Overview
- The NBA announced Tuesday that Flagg (West) and Knueppel (East) earned the season’s first Rookie of the Month awards for games in October and November, the first same-college pairing since the conference format began in 2001–02.
- Flagg averaged 16.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists over 20 games and recently became the youngest player to score 35 points in an NBA game, with league data also crediting him with 48 clutch points and a 56.0% clutch field-goal rate in the period.
- Knueppel averaged 18.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists on .470/.413/.898 shooting in his first 20 games for Charlotte, leading rookies in scoring through November and edging fellow nominees VJ Edgecombe and Ryan Kalkbrenner in the East.
- Bleacher Report notes Knueppel is one of five rookies in NBA history to average at least 18.0 points per game with a true shooting percentage above 60.0% this early in a debut season.
- Betting markets currently list Flagg as the slight Rookie of the Year favorite with both he and Knueppel well ahead of the field, while analysis suggests Knueppel’s playmaking could influence Charlotte’s roster decisions, including speculative chatter about LaMelo Ball’s future.