Brandon Knight

Finally have use for my screen name again.

Brandon Knight is the best PG available in this draft and I would like to prove this argument with 5 subcategories. Statistics. Eye-test. Pedigree. Adressing Jimmer Fans. Dream Scenario.

Statistics.

Brandon Knight, LeBron James, and Greg Oden are the only players to have ever won Gatorade Player of the Year in consecutive seasons.  Good Company. Let’s keep in mind he is twenty years old and we have a small sample size to work with, so Gatorade POY is significant at this point in his career. Second significant statistic; he broke John Wall’s freshman single season scoring record, and averaged the most points by a freshman in UK history. John Wall is more explosive, had more assists, better athlete. John Wall also had a better supporting cast and couldn’t get to the Final Four because of a scrappy West Virginia team that played zone and forced him to shoot. Brandon Knight faced the same scrappy West Virginia zone defense in the second round of the NCAA tournament the following year and scored 30. Brandon Knight is a better shooter than John Wall (based on any college FG% statistic), doesn’t make him a better player. To be fair John Wall probably would’ve scored more if he had less of a supporting cast. Ultimately however, Knight and Wall played at the same program under the same coach in consecutive seasons and it is a statistically viable comparison.

Eye Test.

I saw both the 1st and 2nd round UK NCAA tournament games down in Tampa last year.  I’m a huge UK fan and have been to more games in Rupp Arena than in Energy Solutions, but I was surprised by his size up close. Listed as 6’3” but looks a solid 6’5” and has great SG size. Scouts have said he is more of a scoring guard, but I don’t think you can list that as a negative given his size (see 6’1” Kemba Walker).  Brandon Knight is a player and wants to win. Every scouting report I have read references his motor. Takes and makes big shots. Won the McDonalds All-American game on a three pointer. Won the Princeton game on a runner in the lane. Won the Ohio State game on a long jumper. Those are all nationally broadcasted games where he not only took the last shot, but made it. The UK fans I talk to liked him more than John Wall (UK fans understand the game and are strangely similar to Jazz fans in that regard). The biggest critiques of John Wall were his showboating and shooting, whereas the biggest critique of Brandon Knight was that he forced his shot- not that he couldn’t shoot. Another kind of eye-test stat was that Brandon Knight was filling John Wall’s shoes last season and it didn’t affect him. Has poise.  His game matured from high school to college. Given the Dwill CP3 rivalry, we’ve also come to appreciate individual matchups. Brandon Knight killed Kyrie Irving in Jordan Classic two years ago. This is just a cool highlight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFUp8VbCPKY

Pedigree.

 In horse racing, thoroughbreds are given sizeable odds based on pedigree. A Calipari PG has a high basketball pedigree. In order: Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall, Brandon Knight. Again, good company.(Marcus Teague will be a considerable dropoff next year in that list, but Calipari wasn’t recruiting a major prospect in case Knight came back to school) Without gloating to much about UK basketball, it’s the best college basketball program in America. Taking them to the Final Four along with holding major freshman records is an impressive feat.

Another thing NFL scouts look for is: does this kid want to win, or does he want to be famous (see Jamarcus Russel). Brandon Knight comes from a great family back ground. Both of his parents are college educated; wealthy.

He’s also been described as a gym rat.

Jimmer Fans.

I’m not a crazy person, but I like Jimmer and I think it makes good business sense for the Jazz to draft him.  I don’t think he can play the point. For Jimmer to make sense in a second unit, he’ll need to play with a big quick PG, which could allow Jimmer to defend the slowest player on the floor. A PG that can shoot will also keep defenses more honest and allow Jimmer spacing for getting his shot.

Jimmer fans also need to realize drafting Derrick Williams greatly reduces the chances of Jimmer playing for the Jazz. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of Derrick William at the 3. He’s been described as a ‘tweener’ by scouts meaning he is in between positions and needs to play for a team where he can embrace the identity of playing facing the basket. Which would fit our needs at the 3 exactly. However, I think if we draft Derrick Williams it creates a more likely scenario where we package Millsap with the #12 pick in a trade. Chris Ford made a good point in a podcast with Bill Simmons, ‘any other GM would buckle under the pressure to draft Jimmer, but KOC is tougher than most GMs.’

Simply put, drafting Brandon Knight increases the chances of keeping the #12 pick and perhaps drafting Jimmer.

Dream Scenario.

  We trade Millsap and CJ Miles for Jeff Green and draft Brandon Knight. Giving us a starting lineup of Harris, Hayward, Green, Favors, Jefferson. I think it is more beneficial for the core of a young team to be playing its starters 25+ minutes per game, with Favors playing 40 minutes. Having to share and limit the minutes of young players is a hindrance at this point, and I think CJ especially is more of a clog in minutes than a building block for the future. Knight could play either the 1 or the 2 coming off the bench. I also like Jimmer,AK, Okur, and Evans in a scoring oriented second unit. Trade Raja,Watson and Tomic for a future 1st round draft pick, and a good backup F/C

Every time we discuss trades, we discuss matchups within the conference, and ultimately Brandon Knight poses some great matchup problems for teams in the Western Conference.  He is the Best PG available.