The Portland Trail Blazers were widely expected to be in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes at the beginning of the season but were surprisingly too talented to bottom out, increasing their win total by 15 from last year.
The odds are that they will select No. 9 or 10 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, depending on how their coin flip with the Phoenix Suns goes. But the silver lining is that there are several promising prospects beyond just Flagg.
The best player available should be the top priority for a Portland roster that still needs to acquire more talent to compete in the Western Conference, but fit also needs to be factored in. Some areas of need for Portland include shooting, playmaking, wing depth, and a non-traditional center.
Someone who checks most of these boxes is Duke sharpshooter Kon Knueppel.
Kon Knueppel would give the Blazers much-needed shooting and playmaking
Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman has the Blazers selecting Knueppel with the No. 9 overall pick in his recent 2025 NBA Mock Draft.
"In ball-screen situations, he was impressed with his feel, pacing, and passing. And his competitiveness and IQ on defense should help alleviate some concerns about his athletic limitations. Knueppel should look like the ultimate plug-and-play wing for teams that miss out on some of the higher-level creators," wrote Wasserman.
There's perhaps no better pure shooter in the class than Knueppel, who averaged 14.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.7 assists on 48/41/91 shooting splits as a freshman.
The Blazers finished the 2023-24 season last in three-point percentage and showed little improvement this season, ranking in the bottom five. They will be fighting an uphill battle as long as their shooting woes remain unaddressed, especially given the analytics behind the importance of the three-point ball in the modern NBA. Finding floor spacing in the draft also helps further unlock their young core, as Portland has several players who rely on attacking the paint to be effective.
Knueppel's shooting ability alone should put him in the lottery conversation, but his playmaking is an underrated aspect of his game that makes him a potential top-ten pick. He's crafty in pick-and-rolls, utilizing his basketball IQ, size, and change of pace, which makes him difficult to cover.
Knueppel was valuable as a secondary playmaker at Duke, a role that could seamlessly translate to the Blazers. Deni Avdija has taken on more of a point-forward role, and Portland still doesn't quite know what they have in Scoot Henderson yet. Knueppel would provide Rip City with another playmaking option to help generate offense.
He would also be a good insurance policy in case Anfernee Simons -- one of Portland's best shooters and playmakers -- gets moved in the near future.
Knueppel is a coveted prospect around the league, as every team can always use more of the skillset that he offers. There's a realistic possibility that he's not even available by the time the Blazers are on the clock, especially with teams like the San Antonio Spurs, who desperately need more shooting, picking ahead of them in the lottery.
But if he is there, Portland should strongly consider the Duke product. He would instantly elevate their floor by helping address two of their most significant areas of need.