Welpee wrote:1) can't predict injuries; 2) you're assuming that Knox remains the exact same player he was this season and displays zero progress or development. Again, I don't hold out a lot of hope for Knox but it wouldn't be unheard of for him to turn his game around; 3) I agree, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised that he's included in a trade.
OK, so taking a different angle, let's say I was a part of Verus and was assigned to be Knox's agent. What would I do to help salvage his career?
First, he needs to get off the Knicks roster. Thibs doesn't trust him and I don't blame Thibs for that. Thibs and the current front office has no linkage nor association nor legacy with Knox on the day he was drafted. Yes, there is a Kentucky connection but it's not Leon Rose nor Thibs betting their own judgement here. They didn't pick Knox and have the pressure of owning the mistake of having him on the roster. He's a problem inherited from the previous regime.
Second, since the Knicks have so much open cap space, trading Knox is actually harder. Teams hard up against the cap have no choice but to dump salaries on other teams and no one can do anything about it. This is a bit different. If the Knicks were right up against the cap line, they could say you have to take Knox or we can't legally find a way to make this deal. But that's not the case here.
Third, Knox needs to go to a team that will organically tank. That means they will trade all the veterans they can off their roster and let cast offs, UDFAs and overwhelmed rookies take the majority of minutes. It helps that teams draft position and they care less about who is getting minutes as long as the team is losing and they can say they are giving their "core" rookies some minutes and development. In this kind of situation, Knox doesn't have too much pressure, might get extended minutes ( esp with injuries if they happen around him), and then can try to rebrand himself and his market value with pure volume and counting stats.
If the Knicks can't trade Knox, I'd push for the team to waive him. Doubtful another team will pick him up off of waivers. Then he has a chance to find a team who is organically tanking without hoping a trade pathway there.
In terms of career, Knox is not a wing. The kind of work profile to become a functional wing is just not in his mental makeup. What Knox can do is try to convert to a small ball pivot. His defense is pure ass, but now he's got something to work on. His offense reeks for a converted wing. However it's passable for a small ball pivot ( where any offensive ability is gravy to a team) He has to change the direction of his pressure. Right now, his defense is total shit and there is immense pressure to make up for it offensively. However he's just not good enough offensively to make that work. Instead, he should focus 90 percent of his effort in improving his defense and accept his limitations on offense. You only have so much work capacity to try to improve. You have to pick your spots. Being a lazy unskilled gunner isn't going to work here. But this is shit he should have doing in the Delete 8 layoff.
I've seen his interviews, I've seen his decision making on the court, I've seen trends that just didn't improve period. He's not....he's not a rocket scientist. Not even close. His future will rely on a team making things very very very very very very very simple for him. Guys like this need to be taught how to be a hammer, and to see the rest of the world as nails.
One of the worst things to happen in the "Go Woke/Go Broke" era of modern sports is you can't just say a player is purely fucking dumb anymore. You'll likely be called a racist. Michael Vick could NOT read the most basic NFL defense to save his life. He just couldn't. If you called him a low football IQ quarterback, then you would be called a racist. It's unfortunate, because most players need a "Come To Jesus" moment where they have to face the reality of their broken sports careers. Knox honestly needs to hear he's a purely dumb player and the inherent laziness combined with that is just not acceptable. You might get away with being hard working and dumb. Or smart and lazy. Maybe for a little while. But you can't be fucking dumb AND lazy as fuck at the same motherfucking time.
Knox plays like an asshole because he's been enabled all his life and coddled to believe he's fine and perfect even though he's actually playing like an asshole.
If I was Knox's agent, I'd want him to go to the Heat. But they have close to no use for a guy like this. But the Heat wouldn't tolerate any of this soft serve jogging around bullshit. Jimmy Butler would fucking strangle Knox on the team bus for pulling this limp wristed Momma's Boy shit.
This team desperately needs a veteran player, an old dog like a Haslem, who will walk around and tell people to go fuck themselves if they actually deserve to hear that they need to go fuck themselves.
Make no mistake, I'm from the old school. If I was on the same roster as Knox, and saw him lolly gagging around like a school girl playing double dutch at recess, I would no doubt punch him in the fucking face.
Don't be motherfucking lazy. Not ever. It's not profitable for Frito Lay.