The Bounce: Who's your Rookie of the Year? Plus, NBA coaches on the hot seat

Atlantic76ersCelticsKnicksNetsRaptorsCentralBucksBullsCavaliersPacersPistonsSoutheastHawksHeatHornetsMagicWizardsSouthwestGrizzliesMavericksPelicansRocketsSpursNorthwestJazzNuggetsThunderTimberwolvesTrail BlazersPacificClippersKingsLakersSunsWarriorsScores & ScheduleStandingsThe Bounce NewsletterNBA DraftPodcastsFantasyNBA OddsNBA PicksTracking Awards EligibilityPlayoff Matchups As Of TodayLatest Power RankingsInside NBA Sneaker CultureNewsletterThe Bounce: Who’s your Rookie of the Year? Plus, NBA coaches on the hot seatHornets guard Kon Knueppel has had the more efficient season, while Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg looks like the superior player. Kevin Jairaj / Imagn Images Share full articleThe Bounce Newsletter  | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox. On this date in 2019, both Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade played in front of their respective home crowds for the last time. Each player scored 30 points. There was one more incredible feat that happened that day too. Jamal Crawford went for 51 points to become the oldest player ever to drop 50. The Flagg-Knueppel race is fascinating We have only a couple of games left in the 2025-26 regular season, and the Rookie of the Year debate got reignited this past week with Cooper Flagg doing some historic stuff. We talked about this on Monday, when Flagg was coming off scoring 96 points over the span of two games. He is the only rookie not named Wilt Chamberlain to do this in NBA history. The Dallas Mavericks franchise guy all of a sudden seemed to remind everybody that he’s the best rookie in his class.  The funny thing about that is, the Rookie of the Year award is not about who is going to be the best player. While I think guys like Dylan Harper and VJ Edgecombe have been pushed aside in that discussion, Kon Knueppel has put up an impressive case for taking ROY away from his former Duke teammate’s grasp. In fact, until the 51-point game by Flagg, Knueppel had been the odds-on betting favorite for weeks. Some of that was Knueppel’s stellar play all season. People have taken extra notice because the Charlotte Hornets have been one of the best teams in the league the last couple of months. Knueppel’s presence is a massive part of that. He makes the right plays, and he might be the best shooter in the NBA this season (in terms of production and efficiency; obviously Steph Curry is still the actual best). How do you determine who has had the best season? My criteria have usually been weighing 1) if a rookie is the big story of the year, 2) if the rookie has some pretty cool stats and 3) looking at team success if we have two rookies in a dead heat. Funny enough, both Flagg and Knueppel have qualified for the first two. Let’s look at the stats first: Flagg’s stats are pretty cool! Kon’s stats are also pretty cool! You’re getting a historic level of efficiency with Knueppel. No rookie has averaged at least 18 points with this high of a true shooting. Flagg would be just the eighth rookie in NBA history to average at least 21 points, six boards and four assists. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Elgin Baylor, Sidney Wicks and Luka Dončić are the others. Flagg clearly has a more well-rounded game and plays better defense. However, he also takes 3.7 more shots to score 2.3 more points. If you feel like this is pretty even like I do, then maybe you do go to team success. And the Hornets (43-37, ninth in the East) are clearly the better team and are playing games that matter, unlike the tanking Mavericks (25-55, 13th in the West). But is it that simple? Flagg has the 17th-most clutch points in the NBA with 89. That’s 41 more than Knueppel (48). He’s also played in 12 more clutch games than Knueppel, but Flagg has also played in 11 fewer total games. If you believe the award should go to the best player as long as you deem they’ve played enough games, then Flagg is the pick. If you think Knueppel’s season has been more significant because of the efficiency, games played advantage and the team success, then Knueppel is your winner. It’s a tough decision that voters must make sometime next week. Who would you pick for Rookie of the Year between Flagg and Knueppel?  👀 Hali back? Something happened for the first time since Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Tyrese Haliburton played 5-on-5.  🪑 Le banc. Zaccharie Risacher was not hurt last night. However, he was benched and got a DNP-CD.  🏀 In the dark. We were all shocked when Luka was traded. AD may have been the most shocked.  ☀️ Not scary hours. Doug Haller had some harsh criticism after the Suns lost to Houston. They shouldn’t scare anybody. 🏀 Mock draft! Where will Final Four stars and others end up in Monday’s WNBA Draft? 💰 Money moves. It’s free-agency season in men’s college basketball. Keep up with it with our transfer portal rankings.  Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass. Which NBA coaches are in trouble? Coaches already know how fickle their jobs are. It’s why there is such a tight-knit community for support when something happens to any of them that coaches deem unfair or unjust. That’s usually a firing, especially when it happens to the good coaches. Consider that the four coaches to win the Coach of the Year award from 2006-09 were all fired within the next two years. George Karl was fired less than a month after winning it for Denver in 2013. Dwane Casey was fired before it was announced he won the award in 2018. Monty Williams was fired by Phoenix a year after he won it in 2022. And Mike Brown didn’t make it another season and a half after winning it in Sacramento in 2023. Let’s check which current coaching seats are the hottest (1-5 🔥 scale). Jamahl Mosley (Magic): 🔥🔥🔥🔥. A surprise deep playoff run (second round or better) might save his job, but this thing has been tenuous for a year. There were questions last summer. This team is too expensive for Play-In status, even with the injuries. Kenny Atkinson (Cavaliers): 🔥🔥🔥. An early exit from the playoffs could seal it. There have been questions about whether he’s getting the players on board in Year 2. But Cleveland could also look at this year’s struggles as a fluke. Doc Rivers (Bucks): 🔥🔥. This one is a little cooler, simply because he’s talking like he might retire. He could easily chum his way into one last, lucrative year, even if Giannis is traded. Brian Keefe (Wizards): 🔥🔥🔥🔥. With Anthony Davis and Trae Young there to accelerate the timeline, Washington needs a coach who instills confidence the wins are coming. Chauncey Billups/Tiago Splitter (Trail Blazers): 🔥🔥🔥🔥. Regardless of Billups’ status, new owner Tom Dundon sounds like he wants to bring in a new coach altogether. Steve Kerr (Warriors): 🔥🔥. This is probably more Steph Curry’s call than anybody else’s in the organization. Kerr also just seems real tired, and maybe he needs a break? Doug Christie (Kings): 🔥🔥🔥. This season has been embarrassing. And Sacramento goes through coaches like most people go through pints of ice cream. Thunder clinch No. 1 overall seed Cavs 122, Hawks 116: The Hawks made a big comeback attempt in the fourth, but the Cavaliers’ 44-20 third quarter was too much. Donovan Mitchell had 31 points to lead all scorers. Atlanta (45-25) is a half-game ahead of Toronto for fifth. Cleveland (51-29) is a half-game behind the Knicks for third. Magic 132, Wolves 120: No Anthony Edwards, no Rudy Gobert and no Julius Randle. No mercy from the Magic. Paolo Banchero had 20 points to lead seven different Magicians in double-digit scoring. Orlando (44-36) moved up to seventh in the East. Thunder 128, Clippers 110: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got to his 20 in three quarters, and Chet Holmgren put up 30 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. OKC (64-16) clinched the best record in the league and the top seed in the West. Spurs 112, Blazers 101: No Victor Wembanyama, but De’Aaron Fox’s 25 points were enough. The Blazers (40-40) are still a game behind the Clippers for eighth. Now look at the staredown! You have to do this when you block your friend. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Zach Harper is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the NBA. Zach joined The Athletic after covering the NBA for ESPN.com, CBS Sports and FRS Sports since 2009. He also hosts radio for SiriusXM NBA and SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio. Follow Zach on Twitter @talkhoops