The Jazz pulled off a minor trade on Tuesday sending Jason Hart to the Clippers in exchange for Brevin Knight. While Brevin Knight may be a familiar name, many fans don't rem
ember why they know his name so well. Brevin has had many shoulder rubs with Utah in the past. There are two major positives about this trade, although Knight will likely only get a few minutes each night. #1, the Jazz got rid of Hart, who never was a good fit in the system, and #2, the Jazz will save about $1M next season. Considering luxury tax implications, and upcoming expenses, that $1M will grow significantly in terms of savings.
ember why they know his name so well. Brevin has had many shoulder rubs with Utah in the past. There are two major positives about this trade, although Knight will likely only get a few minutes each night. #1, the Jazz got rid of Hart, who never was a good fit in the system, and #2, the Jazz will save about $1M next season. Considering luxury tax implications, and upcoming expenses, that $1M will grow significantly in terms of savings.In light of the recent trade, here's some info about Brevin, his career, and his ties to Utah.
Brevin Knight - PG
5'10, 170 lbs
11 years pro
Stanford University:
Knight had a terrific collegiate career, earning many honors both in the PAC-10 and on the national level. In the 1997 NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen, Knight and his Staford Cardinal fell to Keith VanHorn, Michael Doleac, Andre Miller and crew 82-77. Knight led all scorers in the game with 27 points. VanHorn scored 25, Doleac scored 16 while Miller scored an always efficient 19 points. Knight went on to become the Stanford all-time leader in assists and steals.Professional Career:
Knight was selected with the 16th pick in the first round of the 2007 nba draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Knight started his NBA career by averaging 9.0 ppg and 8.2 apg as a starter for the playoff bound Cavaliers. Knight's numbers didn't improve much 
over the next couple of seasons as opponents began to sag off of Knight, forcing him to shoot over the top (which is not his strength). Knight always managed the team well and took care of the ball. In 2000, Knight reconnected with his collegiate nemesis Andre Miller, who stepped right in and took the starting role. Knight was sent that same season to Atlanta where he played spotty minutes on a bad team. Knight struggled to find a role for the next few seasons, before landing a spot with the Charlotte Bobcats, where he played well in a starters role. In Charlotte, Knight achieved career highs in both scoring (12.6) and assists (9.0) in consecutive years. The assist number is pretty astonishing considering he had a very poor supporting cast which often struggled to finish plays for Knight (which would have led to assists). Last season, Knight played reserve minutes for the Clippers who struggled all season.
over the next couple of seasons as opponents began to sag off of Knight, forcing him to shoot over the top (which is not his strength). Knight always managed the team well and took care of the ball. In 2000, Knight reconnected with his collegiate nemesis Andre Miller, who stepped right in and took the starting role. Knight was sent that same season to Atlanta where he played spotty minutes on a bad team. Knight struggled to find a role for the next few seasons, before landing a spot with the Charlotte Bobcats, where he played well in a starters role. In Charlotte, Knight achieved career highs in both scoring (12.6) and assists (9.0) in consecutive years. The assist number is pretty astonishing considering he had a very poor supporting cast which often struggled to finish plays for Knight (which would have led to assists). Last season, Knight played reserve minutes for the Clippers who struggled all season.His Game:
Brevin Knight is a Jerry Sloan Point Guard in that he is highly intelligent and runs an offense very efficiently. Knight is undersized as an NBA player, but makes up for any physical deficiencies with his 
intelligence and quickness. Knight's biggest strength is his passing ability. Year in, year out, Knight ranks among the NBA's best in assist to turnover ratio. As a scorer, Knight scores most of his points attacking the rim. As a shooter, Knight leaves much to be desired. It may be his inability to shoot from the outside that really hurts Knight's effectiveness with the Jazz. While the Jazz always preach a pass first mentality with their Point Guards, the pick and roll demands that a player knock down a perimeter shot. This was Jason Hart's greatest defficiency last season. Let's take a look at two pick and roll scenarios:
intelligence and quickness. Knight's biggest strength is his passing ability. Year in, year out, Knight ranks among the NBA's best in assist to turnover ratio. As a scorer, Knight scores most of his points attacking the rim. As a shooter, Knight leaves much to be desired. It may be his inability to shoot from the outside that really hurts Knight's effectiveness with the Jazz. While the Jazz always preach a pass first mentality with their Point Guards, the pick and roll demands that a player knock down a perimeter shot. This was Jason Hart's greatest defficiency last season. Let's take a look at two pick and roll scenarios:Scenario A: Hart gets the ball on the wing, the middle of the lane is cleared for space as Boozer comes out to set a screen for Hart. Immediately upon recognizing the screen and roll opportunity, the defense falls back into the paint and goes underneath the screen, daring Hart to shoot from the outside. Hart either forces a low-percentage outside shot which looks like he's throwing up a half court buzzer beater, or Hart passes the ball to Kirilenko or Harpring who then try to take their man off the dribble or force an outside jumpshot...trouble.
John Crotty catches the ball on the wing. The middle of the lane opens up as Malone comes out to set a screen for Crotty. Crotty's extremely slow feet allow the defense to give heavy ball pressure without fear of getting beat to the basket. Crotty comes off the screen, with the defense following over the top of the screen behind Crotty. Malone is the bigger threat, so the defensive big man follows Malone instead of providing help on the slowest PG in the history of the NBA. 
With his defender on his back, Crotty maneuvers his way to 15-20 feet where he uses every bit of strength left in his now artificial knees to pull up for the jumpshot...nothing but net.
With his defender on his back, Crotty maneuvers his way to 15-20 feet where he uses every bit of strength left in his now artificial knees to pull up for the jumpshot...nothing but net.It's really sad how effective terrible Point Guards can be in the Jazz offense if they can simply shoot the ball. Nearly every play the Jazz run have an element of a screen and roll. If the PG can't shoot, he better be pretty dang good with the ball. I do believe Knight will be a HUGE upgrade over Hart for the Jazz, but I don't know if Knight will ever take Ronnie Price's spot as the primary backup to Deron Williams. The big advantage Knight has over Hart, is that when the opposing defender goes underneath a screen, Knight possesses the quickness to take advantage of the open space. Knight also possesses the vision and passing ability to take advantage of the passing lanes that open up when a defender goes underneath a screen.
In all, this was a great move for the Jazz. Knight has a great personality, and will provide true veteran leadership that the Jazz missed last season. I expect Knight to be excited to play for a winning team again in the Jazz. Hopefully this new additional will lead to a few more road victories this season for the Jazz (its amazing the affect that veteran leadership has over young teams on the road). If the Jazz get 5 more road victories next season, we'll have home court advantage at least until the Western Conference Finals, and I still believe next year the Jazz win it all.
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2 comments:
Good article. Great insight!
I'm so glad to see Hart go, he was the only player on the team that I hated....and I mean hated.
Thanks for clearing up why the name Brevin Knight sounded so familiar, that has been bugging me since the trade went down.
I'd like to see your publicists putting a little more effort to bring your blog to the level of exposure it deserves. This is the best Jazz stuff I've found anywhere, and trust me I spend a lot of time reading Jazz stuff.
Who is Anonymous??
-Steve
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