What we learned about the Hornets during run to Las Vegas summer league title
After a full two-week residency in the desert, serving as the coach of the Charlotte Hornets’ summer league team, Chris Jent probably could’ve had his mail forwarded to Las Vegas.
“Thank goodness, no,” Jent, laughing, told The Observer in a phone conversation Sunday. “I tell you what, though, I have to thank Charles (Lee, the Hornets head coach) for allowing me the opportunity to coach this team. When you are in the mix — and obviously the winning helps a great deal — it goes by a lot faster.”
The past 14 days must’ve flown by then, given the amount of fun the Hornets had on the basketball court during their six-game run, a stretch that culminated with the unthinkable — capturing the franchise’s first summer league championship with an 83-78 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
“It’s great,” Jent said. “It’s confirmation of all the effort they’ve been putting in and how a team’s outlook on things, it produces good things.”
The Hornets’ 6-0 mark — which featured some convincing victories, including double-digit wins over the Thunder, Spurs and Mavericks — is tangible proof.
“I really think it’s been our togetherness and our aggression,” Jent said. “I really feel like we’ve been highly competitive and ultra aggressive. And open mindedness, Charles talks about it all the time.
“We’ve shown the ability to do a lot of different things especially on the defensive end throughout the course of game, a quarter, a situation. And they just own it, they lean into it and try to perform to the best of their abilities.”
Mix it together and there’s already a special camaraderie brewing. Jent, for one, has witnessed the slow transformation up close and seems genuinely excited with the progression.
“I’ve been coaching for 23 years, I played professionally for 10 — obviously played in college,” Jent said. “In such a short period of time, the chemistry on this team has been truly unbelievable and I think if we would have lost a couple of games, that would not have diminished at all.
“So, it truly has been a joy for us all to be around these guys.”
Here are four things we learned during the Hornets’ summer league run:
Kon Knueppel’s bag includes more than a jumper
Sure, Kon Knueppel earned the championship game’s most valuable player honors, coming up big with a huge 3-pointer and crucial plays at the free-throw line in the closing seconds to help secure the win.
But flash back to the third quarter of the Hornets’ semifinal win over Oklahoma City, with the game well in hand. The Hornets were leading the Thunder 84-57 in the waning minutes, but one might not have known that was the case judging by how Knueppel gave up his body for a loose ball.
The rookie dove onto the floor and a Thunder defender landed on him, knocking Knueppel’s head onto the court. It opened a cut on his face — to add insult to injury he was also whistled for a foul — and he had to go to the locker room to get bandaged up.
Not bad for a guy who’s supposed to be known more for his jumper than anything else.
Knueppel, the fourth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, posted 14.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 26.5 minutes per game leading into the championship game, showing he can do things beyond hitting shots from the perimeter.
He has good court vision, highlighted by a nifty behind-the-back pass in the semifinals, and he’s not afraid to run the break, though he needs to improve his finishes. And that will come as he gets stronger and his body matures.
Unselfishness is a quality that oozes out of Knueppel.
“I think his demeanor is contagious,” Jent said. “He’s a very even-keeled guy on the court and we appreciate that next play mentality. And Kon doesn’t waste any energies on the uncontrollables. He doesn’t worry about things going on the floor that he cannot control. He worries about what he can and what his team can, and that’s contagious.”
Liam McNeeley might be a steal
Throughout the early conversations The Observer has had with Liam McNeeley, it’s been apparent the 19-year-old has a boulder-sized chip on his shoulder.
Coming out of UConn, McNeeley felt he should have been picked prior to being selected No. 29 overall, even revealing he has a list of players who were taken ahead of him for just a little bit of extra motivation. He also was one of the Hornets who suggested the team had summer league championship aspirations, which also explains why he played so hard in his limited action.
Despite sitting out the final four games, McNeeley entered the championship round pacing the Hornets in scoring (18 points) and rebounding (8.5).
“Highly competitive,” Jent said. “The front office has made a point of effort to bring winning guys in who have a winning mentality. And they are not self-serving. It’s all team-related and Liam is absolutely a team guy and wants to win.”
PJ Hall can ball ... but won’t do it in Charlotte
While the Hornets’ crop of recent draftees has drawn most of the attention, someone else also commanded more than a few eyeballs in his direction.
PJ Hall had his share of highlights, throwing down some dunks that quickly made the rounds on social media. The 6-foot-10 big man impressed on the interior, often stepping in off the bench at center behind rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner, and leading many to wonder if there’s a future for the Spartanburg, S.C., native with Charlotte.
The Clemson product, who helped the Tigers claw to the Elite Eight in his senior season in 2023-24, was trying to latch on with a team after appearing in 19 games as a rookie with Denver in 2024-25. So, summer league provided the perfect place for Hall to prove he deserves another crack at it — and it worked.
Hall’s solid performance at summer league drew looks from other teams, specifically those with two-way slots still up for grabs like the Memphis Grizzlies, who agreed to a deal with Hall on Sunday, league sources confirmed to The Observer.
The Hornets are in a roster crunch and in order for Hall to hang around, Charlotte would have had to make a move. There are 21 players currently under contract, which is the maximum during the offseason, and the Hornets must trim their roster by shedding three standard NBA contracts off their books before training camp begins.
Following Drew Peterson’s signing, the Hornets’ have utilized all three of their two-way spots, with KJ Simpson and Damion Baugh still slotted into their others.
Simpson played well during summer league and flashed some of the skills the Hornets envisioned when they selected him in the second round a year ago. And Baugh, who’s a favorite of coach Charles Lee, flirted with registering a triple-double in the semifinals.
All that made it difficult for the Hornets to find a spot for Hall, paving the way for Memphis to swoop in and offer him an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. Jent liked what he saw from Hall during his summer tenure.
“What’s been so impressive is that we gave him a defined role,” Jent said. “We asked him to do what would help the team. Coming in he maybe had a different idea of what he needed to be in the summer league.
“And he’s going to be rewarded for it ... because typically when you win and you show that you are in that winning environment, as an individual you get rewarded.”
Don’t sleep on M.J. Walker Jr.
During the early portion of the Hornets’ minicamp leading into their first game, Jent mentioned M.J. Walker Jr. as one of the players who stuck out with his play and effort.
That point didn’t change at all over the past two weeks.
Walker, who’s suited up for the Greensboro Swarm the past three seasons following a brief stint with the Phoenix Suns in 2021-22, shot well from 3-point range. Among those with three or more games of action in Las Vegas heading into the finale, he led in makes beyond the arc at 3.8 per game and connected on 44.1% on his 8.5 3-point attempts per outing.
The Jonesboro, Georgia, native and Florida State product held his own.
“I recruited him in college, just at the tail end of his senior year actually,” Jent said. “Broke bread with his family when they were on campus at Ohio State, and he’s getting back to the confident, multi-dimensional, wing player, guard player that he was when I saw him in high school.
“And it’s great to see him play with that type of confidence.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
