The Charlotte Hornets were excited for the return of Kon Knueppel tonight, who missed the first eight games recovering from a hamstring injury. Well, six minutes into his season debut, he left the floor in discomfort and has been ruled out for the remainder of the game against the Brooklyn Nets.

Coby White also had to leave the floor for a few minutes to get checked out after getting hit in the face, but has since returned to the game, starting for the Hornets to open the second half.

In his brief debut, Knueppel scored three points, all of which came at the free throw line. He took one shot, which came from beyond the arc and missed the mark. He also had a pair of turnovers during that time.

What does this mean for the Hornets?

We won't speculate on how long Knueppel will be out, but if he is back on the shelf for an extended period of time, it's going to put Charlotte in a tough spot. The offense has been poor to this point and has posted multiple atrocious shooting performances. Having Coby White back on the floor certainly helps, but Knueppel really helps with floor spacing, and it gives Charles Lee another high-percentage three-point marksman.

Typically, I would say the starting lineup doesn't really matter because, at the end of the day, it all comes down to minutes played. Grayson Allen is averaging two more minutes per night than Sion James, but he continued to come off the bench in place of James when Knueppel was out.

Coming into tonight's game against the Nets, Charlotte ranked 27th in the league in first quarter scoring (25.8 ppg in 1Q). They need to get off to better starts offensively so they aren't trying to dig themselves out of a hole on a nightly basis. Starting Grayson Allen over Sion James should help to some degree. It's not going to solve all of their problems, but it would certainly give this team a much better chance of knocking down shots early and getting into a good offensive flow.

Although it's still very early in the season, the Hornets can't afford to lose Knueppel for an extended period of time. The Eastern Conference is deeper this year, and they may not be able to get on a red-hot tear as they did a year ago to overcome a slow start.