Posted by Jonathan Bell in The Utah Jazz have announced that they have acquired veteran point guard Brevin Knight from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for guard Jason Hart.
Knight was orginally drafted by Cleveland in the first round (16th overall) in the 1997 NBA Draft. The 5-10, 170-pound product of Stanford has appeared in 665 career regular season games, 423 of them being starts. This will be Knight’s eighth team over his 11-year NBA career. He has also had stints with Cleveland, Atlanta, Memphis, Phoenix, Washington, Milwaukee, Charlotte, and the Clippers, owning career averages of 7.9 points, 6.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.77 steals per game.
He appeared in 74 games (39 starts) this past season for the Clippers, averaging 4.6 points, 4.4 assists, and 1.35 steals in 22.6 minutes. Knight ranked second in the NBA in assists-per-turnover (4.62) and third in steals per turnover (2.87).
For Utah: Head Coach Jerry Sloan finally has someone he can trust with the ball when Deron William needs to get a blow. Other than Williams, the point guard play in Utah has been inconsistent. Now, the Jazz have a veteran point guard to come off the bench and run the offense for 10-15 minutes a night. You might see Deron Williams play a little off guard next season as well.
For Clippers: I don’t really understand this one for the Clippers as much. They are both expiring after the end of the season, so it was not a salary dump, and both point guards lack range, so it was not for increased offense. My guess is that Hart is a little younger, and might be able to make more of an impact in less minutes. Knight is the type of point guard that needs to play atleast 15-20 minutes a night to make an impact. This could have just possibly avoided a distaction that the Clippers would have been faced with during the season. With Baron Davis and Eric Gordon coming in, there just aren’t a whole lot of backup guard minutes going around.
Hart played well for the Clippers 2-3 years ago when he was there. He’s a bigger guard, and younger as you said. My guess is that Knight simply wasn’t happy there, so they made a minor move to put him on a contender and bring back a younger replacement.
I like it for both sides, but I’ll give the edge to Utah. They finally get a reliable veteran to put behind Deron Williams. Knight is a better decision maker and defender than Hart, not to mention more experienced.
Both players are in their early 30s so I don’t think the age factor is present in this situation. I know Brevin Knight is a pest on defense, can make plays for teammates, but other than that he’s mediocre in most aspects of the game.
I don’t know much about Jason Hart, but he’s most likely going to be taking a backseat to Baron Davis, Shaun Livingston, and maybe even Eric Gordon at the PG position.
That is, if they even keep Livingston.
Apparently, the guy has been making huge strides in his return to be back out there on the court. He should be able to play this season. I don’t LAC should give up on him, yet… he’s a hell of a talent and has shown great skills when healthy.