Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Brandon Knight is going to be one highly motivated basketball player this season. He’ll be highly motivated when he’s on the court for the Milwaukee Bucks for one reason: the Detroit Pistons.
Knight will be like any athlete when he’s been traded for another player, and when that particular performer is being hailed by his former team as one of the many saviors of the NBA franchise.
It’s not lost on Knight that the Pistons made as big of a deal about getting Brandon Jennings as they did for signing Josh Smith as a free agent. For his first two seasons in Detroit, it was Knight who was heralded as a future savior of sorts. That could still be the truth, but it will be with the Bucks, not the Pistons.
In his two seasons with the Pistons, Knight had decent stats with 31.9 minutes, 3.9 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game. His shooting was fine with 41 percent from the floor, 37.3 percent from 3-pointers and 74.3 percent from the free throw line.
What the Bucks need from Knight that the Pistons didn’t get is consistency. In the third to last game of the season against the Charlotte Bobcats, Knight was 6-of-9 from the floor, 3-of-3 in 3-point shooting and produced 10 points and seven rebounds. Two nights later against the Brooklyn Nets, he was 3-of-14 from the floor and 0-of-3 at the line for seven points.
Knight can provide the Bucks with good court leadership, but a key will be how he fits in with the Bucks’ other key offseason guard acquisition, O.J. Mayo from the Dallas Mavericks. If the Bucks can find a way to maximize their talents while playing them together, this will be one dangerous team.
Knight could prove to be as valuable to the Bucks as Jennings is to the Pistons simply because Knight can produce even more numbers while becoming a more disciplined player. If that’s the case, the Bucks might make out better than the Pistons in this deal.
John Raffel is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JohnCarlRaffel, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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