Charlotte Hornets' grades for Summer League opener

NBA

Liam McNeeley scored 22 points in his NBA Summer League debut with the Charlotte Hornets in addition to 12 rebounds and six assists.

The Hornets are 1-0 in Summer League with a 111-105 win over the Utah Jazz.

All four of the 2025 draft picks played significant minutes, as did 2024 picks Tidjane Salaün and KJ Simpson. While Charlotte has at least three more games in the Summer League, lets grade the draft picks from the last two years through one game.

Kon Knueppel: It wasn’t the first game that Knueppel or the fan base would have hoped for out of the sharpshooter. He was just 1-for-8 shooting but found ways to impact the game in other ways by dishing out four assists and forcing a turnover. Knueppel’s lone basket came on a breakaway dunk, following his lone steal. 

Known as a perimeter shooter, Knueppel joked that he doubted anyone bet that his first basket would have been a dunk. Overall, it was a shaky opening game for the rookie, but there are a lot of games left to prove why he was worthy of the fourth overall pick this year.

Grade: C-minus

Liam McNeeley: Unlike his first-round counterpart Knueppel, McNeeley lived up to the hype. He finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. He was an efficient 7-for-16 from the floor and 3-for-6 from three-point range. To top things off he was also a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line.

The 6-7 forward came off the bench in the opening game of the Summer League, but with a performance like this, it will be tough not to consider starting him moving forward the rest of the summer. 

Grade: A

Sion James: James came in with a history of being a glue guy. He isn’t going to wow anyone with scoring or be the guy to lead the team in any statistical category most nights. But he was efficient. James finished with eight points on 4-for-7 shooting, grabbed three rebounds and added three assists.

James can do it all on the defensive end as well. At 6-6 and 220 pounds, he can guard practically any position on the floor, maybe other than center due to lack of height for that position. He showed this reality a few times throughout the game, switching onto smaller guards or even taller forwards.

Grade: B-minus

Ryan Kalkbrenner: One of the new Hornets big men, Kalkbrenner was drafted primarily as a defensive weapon. He lived up to that narrative in the opener by altering several shots, forcing passes out of the post. He had three blocked shots and a steal as well. 

The 7-1 center has some areas to improve on the offensive end. Often, he would catch the ball in the post and not make assertive moves to the basket. He had 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting. Another point of concern was his rebounding. At 7-1, he needs to be a glass cleaner and he only finished with five rebounds.

Grade: B

Tidjane Salaün: The Hornets’ 2024 first round pick has bulked up since his rookie year. Salaün’s game also appears to have improved as well, at least against weaker competition. The 6-9 forward had 20 points, seven rebounds and an assist on 6-for-11 shooting.

Salaün will likely be expected to have more of an impact in the regular season, and a solid outing in his first summer game will go a long way to build confidence in the coaching staff.

Grade: A-minus

K.J. Simpson: Simpson had a solid outing with 21 points and five assists. His shooting from three-point range was particularly impressive. As a senior at Colorado, he improved his three-point shooting percentage almost 10%. He went 4-for-9 from deep against Utah.

Simpson proved he can be a serviceable backup point guard option to LaMelo Ball.

Grade: A

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