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Will Cooper Flagg overtake Kia Rookie of the Ladder leader Kon Knueppel at No. 1 before 2025-26 ends?<\/p>\n
Given the date of posting for this Kia Rookie Ladder, the temptation was strong to declare a new leader in the weekly rankings, a fellow who had flown below the radar all season, only to emerge this week: Cooper Knueppel. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Naturally, he would have played last season at Duke. He\u2019d be a franchise savior with uncanny 3-point accuracy, flashing All-Star skills while already helping his team leap in the NBA standings. \u00a0<\/p>\n
He would be, in other words, a merging of the Dallas Mavericks\u2019 Cooper Flagg and the Charlote Hornets\u2019 Kon Knueppel, a combo wing fit for April Fools\u2019 Day. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Then again, the Ladder committee didn\u2019t want to press its luck. At this point in the season, many supporters of Knueppel and Flagg have lost their sense of humor and suspect the other side\u2019s backers of all sorts of snubs and slights.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those who want to see Knueppel take home the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy as the league\u2019s top rookie point to his preternatural 3-point shooting prowess \u2013 he already owns the rookie record and leads the NBA overall in 3s with 257<\/a> \u2013 as well as the contributions he has made to Charlotte\u2019s much-improved record. The Hornets were 19-63 in 2024-25, are 40-36 now and are likely to be playing beyond game No. 82. \u00a0<\/p>\n Flagg\u2019s fans tout his explosive performances, the load he\u2019s carrying for the Mavericks, his energy as a defender and his versatility as an offensive player. Flagg was, after all, the No. 1 pick last June. Unfortunately, Dallas has backpedaled from a 39-43 mark last season to 24-52 despite his addition. \u00a0<\/p>\n Over the next week or so, each will try to solidify his case for the award. The difference is that Knueppel will try to do so without getting in the way of winning, while Flagg\u00a0will need to do it without getting in the way of losing for the lottery-focused Mavs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Here is this week\u2019s edition of the Kia Rookie Ladder:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Weekly recap<\/p>\n Who got better, or at least put up bigger numbers, as the season progressed? Utah Jazz rookie Ace Bailey has averaged 17.1 points since Jan. 15, an unofficial midpoint of the 82-game schedule. The Sacramento Kings\u2019 Maxime Raynaud (13.5) and Washington Wizards\u2019\u00a0 Will Riley (13.3) were more prolific scorers than in the season\u2019s first three months.\u00a0 Storyline to watch\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0favorites\u2019 finishing kick.\u00a0Knueppel and Flagg have only a handful of games each to steal voters from each other for the Rookie of the Year award, and even less time to shake the Ladder. Next week will be the final edition for 2025-26, which, essentially, will be a ballot reveal. The top three for ROY will be listed, along with the 10 first-year players who will get votes for the All-Rookie first and second teams (at least from the Ladder committee).<\/p>\n (All\u00a0stats\u00a0through\u00a0Tuesday,\u00a0March\u00a031)\u00a0<\/p>\n 1. Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets<\/p>\n Season\u00a0stats:<\/a> 18.8\u00a0ppg, 5.4\u00a0rpg, 3.4\u00a0apg\u00a0 The night didn\u2019t go the way Knueppel or the Hornets would have preferred \u2013 he shot 3-for-14 and the Sixers won in Charlotte on Saturday \u2013 but another admirer went on record about Knueppel\u2019s strong debut season. \u201cThe shooting\u2019s one thing,\u201d Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said, \u201cbut there\u2019s scoring, there\u2019s toughness, there\u2019s IQ, there\u2019s team player, all those things that look like he\u2019s exhibited, and he\u2019s been absolutely all that and more. I think lots of people liked him in the draft, for sure, and he\u2019s proved those people right, and the people that didn\u2019t, he\u2019s proved those people wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n 2. Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks<\/p>\n Season\u00a0stats:<\/a> 20.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 4.5 apg\u00a0 Flagg scored 20 of his 24 points Friday in Portland in the first half, the 11th\u00a0time this season he has had 20+ points in a half. The rest of this season\u2019s rookies have done it a total of 10 times. Two nights earlier, when he had 26 points, eight boards and seven assists with no turnovers, he joined Michael\u00a0Jordan, Michael Finley, Blake Griffin and Kerry Kittles as the only rookies to have multiple 25-5-5-0 games.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 3. VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers<\/p>\n Season\u00a0stats:<\/a> 16 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4 apg\u00a0 Edgecombe is the only rookie besides Flagg to be averaging at least 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. He leads the Class of 2025 in steals (1.4\u00a0spg).\u00a0The Sixers\u00a0have gone\u00a039-29 when he\u00a0has played, 2-5 when he hasn\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 4. Dylan Harper, San Antonio Spurs<\/p>\n Season\u00a0stats:<\/a>\u00a011.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.8 apg\u00a0 No big surprise that a site dedicated to Spurs coverage went through the mental exercise of evaluating Harper\u2019s selection at No. 2 last June and comparing it to Knueppel\u2019s season in Charlotte, only to determine San Antonio rightfully would pick Harper again. As well as the team\u2019s third guard has played and given the Spurs\u2019 record, it would be foolish to second-guess his pro-ready play at this point. \u00a0<\/p>\n 5. Ace Bailey, Utah Jazz<\/p>\n Season\u00a0stats:<\/a>\u00a013.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.8 apg\u00a0 The fifth overall pick in the 2025 Draft finally ascends to a Ladder rung commensurate with that selection position. Bailey\u2019s continuous improvement has been a bright spot for the Jazz, averaging 19.6 ppg in March with shooting splits of 45.3%\/40.3%\/88%. He had 29 \u201cstocks\u201d in 14 games on the defensive side. \u00a0<\/p>\n The next 5<\/p>\n 6. Maxime Raynaud, Sacramento Kings\u00a0<\/p>\n Season\u00a0stats:<\/a>\u00a012 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.3 apg\u00a0 March was Raynaud\u2019s busiest and best month. Averaging 33 minutes across 15 appearances, he shot 59.5%, including 8-for-18 on 3s, while putting up 17.9 points and 8.5 rebounds. The Kings joined him, going 5-for-10 for the month. \u00a0<\/p>\n 7. Cedric Coward, Memphis Grizzlies<\/p>\n Season\u00a0stats:<\/a>\u00a013.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.8 apg\u00a0 Coward played in four straight after missing 14 of the Grizzlies\u2019 previous 21 games. The rookie\u2019s production hasn\u2019t soared, but one reason is that opponents are more locked in on him, given Memphis\u2019 overall struggles. \u201cRight now, when you look at our roster, he\u2019s a featured guy and teams may put a lot more emphasis on stopping him,\u201d coach Tuomas Iisalo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n 8. Derik Queen, New Orleans Pelicans\u00a0<\/p>\n Season\u00a0stats:<\/a>\u00a011.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.6 apg Queen\u2019s impact continues to sag after a week in which he averaged just 22.4 minutes, shot 41.7% and logged a minus-54 in three games.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 9. Jeremiah Fears, New Orleans Pelicans\u00a0<\/p>\n Season\u00a0stats:<\/a>\u00a013 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.3 apg In the 31 games Fears has come off the Pels\u2019 bench, he has shot better, improved both his offensive and defensive ratings and turned a nasty plus\/minus rating into a positive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 10. Tre Johnson, Washington Wizards<\/p>\n Season\u00a0stats:<\/a> 12.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2 apg\u00a0 Johnson is one of only three rookies with shooting splits of at least 40% from the field, 35% from the arc and 85% from the foul line. He is at 42.2\/36\/87.4, joined at that level by Miami\u2019s Kasparas Jaku\u010dionis (42.3\/41.8\/90.7) and Charlotte\u2019s Kon Knueppel (48.4\/43.3\/86.2). \u00a0<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him\u00a0here<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on X<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nNew Orleans center Derik Queen tailed off considerably from his fast start to his latest travails. He was averaging 12.5 points and 7.5 boards, but tailed off after Jan. 14 to 9.9 and 6.0.\u00a0
\nSince Jan. 15, Knueppel\u2019s plus-minus has been +8.4 per game compared to Flagg\u2019s -4.4.\u00a0
\nEqualizing for minutes, Flagg has been scoring 21.6 points per 36 minutes to Knueppel\u2019s 21.5.\u00a0
\nTop rookies on the road so far? Knueppel, 21.1 ppg; Raynaud, 7.3 rpg, and Flagg, 4.9 apg. Ryan Kalkbrenner has been most accurate overall (74.8%) while Knueppel has been the best on threes (48%).\u00a0
\nHome cookin\u2019 rookies: Flagg, 20.6 ppg, Dylan Cardwell, 8.7 rpg, and Ryan Nembhard, 5.5 apg. Kalkbrenner has made 75.3% of his attempts at home while Memphis\u2019 Javon Small has hit 49.3% of his 3-pointers. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 1 \u2194\ufe0f
Draft pick:<\/a>\u00a0No. 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 2 \u2194\ufe0f
Draft pick:<\/a>\u00a0No. 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 3 \u2194\ufe0f
Draft pick:<\/a>\u00a0No. 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 4 \u2194\ufe0f
Draft pick:\u00a0<\/a>No. 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 6 \u2b06\ufe0f
Draft pick:<\/a>\u00a0No. 5\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 5 \u2b07\ufe0f
Draft pick:\u00a0<\/a>No. 42\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 7 \u2194\ufe0f
Draft pick:<\/a>\u00a0No. 11\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 8 \u2194\ufe0f
Draft pick:<\/a>\u00a0No. 13\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 9 \u2194\ufe0f
Draft pick:<\/a> No. 9\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> Not ranked \u2b06\ufe0f
Draft pick:<\/a>\u00a0No. 6\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n