Just keep Knight and let him play
In the end, this is the only logical step to take with Brandon Knight right now and into the 2017-18 season. There simply is no other option as positive for the Suns long-term than keeping and playing Brandon Knight this season.
As he is under contract, Knight has no financial choice but to play. If he decided to try and force the Suns’ hand and sit out, they don’t have to pay him. While they would lose a roster spot, they would save money which for them might be most ideal. However, it doesn’t make any sense for him to lose the money, let alone the holdout might only make him more un-tradable. As such the odds are heavily favored against this happening.
Heck, even Markieff Morris played.
Plus – Knight is not that bad.
I understand that he had one of the absolute worst +/- ratings in the league last season, but he wasn’t that bad when he was with the Milwaukee Bucks or Detroit Pistons. In fact, Bucks Head Coach Jason Kidd was nothing but complimentary of Brandon Knight when the trade originally went down.
In 2013-14 Knight was a fringe All-Star player. In 2014-25 he shot 40.9% from three in Milwaukee. In his first full season in Phoenix, Knight did average 19.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. Allow him the chance to prove that he is a capable NBA player, and he will. Give him a stable role with a series of expectations and he will hit them. Actually show faith in a player that since the moment he has come to Phoenix has been under a microscope not for who he is but for who and what he was traded for – a level of pressure that is absolutely unfair to heap on him.
For this to succeed, and for him to re-build his trade value, he needs to be given a role, the coaching staff needs to hold to that role, and they need to let him take the opportunity to succeed. And lest we ignore the obvious, any success on the court will be helpful in attempting to move him, whereas sitting him offers teams zero reason to trade anything of value for him.
If he plays – and obviously only in a backup role – one of three things will happen. One, he will suck and the Suns will be stuck with him anyway, ultimately changing nothing. Two, he will reaffirm his true skills and ability and another team will be more willing to part with something that the Suns would like to have in return. Or three, he will be a part of a very good second unit and regardless of whatever he is paid, his value on the court will be worth it.
Seriously, imagine a second unit of:
PG – Tyler Ulis
SG – Brandon Knight
SF – T.J. Warren (or Josh Jackson)
PF – Dragan Bender
C – Alan Williams (or Tyson Chandler)
Admittedly small, but not that bad, on paper.
For those who want Davon Reed to play and would rather see him receive time over Knight, I sympathize. Reed had a great Summer League (he scored in double-figures in all six games, the only Sun to do so, and averaged 14 points per game – I would link to those stats if I had an individual page, and instead had to do the math myself) and if he can carry that over into the regular season, Reed absolutely can be the steal of the draft.
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But as of today, getting Knight’s value restored is by far the more pressing issue facing the Suns. If Knight does regain his value, then maybe Reed will only need to wait until the trade deadline before he receives an uptick in playing time.
Should it take until the 2019 offseason then so be it. Reed will undoubtedly still get some court appearances this season and will too have plenty of practice time to improve his game. By 2018-19 he will only be more capable to take on the reserve shooting guard responsibilities when that time comes.
In summation: The Phoenix Suns must keep, and play, Brandon Knight.