Don't Look Now: Jason Kidd Is Turning Brandon Knight into Very Good Point Guard
We always knew Brandon Knight could score. It's been his thing since his high school days and one year at Kentucky.
But he didn't sell everyone out of college, where the ups and downs of his stat line—17.3 points per game, 42.3 percent shooting, 4.2 assists, 3.2 turnovers—would ultimately carry over to the pros.
Knight slipped to No. 8 in the 2011 draft behind guys like Bismack Biyombo, Jan Vesely and Tristan Thompson despite having helped guide Kentucky to the Final Four as a freshman.
If you weren't buying into Knight as a starting NBA point guard, chances are your reasoning had to do with one troublesome concern: You feared he was a scorer or off-guard in a point guard's body.
Had Knight measured in at 6'5" instead of 6'3", he'd probably have started off his career as a shooting guard, given his strong scoring instincts.
And up until now, Knight's point guard pitch hasn't been overly convincing. The Detroit Pistons already gave up on him after two years.
Though clearly talented, he's just struggled to push the right buttons running his offense at the point.
Only that hasn't been the case under new coach Jason Kidd in Milwaukee, where Knight's been pretty darn good through the first five games of the year. Though we've still seen some mistakes, he's shown visible progress in his floor game and execution.
Knight is averaging a career-high 7.2 assists after averaging just 4.9 last season. His assist percentage is up to an impressive 39.09 percent from 26.43 percent a year ago, according to RealGM.com.
Of course, the sample size is small, though you can't ignore the possible Jason Kidd effect here. The jury is still out on him as a head coach, but as a point guard mentor? Maybe it's his true calling.
Either way, Kidd seems to have helped make the game a bit easier for Knight to manage and ultimately impact.
"He's been through every situation as a point guard so it definitely benefits us as a team," Knight said of Kidd to Andrew Wagner of The Associated Press via Madison.com.
So far this season, the Milwaukee Bucks are pushing the pace much more than they did under coach Larry Drew. Milwaukee right now ranks No. 9 in the league in pace—it ranked No. 24 in 2013-14—and it's given Knight a few extra possessions a game and opportunities in the open floor.
Kidd also appears to be giving Knight a little more freedom to wheel and deal.
Of players who've played at least three games, only five have had the ball in their possession longer on a per-game basis (John Wall, Donald Sloan, Deron Williams, Mike Conley, Tony Parker), per NBA.com. Last year, Knight ranked No. 20 in time of possession.
He dropped 13 assists on the Charlotte Hornets in Milwaukee's opener this year, with seven of them coming off breakdown drive-and-kicks to either shooters or finishers inside.
Knight has the ability to make things happen off the dribble, and Kidd has been letting him create. And for the most part so far, Knight has done a nice job of pressing the right buttons when in position to make a play.
In the meantime, while his all-around floor game looks more balanced, he continues to score at a solid rate, averaging 18.4 points and taking one shot less per game from last season.
He's already gotten to the free-throw line 10 times in a game twice (through five games) this year, a feat he only managed to pull off six times in 72 games total in 2013-14.
Knight is even rebounding like an animal, averaging 7.2 boards, and it's led to easier opportunities the other way. A few times, we've seen him push the ball off the defensive glass and find an open man before the defense could set.
Still, for all the positives we've seen this year, Knight continues to occasionally remind us where his weaknesses as a point guard lie. He really has to improve his feel out of the pick-and-roll, particularly as a passer. He hasn't been able to get his teammates enough open looks coming off ball screens.
But overall, Knight has never looked so confident running an offense the way he has under Kidd.
Sure, we'll still see him overdribble or lose control, but the numbers aren't lying—he's starting to look like a more complete guard and polished facilitator.
This is a big year for Knight, who'll be a restricted free agent this summer. The Bucks will eventually have to decide whether to invest in him as the future franchise point guard.
But if Knight continues making strides as a decision-maker and playmaker, there's enough talent here and upside—he's only 22 years old—to be that guy for the long haul.
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