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The Brooklyn Nets are more than two months away from when they will have to make their selections in the 2025 NBA Draft and are less than one month away from knowing what their highest first-round pick will be. As Brooklyn enters an offseason where they could pivot in a number of directions, one of the players that they could be taking officially declared for the Draft.
Duke forward Kon Knueppel recently declared for the Draft after a freshman season with the Blue Devils in which he averaged 14.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 47.9% from the field and 40.6% from three-point land. While being the running mate to projected first overall pick Cooper Flagg, Knueppel helped Duke reach the Final Four before losing to the Houston Cougars and he is drawing some interesting pro comparisons.
The best-case comp that Knueppel received from Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman is Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane, who is currently trying to lead the Grizzlies to the playoffs after losing to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Play-in Tournament. "Like Bane, Knueppel has the potential to provide shotmaking diversity and consistency while also being able to offer ball-screen offense with his driving, passing and pull-up game," Wasserman wrote.
Knueppel's draft stock has been interesting to evaluate at this time of the NBA calendar given that there are some who believe that he is a high-floor, low-ceiling kind of prospect while others think that he is an undervalued player due to his lack of NBA-level athleticism. Wasserman's worst-case scenario for Knueppel is Washington Wizards forward Corey Kispert, who is coming off a 2024-25 season in which he averaged 11.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 45.1% from the floor and 36.4% from deep.
"Worst case, Kon Knueppel is valued mostly for his catch-and-shoot game and transition finishing. He'd resemble Corey Kispert if the ball-screen creation and playmaking aren't used or don't translate. He'll settle into more of a shotmaking specialist role like Kispert's if his lack of explosion and burst limit him as a driver," Wasserman writes when discussing the parallels between Knueppel and Kispert.
When it comes to drafting players, NBA teams are hoping that those players reach the best-case scenario, but most players tend to reach the median outcome that was projected for him given how hard it is to play at the next level from college. For Knueppel, his realistic pro comp, at least in the eyes of Wasserman, will be familiar to Nets fans because the player is none other than Brooklyn forward Cam Johnson.
"Realistically, Knueppel isn't going to be a team's top-two option, given his lack of creativity, wiggle and burst at the point of attack. But both he and Johnson have the chance to be quality third or fourth options with their shooting versatility and improved ball-screen play," Wasserman wrote. Assuming that the Nets end up with the sixth overall pick given where they stand in the Lottery odds, someone like Knueppel could give them a player with a skill set that the franchise is already familiar with that comes with the possibility for more.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets 2025 NBA Draft talk: Duke's Kon Knueppel declares for draft
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