Kon Knueppel is out at least four weeks, and Charlotte has lost three of its top guards and wings in one week

The diagnosis that was missing when Kon Knueppel left his season debut after six minutes arrived on Sunday, and it is the worst version of the news. The Hornets announced that he has a left hamstring strain and will be out for at least four weeks before he is reevaluated, according to ESPN, which reported that he reinjured it dribbling up the court with 6:21 left in the first quarter of Wednesday's loss in Brooklyn. It is the same hamstring that cost him the preseason and the first eight games, and in the same announcement the team said Dennis Schröder has a left hamstring strain of his own and will be reevaluated in two weeks, which Hoops Rumors also reported.

Four weeks is a reevaluation date rather than a return date, so a manager should read it as the earliest Knueppel could be back, early in December, and not as a promise. Charlotte has lost six games in a row, ESPN noted, and Hoops Rumors pointed out that the Hornets are the only team in the league with an offensive rating below 100, which is the context any pickup from this roster has to live in. Brandon Miller adds to the problem, since Hoops Rumors relayed Hornets reporter Rod Boone's report that Miller will miss Monday's game against Cleveland with a right hip strain, after he played only 14 minutes on Friday.

What our projections did with the news

Our projections now have Knueppel missing about 12 more games, with a return around December 12, which leaves him at 53.9 games for the season at 32.0 minutes, 19.2 points and 3.4 threes a game when he plays. That places him 91st on our points board under ESPN's standard scoring and 78th on our 9-cat board, against an analysts' consensus of 63rd and 59th. The gap between our board and theirs is almost entirely the games: the line he is projected for when healthy is a starter's line, and the question is only how much of the season he is around to produce it.

Miller's absence is shorter in our file, which carries his injury feed's tag of a groin problem and a return around November 12, and the team's word through Boone is a hip strain with no timeline beyond Monday. Even that short absence took his projected games from 72.1 to 67.2 and moved him from 40th to 50th on our points board and from 29th to 33rd on our 9-cat board. Schröder was already outside the rosterable range at 185th on points, so his two weeks matter for who runs the offense more than for anyone's roster.

Grayson Allen is the name our board moved

The minutes our projections hand out for Knueppel's absence go mostly to Grayson Allen, whose projected role rose by 3.8 minutes a night to 29.9, with 15.2 points and 3.1 threes a game. That lifted him from 158th to 124th on our points board and from 134th to 98th on our 9-cat board, where the consensus has him 163rd and 142nd. His season so far has been made of threes and free throws, 32 of 69 from deep and 29 of 31 at the line across ten games, and his nights range from huge to nothing: he scored 27 on October 31 and then had zero points in 22 minutes on Friday in his first start of the season. In a 12-team 9-cat league he is worth the add for the threes and the free-throw percentage, and in a points league he is a stream for the busier weeks rather than a hold.

Coby White is not the answer yet

The other guard who could absorb the shots is Coby White, and so far he has not been ready to. He has played 16, 18 and 16 minutes in his three games since returning from his calf strain, shooting 6 of 26 for six points a game, and our board has him 153rd on points and 190th on 9-cat, far below a consensus of 72nd and 88th. We found no report of a minutes limit, so we would not assume one, but the minutes are the evidence that he is not yet playing the role his draft price assumed. Schröder's absence should push him toward more of the ball, and the first game where he clears 25 minutes is the one that would change our reading.

What to do

Hold Knueppel in leagues with an injured reserve slot and move him there, since a 91st-ranked player who returns in December is still worth more than the man you would replace him with. In leagues without one, a 12-team manager can justify dropping him only if the roster has no other bench spot to spare, and the four weeks are long enough that streaming his spot will be worth more than waiting. Add Allen where threes are scarce, keep White on the bench until his minutes rise, and check Charlotte's injury report on Wednesday before deciding how long Miller's absence really is.

Every player in this story is on the fantasy basketball rankings and the 2026-27 projections, and the NBA depth charts show where each one stands in his team’s rotation tonight.