Bold predictions have been given to the Charlotte Hornets with the season almost over.
With the 2025-26 regular season almost over, bold predictions have been made for the Charlotte Hornets.
In a story called "Bold Predictions for Every NBA Team's Final Weeks," Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report predicted that the Hornets would get two All-Rookie selections and Kon Knueppel would win the Rookie of the Year Award.
"Anyone waiting for the Hornets to turn back into a lottery-bound pumpkin should probably find a new hobby," Buckley wrote. "Charlotte has ranked among the league's very best teams since the calendar flipped to 2026, tallying more than twice as many wins as losses and posting a wholly dominant plus-10.5 net rating (first overall).
"Sustaining such a high level of success for this long should resonate with award-voters. Specifically, you'd think this should help Kon Knueppel finish atop a Rookie of the Year race he's led for a while now, and you could argue it should allow shot-blocking big man Ryan Kalkbrenner to join Knueppel on the All-Rookie teams.
"Knueppel ranks second among rookies in scoring at 19.1 points per game, and he has masterfully complemented that volume with a hyper-efficient 48.8/43.4/87 shooting slash. Kalkbrenner, meanwhile, leads all rookies in blocks (1.4), leads rotation rookies in field-goal percentage (74.7) and ranks second among his draft classmates (behind only his sweet-shooting teammate) in win shares (4.8)."
Knueppel is averaging 19.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game this season while shooting 48.7% from the field, 43.6% from beyond the arc and 87.0% from the free-throw line. He leads the NBA in 3-pointers.
Meanwhile, Kalkbrenner is averaging 7.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 74.7% from the foul line.
Kalkbrenner and Knueppel have helped the Hornets have a special season. Charlotte is 38-34 and in ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings. All signs point toward the Hornets being in the NBA play-in tournament.
The Hornets haven't made the playoffs since 2016. It will be fascinating to see if Kalkbrenner and Knueppel make the NBA playoffs as rookies.
Charlotte has 10 games left in the regular season. Let's see how Charles Lee's group finishes the season.
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