2. Brandon Knight’s Value Will Continue To Be Hard To Determine
The only reason this isn’t No. 1 is because I’m assuming that after this weekend, Knight will be good to go again. But if this ankle injury becomes a nagging problem that keeps him sidelined any longer than that, it might become another complication to his impending free agency.
Perhaps we’re jumping the gun a bit here. Free agency is still months away, after all. But isn’t it slightly concerning that 10 games into his tenure with the Suns, we still have no clear picture of how he fits with Bledsoe in the backcourt? What’s left of the 2014-15 season is already a small sample size as it is. Any setbacks preventing the front office from seeing what they’ve got on their hands is a detriment to this rebuilding process.
Hornacek said Brandon Knight, who is out for #SunsVsWolves tonight, is doubtful to play in #SunsVsHawks on Friday.
— Paul Coro (@paulcoro) March 12, 2015
Knight is a restricted free agent this summer, which means if other teams offer him a deal, the Suns can match. Phoenix might wind up paying Knight in the $10-13 million range per year for the duration of his contract just to keep him around. Missing a couple of games isn’t a huge issue, but the more he stays on the floor and gets acclimated to his new teammates, the better.
If Knight can get back on the court soon, the front office will be able to more effectively gauge his value this summer. He tore it up with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Suns seemed committed to investing in a Bledsoe-Knight backcourt pairing for the long-term. It’d just be nice for him to show us as much as possible over the remainder of the 2014-15 season so everyone’s comfortable with that proposition.
Next: No. 1