Sebastian Pruiti scouts Brandon Knight
Sebastian Pruiti of NBAPlaybook.com wrote a very interesting scouting report on Brandon Knight.
An excerpt of the strengths section:
Despite not being a crazy athletic ball handler like a Derrick Rose or John Wall, Knight simply has a knack to get into the lane with relative ease. He has a quick first step and and uses hesitation/misdirection moves very well, allowing him to get his defender on his hip and get by him on his way to the paint. Off of the catch, Knight loves using the jab step and it is easy to see why, he does a great job of using it to catch his defender leaning one way or the other and then takes advantage, going by him with the dribble:
Again, unlike a Derrick Rose or a John Wall, Knight isn’t going to explode to the rim and finish with powerful dunks. He’s simply not that type of athlete. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t able to score once he gets into the paint. According to Synergy, on shots around the basket Knight shoots 62.4%. Knight has a great touch and he loves to use that touch when shooting a variety of floaters over bigger help defenders:
An excerpt of the weaknesses section:
Knight always seems to take one more dribble than he should when he is in passing situations. He takes a little too long to identify the open player and by that time it is too late to make the pass, but that doesn’t keep Knight from trying. Also, Knight doesn’t do a great job handling hard traps when coming off of ball screens. We mentioned how much of a scoring threat Knight can be in PNR situations, and because of that, teams started trapping him coming off of ball screens. Knight had a really hard time making passes out of these traps, turning the ball over 9.5% of the time when the defense commits to him as he comes off of ball screens.
Check out Pruiti’s post for more analysis and videos that back up everything he says.
Leave a Reply
Jul 21, 2011 • 2:16 pm
by brgulker
Still not a fan…
Jul 21, 2011 • 2:27 pm
by Patrick Hayes
Out of curiosity: who would you take as your long term PG if you could only choose Knight or Stuckey?
Jul 21, 2011 • 3:04 pm
by brgulker
At this moment, Stuckey. Obviously, there are plenty of variables, like price. Stuckey on an MLE-type deal would be good with me. Moer than that, I’ll roll the dice with Knight.
IMO, Stuckey’s ceiling is Stuckey, but he’s probably a little better perimeter shooter.
For the sake of conversation, I’d like a guy like Sessions — great value for the money — while we’re rebuilding. He plays a more pure PG role, allowing guys like Daye and Monroe to get the touches we want while they develop. I think a combination of Knight and Stuckey is dangerous for the long-term development of others.
Jul 21, 2011 • 3:43 pm
by neutes
There is no right answer to that question. I honestly think Stuckey could still be a better PG than Knight. If Knight is like Terry he can become the player Gordon was supposed to be. There are parts of Knights game I really like, but they all revolve around scoring, and the fact he doesn’t have a good shot selection cancels out what he does well on that end. I think he’ll be an 18/6 and resemble Devin Harris to a degree, but he’ll get his points in a slightly different manner than Harris does. Entrusting the team to either of these players most likely lands us an extended trip into no mans land.
Jul 21, 2011 • 6:01 pm
by khandor
Based solely on the evidence in the video clips provided by Sebastian Pruiti, the chances of Brandon Knight developing into a very good PG in the NBA are actually quite high. Instead of characterizing Knight as having “poor” shot selection, what these clips actually show is that Knight has very good understanding of good shot selection, since each of the 6 shots he is shown taking should actually be categorized as being either: 1) Of the high percentage variety that he simply missed, or B) Taken against the shot clock, as his team’s designated shooter/scorer.
Jul 22, 2011 • 1:48 pm
by brgulker
So, in a nutshell, if his highlight reel is taken to be an acceptable sample size, Knight could be good.
Of what prospect is that statement not true?
Jul 21, 2011 • 7:54 pm
by tarsier
I still wonder whether Dumars can flip Knight to Toronto or Utah for either their next first rounder (protected) or Millsap respectively.