Overview
- The NBA named Cooper Flagg (West) and Kon Knueppel (East) the October/November Rookies of the Month, the first time since the conference awards began in 2001–02 that both winners came from the same college program.
- Knueppel averaged 18.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists on .470/.413/.898 shooting through his first 20 games, leading rookies in scoring and posting three-point volume that projects to challenge the rookie single-season record, with 69 made threes by the end of November (sixth in the NBA).
- Flagg averaged 16.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists in October/November and set a milestone on Nov. 30 by becoming the youngest player ever to score 35 points in an NBA game at 18 years, 343 days, while also posting elite clutch efficiency and the youngest double-digit assists mark.
- Oddsmakers currently rate Flagg as a slight Rookie of the Year favorite, with both Duke products viewed as well ahead of the rest of the class at this early stage.
- The former Duke roommates were drafted No. 1 by Dallas (Flagg) and No. 4 by Charlotte (Knueppel) and have quickly become central pieces with contrasting strengths—Flagg’s do-everything usage in Dallas and Knueppel’s high-volume perimeter shooting in Charlotte.