Brandon Knight’s injury actually makes things easier
By Adam Maynes
Trade for other bad contracts / losing a pick
Whether McDonough and Watson had already made the decision or would get to this point eventually, Knight’s position in the rotation may already have been lost, ala Markieff Morris in 2015-16. With this possibility in mind, Reed, D.J., and Jones may already have been in line to receive the minutes that I have previously discussed. As such, had McDonough eventually reached the point of trading Knight, he may have made a trade that could have hurt the Suns in long-term, just to get him off the roster in the short-term.
While most Suns fans were adamantly against moving Knight with a future first round pick or other asset, this was always an option on the table. McDonough could have eventually reached a point with Knight (had he refused to play or on some level become a nuisance or cancer in the locker room) to do whatever possible to move him, and pairing Knight up with assets that McDonough would have preferred kept would have been the most likely scenario.
Furthermore, as I postulated could have been a viable trade plan, McDonough might have searched for a player (or players) with only two years remaining on their contract compared to Knight’s three, but who is owned much more money over those two seasons. This potentially could have hampered the chance to make trades either this season, throughout next offseason, and additionally into 2018-19, because the team would have been severely cap-strapped due to the extra cash owed to a player that would – likely by design – not be making a significant impact on the court.
By Knight’s injury all but preventing a trade this season, things really can’t change much, and thus McDonough isn’t at risk of eventually making a trade he really just did not want to do. Sure, Knight could still be a problem, but the team also might allow him to fulfill his rehab time in Florida (his home) and will not have any off the court issues with teammates here in Phoenix. Granted his salary is still a lot that Suns Owner Robert Sarver will have to eat, but at least the chance of trading a pick or young player for nothing, or taking on a potentially debilitating contract in the meantime, has greatly diminished.