National Basketball Association

Bucks player profile: Brandon Knight

Published Sep. 26, 2014 1:47 p.m. ET

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This is the seventh profile in a 16-part series running Wednesdays and Fridays profiling each Milwaukee Bucks player leading up to the start of the NBA season.

Brandon Knight has spent his first three seasons trying to prove he can be an effective starting point guard in the NBA.

While the question of true position continues to linger, Knight took advantage of an opportunity with the Milwaukee Bucks and made great strides on the court. As the Bucks continue their rebuilding process, Knight will look to prove he is worthy of being in the core group moving forward.

2013-14 stats: 17.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 4.9 APG, 42.2 FG %, 80.2 FT %, 32.5 3PT % over 33.3 MPG in 72 games

2014-15 salary: $3,553,917

Last year: Acquired from Detroit along with Khris Middleton in the Brandon Jennings trade, Knight was Milwaukee's leading scorer during the 2013-14 campaign. The offensively challenged Bucks desperately needed somebody to score on a nightly basis, and Knight did just that.

Knight suffered a strained right hamstring less than two minutes into the season opener against the New York Knicksat Madison Square Garden and missed eight of the Bucks' first 11 games. Even when he returned, Knight was clearly bothered by the lingering injury for much of the first two months of the season.

Once the hamstring issue was cleared up, Knight became more productive. He averaged 19.9 points and 4.9 assists per game after the All-Star break in February, finishing with a career-high 17.9 scoring average. Knight also posted career bests in assists per game (4.9), rebounds per game (3.5), steals per game (1.0) and shooting percentage (42.2 percent).

Being traded to the Bucks allowed Knight to showcase his offensive ability on a bad team. He played on and off the ball in his first season in Milwaukee but thrived when paired in the backcourt with another ball handler (Nate Wolters or Ramon Sessions). He has a different gear he can kick into to turn the corner around a defender to get to the basket. Not a great shooter, Knight would too often settle for long two-point jump shots with time remaining on the shot clock.

As a point guard, Knight improved his assist rate and the turnovers dropped, but he still was inconsistent in his decision making and passing ability.

Knight proved to the Bucks brass how relentless of a worker he is, as well. He was usually the last player to leave the practice floor, often times spending at least an hour working with assistant coach Josh Oppenheimer.

Overall, Knight went through a year of personal growth but watched as his team won just 15 games. He was hesitant to discuss how much he improved at the end of last season because of how poorly the Bucks fared.

This year: Knight is a former first-round pick entering the final guaranteed year on his rookie deal, making him a candidate for a contract extension. The deadline for the Bucks to complete an extension with Knight to prevent him from becoming a restricted free agent after the season is Oct. 31.

It is unlikely any kind of deal gets done before Halloween, as the Bucks want to see more from Knight before they decide whether or not to commit to him long term.

Knight is certainly a good NBA player, but where he fits on a good team is still up in the air. There's little question as to if he can put the ball in the hole, but Knight must improve his decision making with the basketball, improve his passes in the pick-and-roll and see the floor better in order to continue to play point guard.

The Bucks have a bit of a logjam at point guard with Knight, Wolters, Kendall Marshall and Jerryd Bayless. A former first-round pick himself and a true point guard, Marshall has to be given a chance to show what he can do. Bayless will give Milwaukee a combo guard off the bench, as he can play on or off the ball.

Knight will almost certainly find himself in the starting lineup on opening night, but will he be at point guard or shooting guard? New coach Jason Kidd can toy around with the pieces in his backcourt during the preseason to figure out combinations that work.

Defensively, Knight has the size and strength to defend both guard positions. It's difficult to get a definitive read on his defensive ability because of how bad the Bucks were as a whole on that end of the floor last season.

Many people forget that Knight is just 22 years old and actually younger than last year's NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams by a couple of months. Knight would be entering his rookie season had he stayed all four years at Kentucky.

It would simply be unfair to place a definitive label on Knight at such a young age. He's proven to be a productive player, but whether there's room to improve is still unknown. At worst, Knight will be a scoring threat as a combo guard.

Quoteable:

"Going through what we went through (in 2013-14), as far as lack of respect from officials, teams -- who wants to go through that? I take it as kind of a slap in the face. I think we can use it as motivation. I'll constantly remind guys of what happened. We're going to get better." -- Knight

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