The list of sweet-shooting, athletically limited guards who’ve failed in the NBA is long. For most of them, the slim margins they exploited in college through cleverness disappear when the competition gets bigger, faster and smarter.
Shooting windows close more quickly, increased physicality disrupts rhythm, defensive shortcomings lead to relentless targeting on the other end.
Knueppel—laterally slow, lacking lift and more of a probing dribbler than a downhill attacker—seemed vulnerable to all of these familiar concerns.
The most surprising aspect of his rookie season is how little his perceived shortcomings have mattered.
Take Knueppel’s shooting, for example. He’s not just a standstill weapon capitalizing on setups. Though most of his long-range attempts have been of the catch-and-shoot variety, he’s drilling 55.6 percent of his pull-up treys. When defenders try to run him off the line, he’s shown a knack for getting into the middle, trusting his strong base and elevating just enough to hit self-created jumpers.
He may never be a dynamic finisher, but Knueppel excels at getting into the paint, taking his time and playing off two feet, which negates some of his athletic disadvantages. These skills serve him well whether he has the ball or not, and he’s been a stunningly dangerous weapon when rolling to the bucket or popping into space after screening.
Off the ball, his intelligence and feel for finding space have been even better than advertised.
Put it all together, and Knueppel has basically figured out how to accentuate his strengths while minimizing his weaknesses. That’s a pretty good way to decimate expectations and rise to the top of a rookie class.