessions. 57.6% of total shots are threes.
Plays off Cooper Flagg’s gravity a lot of the time at Duke, so we already know how he looks next to a star player. Shooting 40.1 3P% (59/147) on catch-and-shoot threes.
Proven high-level shooter during every step of his basketball career so far, be it Duke, EYBL, high school…
You can easily picture him playing out of pick-and-rolls being used by guards or short roll passes made by bigs. Keen sense of spacing (shifts over, lifts, doesn’t overlap…).
I have no doubt that he’s an excellent stationary shooter, but it’s worth noting that he isn’t necessarily making super tough catch-and-shoot threes, quick-movement shots, etc. Duke is setting him up with a relatively easy shot diet from three.
Draws closeouts and knows how to attack them as a scorer and passer within 2-3 dribbles. Reliable and quick decision-maker who understands his leverage from the perimeter. 1.274 PPP out of Spot-Ups1 with a 66.9 TS% (46/96).
Likes to get to two feet. Can finish through contact. Ground-bound athlete, but stocky and deceivingly big almost.
Also has a fallaway two that he can get to. Can throw in feints and bumps to create space, since he usually won’t create the separation off the dribble.
As a passer, can get a paint touch and make the right kick-out read. Gets hockey assists or makes the first pass that forces the defense to enter rotation.
Lack of speed, lift, and flexibility is his biggest limitation. Most important, in my evaluation, for when he has to attack closeouts (beating defenders to his spot, and then finishing) or create out of ballscreens (turning the corner).
Struggles to beat defenders off the bounce, and can have difficulty finishing in traffic.
57.5 FG% (50/87) at the rim this season. 2 dunks in 30 games.
54.7 FG% (34/62) in the half-court vs. 72.2 FG% (13/18) in transition.
Limited bag as a finisher when he’s met by length. Important for when he attacks closeouts, curls, comes off down screens on an empty side, etc.
Underrated pick-and-roll playmaker. 2.1 A/TO is great. 2.5 AST is probably underselling what he’s done this season.
Has developed great chemistry with Khaman Maluach, especially in empty side pick-and-rolls. Conceals his intentions out of screens, then accurate and creative with his floated lob passes right into the dunk window in tight spaces.
I think he’s Duke’s point guard more than Tyrese Proctor or Caleb Foster, and just about the same as Sion James. He’s played 73.4% of Duke’s minutes (only Cooper Flagg has played more).
I don’t think he’s a primary initiator in the NBA - but I’m very comfortable with him as a connector or running a second side pick-and-roll. Can take the load off a team’s alpha.
Solid connector. Makes fast decisions in transition. Hits the extra pass without hesitating. Keeps the offense ticking and rarely makes ill-advised choices.
Turnovers are linked to athletic limitations. Handle is generally safe, but also not very creative. Lacks shake. Struggles to beat defenders off the bounce.
Has shown basically no pull-up shooting/self-creation in college. 3/12 on off-dribble threes, with 90.9%2 of his total threes being assisted. 13/26 on off-dribble twos is better, but very small volume in 30 games. Important limitation to keep in mind.
Can he maybe self-create as a mismatch in the post? Was more of a go-to at the high school level. Some flashes at Duke, although not his role. Effective using his body and touch after getting to two feet.
Defense:
Footspeed is the main question, and production is lacking. Draft stock is because of shooting, passing, and positional size but he’ll have to compete on defense to make the most of his offensive tools. Has 33 stocks in 30 games.
0.2 BLK and 0.9 STL per game … 0.6 BLK%, 1.9 STL%
Duke doesn’t need too much from him on defense. Team defense is excellent, plus insulated by Cooper Flagg all over the floor and protected by Khaman Maluach at the rim.
Switches onto forwards and bigs. Duke generally switches across the board this year. Means Knueppel is paired up against guys who are considerably bigger. Makes multiple efforts fronting, disrupting, boxing out, etc. down low.
Strength is his biggest athletic advantage. Holds up against switches. Otherwise, lack of speed, twitch, and pliability can be limiting.
What position does he defend in the NBA? Will give up the lane to guards, but needs to be a pretty good defender to be effective on wings. Then, also lacks length and will give up the athletic edge to a lot of 3s and 4s.
Needs to be ready for teams to target him. Sometimes won’t have a choice but to compete to stay on the floor defensively despite his scoring.
Makes an effort at the point of attack in college, in all fairness, but I doubt that carries over to the NBA.
Makes few mistakes, and doesn’t compound them. Won’t gamble or take unnecessary risks. Generally just tries to fulfill game plan.
Maybe doesn’t add much - but there’s also value in taking away as little as possible when you’re probably a target, to some extent, on defense.
Per Synergy
Per Bart Torvik
V thorough breakdown 💯