Brooklyn Nets Would Benefit From Acquiring Brandon Knight

The NBA trade deadline is almost upon us, so trades are on everyone’s mind. The Brooklyn Nets cannot just make a move for the sake of making a move. They need to try and acquire undervalued, versatile, young players, which is quite frankly, easier said than done.

The Brooklyn Nets have the worst record in the NBA and as usual, trade rumors surround the team, especially with Brook Lopez. Sean Marks and Kenny Atkinson have a thing for undervalued and versatile players. Atkinson in particular wants to run an up-tempo, get-the-shooters-open, type of offense. One player who fits this description is point guard Brandon Knight of the Phoenix Suns.

Knight is in his fifth season in the NBA and is only 25 years old. He is currently averaging career lows in minutes and points per game as he plays the role of sixth man. Coming off the bench behind Eric Bledsoe as part of his recovery from an injury from the previous season, he is averaging about 11 points and two assists in 21 minutes per game over a 50-game stretch.

Any hesitancy to trade for Knight is warranted, given his injury history and playing for three teams in five years. This is especially the case when many Nets fans only know him for blowing a game-winning layup in Jason Kidd‘s return to Brooklyn, and/or him being a regular on Shaqtin-a-fool in his rookie and sophomore years.

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However, given his production when healthy, writing Knight off at his young age could be a mistake. Particularly for a team like Brooklyn looking to specialize in hidden gems, acquiring Knight for a low price could result in high reward. Knight averaged around 18 points and five assists per game in his two seasons with Milwaukee and 19.6 points and five assists per game (over 52 games) for the Suns last season before getting injured.

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This production would certainly be a major boost for Brooklyn with Jeremy Lin out due to a hamstring injury and rookie Isaiah Whitehead finding his footing as a point guard. It is only fair to explore options at the point guard position.

Knight has three seasons remaining on his contract. He is owed $13 million next season, $14 million the following season, and $15 million in the final year of his contract. The Nets have enough cap space to take on the contract and not be hindered by it at all.

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If the Nets can acquire Knight and he turns into a starter or Sixth Man of the Year candidate, the trade is a definite win. Worst case scenario, the Nets acquire a combo guard who is willing to come off the bench and fits perfectly into Atkinson’s system.