Brandon Knight likely out for season with torn ACL

After a rough season, and an awkward situation with his benching at the end of the year, things seemed like they could only go up from there. And then this…

Brandon Knight injury update.https://t.co/jTnZkhQn7Z
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) July 25, 2017

Brandon Knight has been one of the most critically-under performing players on the roster – some by his own doing, much much due to a situation entirely out of his own control. When Ryan McDonough made his three consecutive three-team deals at the 2015 trade deadline, it is unfairly easy to lump each trade together as one and see that the Suns received Brandon Knight for Isaiah Thomas and the Los Angeles Lakers first round pick that as of 2018 is 100% unprotected.

Coming into his tenure in Phoenix franchise with that hanging over his head and there was almost nothing that he could do to overcome those criticisms short of becoming an All-Star himself.

Suffering from lackluster shooting and injuries over his two-and-a-half seasons in Phoenix, and one of the worst +/-‘s in the league, as well as his refusal to play over the final 22 or so games at the end of last season, and Knight was never quite able to prove that he was worth the trade, thus never fully endearing himself with the fanbase.

Over the past season it was even reported that Ryan McDonough has looked to recoup some of what was lost in acquiring Knight and trade him for a first round pick. Although due to his poor play, coupled with his larger contract, and this was something that McDonough was obviously never able to accomplish.

However, even amidst the grey clouds hovering over Knight, it still seemed that brighter days were ahead of him.

I have argued over and over that Knight is not that bad. Much of the situation that has negatively effected fans’ opinions of him is entirely out of his control. He could not control who he was traded for, thus comparing him to that which was traded from Phoenix is patently unfair. His primary position prior to Phoenix was point guard, but he was brought into a situation where he was to start at shooting guard, then only to have Devin Booker take over that role. He too had been benched to end the 2016-17 season (when healthy) and was only asked to re-enter the rotation when Eric Bledsoe had also been benched, who was healthy as well. Knight claimed that he was no longer in game shape, and for someone who was not expecting to see the court again, that is not at all uncommon.

Should he have made a public statement that he would work his way back as quickly as possible and at least give the team his services rather than leave a gaping hole in the roster? Yes. But I would argue that the team should not have put him in that situation in the first place.

With all of that now behind him, having this offseason to regain his focus, work on his game, and hopefully embrace whatever role the Suns would design for him was paramount for both he and the franchise was vitally important. It has even been presumed that he would like to be traded to a team where he can have a larger focus in the offense, and in order to do that he would need to play at his peak. He was using this summer to help him get there, and McDonough may have been able to find a taker even before the season started.

Everything seemed to be lining up for this to happen.

And then he tore his ACL…

It is so unfortunate to hear this news for several reasons.

First and foremost, nobody should ever wish an injury upon a player (especially on their favorite team), and especially something that will not only take away such a huge chunk of his career, but ultimately could entirely derail it. Therefore, I personally feel awful for Knight who I am sure is a competitor and will suffer from the inability to play over the duration of his recovery process.

Secondly though, the Suns had the opportunity this season to work him back into tradable shape and move him to a team where he likely would have been given greater playing time with a potentially larger role in the offense. In return the Suns could have received a first round pick, or a player with first round value, who could have been used in a future trade – an idea that is foundational to the team’s current re-build.

With Knight on the bench for the time being, not only is it impossible to trade him while injured, but if he does miss the entire 2017-18 season, he will still have two years and a bit more than $27M remaining on his contract that will be extremely difficult to trade until he returns to full, productive form. While he may have a speedy and full recovery potentially being ready by the start of 2018-19, he will still need to prove that his skills (and his knee) are worth the loss of assets by a team to acquire him.

For the time being, unless the Suns make a free agent signing they weren’t expecting to make, or a trade that acquires them an additional guard, Davon Reed and Derrick Jones Jr. have just been granted the chance to have a much larger piece of the minutes pie then they would have had Knight been able to perform this season.

And they need to take advantage of it.

Suns fan already got a taste of what Jones Jr. can bring to the team through his cheetah-like speed and inhuman jumping ability – a wealth of impressive alley-oops and put back jams – though not much else. He is still only 20-years-old and did show flashes of defensive ability, but DJ must become a much more well-rounded offensive player to ever have the chance at a regular NBA role. If he can turn extra minutes into visible growth, there is no reason to believe that in two years he can’t enter the rotation on a regular basis as a backup shooting guard and small forward.

More from Valley of the Suns

Davon Reed showed Suns fans a lot of his own two-way capabilities in the Summer League impressing fans enough that many had already called for him to be Devin Booker’s primary backup, even to the detriment of Brandon Knight’s minutes. Should Reed be able to shoot from the outside with any consistency, as well as lockdown non-starters on defense, then he too could use these potential extra minutes to define his role for the franchise for many years to come.

In the end, Brandon Knight’s presumed loss for the 2017-18 season does very little in projecting the outcome of the season overall. However, his inability to play has opened up additional opportunities for moves that might not have otherwise happened, as well as minutes for several young players.

God Speed in your recovery, Brandon Knight – although Suns fans now have a few additional extra things to watch for this coming season.

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