Bucks need to ensure Brandon Knight’s place before contract extension
By Joe Dexter
It’s amazing what a little change of scenery can do for a basketball player. It might be only a three hundred mile difference between Detroit and Milwaukee.
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Yet Brandon Knight finds himself now separated from players that flash the talent to be a respectable players in the league.
Before last season, situations on the court made him look like one of the laughing stocks of the league.
Now, after leading the Bucks in scoring last season, management is possibly looking to offer him a new contract extension.
But, as Brett Pollakoff at Pro Basketball Talk points out, Knight’s stats might be deflated because of the lack of talent around him last year.
"Knight flourished, but at least a little bit of how well he played has to be chalked up to putting up big numbers on a bad team. He averaged 17.9 points and 4.9 assists, but shot just 42.2 percent from the field, while playing 33.3 minutes per night and finishing in the top 20 in usage rate among qualified players."
More than ever, it’s imperative that the Bucks get this signing right. John Hammond and company have worked at building a future for this franchise. First, it was trading for Knight — understanding that they could give him a fresh start while getting rid of a point guard that didn’t want to be there.
Now, you have to wonder if Jason Kidd — the former All-NBA point guard and new coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, believes in the former cornerstone trade piece.
This summer’s signings of Kendall Marshall and Jerryd Bayless would make you think otherwise. Kidd even tried out playing Giannis Antetokounmpo at the point in Summer League.
The 6’11” forward will more thank likely see some time as the Bucks floor general in the regular season.
Despite the multiple changes at the position, Knight believes that he is the point guard of the present and future. Bucks management believes that he deserves a contract extension.
Yet nobody seems to be on the same page.
Despite the multiple changes at the position, Knight believes that he is the point guard of the present and future. Bucks management believes that he deserves a contract extension.
Yet nobody seems to be on the same page.
The Bucks brought in the likes of Marshall to help cut down on turning over the basketball. He had the fourth best assist to turnover ratio among point guards last season, on a offensively challenged Lakers team.
Knight didn’t even finish in the top 40 among point guards.
Still, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a spot on Milwaukee’s roster. Knight has always flashed the skill set needed to be a top hybrid guard in this league.
He’s flashed some of the same skills that landed Eric Bledsoe and Jrue Holiday monster contracts.
Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors believes that when it’s all said and done, Knight is going to receive big money and some long-term comfort on the open market.
"The last point guard to sign an extension with an average annual value of less than $10MM was Mike Conley, and that deal has worked out remarkably well for the Grizzlies. Tellem surely doesn’t want a repeat of that situation, and so it only seems logical that he’d respond to the Bucks’ enthusiasm for an extension with proposals involving more than $10MM a year. It’s conceivable that the Bucks envision compromising with a deal similar to the four-year, $41MM arrangement the Sixers gave Jrue Holiday two years ago, an extension that proved tradeable even before it kicked in. Still, I think the Bucks would like to see whether doubts about his place on the roster and the market for point guards around the league lurk in the back of Knight’s mind and motivate him to sign a bargain deal for less than what Holiday received. I don’t think Tellem will let that happen, so it’s tough to see a path to a deal."
The Bucks will also have to decide whether or not playing Knight at shooting guard hurts the development of Khris Middleton or the rotation of O.J. Mayo and Jared Dudley.
Knight shined in his first season as a Milwaukee Buck. It seems like the organization and player are a good fit for each other.
Now both will spend the next upcoming season feeling things out, and trying to find the true answers to all their questions. Can Knight be a true point guard in this league?
Can the Bucks find a way to infuse his skills into the young core that is also still figuring out how their potential reflects their role in the future?
It’s a good thing that both management and Knight’s representation will wait until the end of the season to talk about their future.
Both sides need the time to figure out their complicated relationship.