This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/hornets as Injury Report: Jazz rookie Ace Bailey ruled out vs. Charlotte Hornets. The Charlotte Hornets will be playing their first Summer League game of 2025 on Friday night, meaning that the debuts of Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley will happen.

The Charlotte Hornets make their summer league debut against Ace Bailey (I think) and the Utah Jazz. It’ll be our first chance to see Kon Knueppel and the rest of the rookies and to see how much better Tidjane Salaün has gotten at basketball.

Summer League roster is loaded with young talent, from rookie standouts to second-year redemption stories. Here’s who fans should watch, and why it matters.

After three long months, there is finally Charlotte Hornets basketball again. The team will face off against the fifth overall selection in the 2025 NBA Draft, Ace Bailey, and the Utah Jazz at 7:00 PM EST tonight on ESPN in the NBA's Summer League.

Thursday night’s matchup between Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks and Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers was the fourth-most-watched Summer League game ever, per ESPN.

Kon Knueppel is just a few weeks into his NBA journey. His Charlotte Hornets are set to open their Summer League season on Friday night against the Utah Jazz. The 19-year-old Milwaukee native spent one season at Duke, where he built a strong résumé. Knueppel worked his way up to become the No. 4 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

The Charlotte Hornets took a big swing in the 2024 draft by taking Tidjane Salaun, someone who is still not yet 20 years old. Pressed into much more NBA action

Eric Collins and Dell Curry, key voices for the Charlotte Hornets, are joining the broadcast team for the NBA on Amazon Prime this fall.