Last year, Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel were sharing a suite as college teammates at Duke. This year, they’re competing against each other in one of the best NBA Rookie of the Year award races in recent memory.
The former roommates are both in the midst of standout first professional seasons. Flagg has already set the NBA scoring record for a teenager twice — 42 points the first time against the Utah Jazz in December and then 49 points against Knueppel and the Charlotte Hornets six weeks later — and leads the Dallas Mavericks in points, rebounds and assists. Meanwhile, Knueppel has been the most productive 3-point shooter in the league while averaging 19 points per game for the resurgent Charlotte Hornets.
Flagg, 19, is one of the most versatile rookies to enter the league in a long time, a two-way force who plays everything from point guard to power forward. Knueppel, 20, is an incredibly polished offensive player whose 65 true-shooting percentage ranks fifth among the 63 players putting up at least 18 points per contest, according to Basketball-Reference.
For a deeper dive into this race, Christian Clark, The Athletic’s Mavericks beat writer, connected with Mike Vorkunov, The Athletic’s Business of Basketball reporter and a Hornets appreciator. (Stats and records are entering Thursday’s games.)
Clark: Thanks for doing this, Mike. Before we make our picks, I wanted to ask about Knueppel’s role in the Hornets’ turnaround. Charlotte is 27-12 in the 2026 calendar year, tied for the third-best record in the NBA. How big a factor has Knueppel been during this stretch?
Mike Vorkunov: Knueppel has been a huge part of that run. First, he’s part of the Hornets’ buzzsaw lineup (trademark pending); you know, the one that is outscoring opponents by 27.3 points per 100 possessions. He also plays a crucial structural role. Knueppel isn’t just a floor-stretcher; he’s also an efficient one. That pairs well with his emerging playmaking skills.
While Knueppel isn’t the clear-cut first option for his team like Flagg is in Dallas, he’s been a contributor to winning, which few rookies can claim. He has avoided the rookie wall and played in all 39 games in 2026, at a time when Flagg missed nine games in a row with a left foot sprain.
Clark: I think you got at something important here: Knueppel is more than a floor-spacer. He’s a smart cutter and solid passer. He contributes on the boards, as well, for the Hornets, who are the second-best rebounding team in the NBA. While it’s true that more than half of Knueppel’s shot attempts come from behind the arc, he has sort of an old-school game — maybe because he was playing against grown men when he was 14 years old.
I think LaMelo Ball is the Hornets’ best player, and I view Brandon Miller as Charlotte’s best scorer. But Knueppel has the most well-rounded game of anyone on that roster. He’s not a slouch defensively. He understands positioning, and I’ve seen him make heady plays, like his steal in the final seconds of Charlotte’s road win in Dallas on Jan. 29.
I think the difficulty of choosing a winner in this year’s Rookie of the Year race is comparing two players who have vastly different roles for their teams. Flagg has to do everything for the Mavericks, including the laborious work of getting the team into its offense because of its poor roster construction. Knueppel’s scoring efficiency will be trumpeted in the voting — and it should be — but I think it’s fair to argue his efficiency would suffer if he were on a team that required him to be its primary offensive engine.
Do you agree?
Cooper Flagg (left) leads the Mavericks in points, rebounds and assists and has the NBA scoring record for a teenager. Kon Knueppel leads the NBA in made 3-pointers on a Hornets team fighting for a playoff spot. (Raymond Carlin III / Imagn Images)
Vorkunov: You’re probably right. Knueppel might be less efficient if he were asked to do more. That’s usually how it goes for most NBA players, especially rookies. But I also wouldn’t say that he would be significantly worse. Flagg has a usage percentage that is just three points higher. He averages three more shots per game. But Knueppel is a better shooter, and he might also find different shots for himself. Flagg’s strengths when he entered the NBA were not his undeniable on-ball and playmaking skills; those were always going to be a bit of a work in progress.
It’s worth noting that Flagg has gotten better as this season has gone on. He played 20 games alongside Anthony Davis early, which helped take some weight off him as he adjusted to the NBA. He shouldn’t have been playing point guard at any point, but at least he had a star on the court with him. Knueppel also has improved as the season went on, and the Hornets have improved with and alongside him.
There’s another part of this that strengthens Knueppel’s case: He has played 10 more games than Flagg to this point. When the race is this close, it seems hard to ignore when one player has logged so many more minutes and nights on the floor.
Is there a counterargument to this for you?
Clark: I think the difference in games played could be a deciding factor in voters’ minds.
Flagg definitely has the edge in defensive playmaking. He’s already racked up 124 “stocks” (steals plus blocks) to Knueppel’s 68. He’s a bigger, more athletic and more versatile defender.
Let’s put aside the numbers for a second, though. The best argument for Flagg in my mind is a basic one. If you were drafting a roster of only rookies to play one game for a $1 million cash prize, who would you pick first? The answer, to me, is obviously Flagg, because he’s the best player. This exercise forces you to strip out the basketball context Flagg and Knueppel have played in as rookies.
I don’t care that Flagg is not as good a shooter as Knueppel. I’m taking the guy who’s shown flashes of being an apex predator wing. I’ll make sure to add ballhandling and shooting later.
I don’t think the Mavericks’ organizational dysfunction should hurt Flagg’s candidacy. That he’s put up such big numbers across the board without much shooting around him and with no lead ballhandler to get him easy baskets only makes me more bullish about his future. Voters should choose the most outstanding rookie — and in my mind, that’s Flagg.
Vorkunov: Hey, I agree. Flagg went No. 1 in the real NBA Draft, and he goes No. 1 in this wacky, hypothetical Rube Goldberg machine draft. He will be a great defender one day. His on-ball production will get to be pretty good, the Mavericks will put good players around him, and everyone in Dallas will live happily ever after.
But I thought we’re talking about the Rookie of the Year race here, not crafting fairy tales. Flagg will one day be awesome, but the award is based on what the players have done this season on the court, not who has won the most hearts and minds. The hardware is for production, not potential.
The reality is that this is a very close race, and you can make good arguments for both players. It’s a boring and understated thing to say. Others will have stronger opinions or scream them. I think Knueppel wins by a hair.
That’s my closing argument. What say you, counsel?
Clark: Box Plus-Minus, V.O.R.P. (Value Over Replacement Player) and all the other advanced analytics favor Knueppel. He’s having a fantastic season. I completely get it. I’m going full-on 1990s NBA general manager here and going with what my gut tells me: Flagg is the better player right now.
Flagg’s rookie numbers (20.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks) look similar to what LeBron James posted in his first season (20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.7 blocks). It’s absurd that a player who doesn’t turn 20 until December can already have this kind of all-around impact.
The Mavericks dealt with considerable off-the-court dysfunction earlier this season and put a roster on the floor that didn’t make much sense. It’s not Flagg’s fault that the Mavericks front office thought that having three starting-caliber centers and no real answer at lead guard was the move.
Knueppel has benefited from playing next to other high lottery picks — Ball and Miller — who are delivering on their potential. Flagg shouldn’t be penalized in the Rookie of the Year race because the Mavericks haven’t yet put that kind of young talent around him.