6. Brandon Knight Ankle Injury
On a related note, Knight’s absence for all but 11 games of his Suns tenure was definitely one of the biggest lowlights of the season. Keep in mind, this team had just lost the closest thing it had to a “face of the franchise,” after Dragic said he no longer trusted the front office. The Suns had also panic-traded away Isaiah Thomas and when all was said and done, one-third of the roster was gone.
With fan optimism dwindling, Knight was supposed to be the guy who made everyone feel better about how everything had collapsed. But as he struggled to adjust to playing off the ball, Knight’s All-Star-caliber numbers (for the East) shrank in epic proportions. Phoenix’s “backcourt of the future” just didn’t look sharp together.
So Brandon Knight is going to finish with 11 games, 16 games missed, and an eFG% of 43%. Not quite an inspiring start to his Suns tenure
— Scott Howard (@ScottHoward42) April 6, 2015
Of course, once it did start to show signs of promise, Knight went down with the ankle sprain. In his 11 games with the Suns, he averaged a meager 13.4 points, 4.5 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game on 35.7 percent shooting (31.3 percent from downtown).
With Knight heading for a big payday this summer, those numbers weren’t exactly what the Suns were hoping for. It will likely cost Phoenix anywhere from $10-15 million per season to keep the 23-year-old Knight, and that injury prevented he and Eric Bledsoe from developing any sort of substantial chemistry.
Next: No. 5