god shammgod wrote:Jeff Van Gully wrote:kevin knox is 20 years old. people wylin. if we are supposed to care about development, we should be a lot more patient with young players who were EXPECTED to be projects.
that's the whole issue with taking young guys. it's often going to take the entire rookie scale deal to know what you've got. some guys hit the ground running as teenagers, but that's a lot to ask. some NBA careers are slow burns (see: kyle lowry).
my question is...is it worth it to draft a slow burn player ? they almost never end up staying with the team that drafted them because after 4 years that team doesn't want to pay them and has run out of patience trying to develop them. knox might figure it out but it probably won't be here unless he does it soon.
I think you're asking one of the toughest questions any franchise has to answer. Slow track/high upside players probably should be a component of any talent pipeline, but economics tend to get in the way by the time they may be on the cusp of individual success.
I know you may not agree, but I believe Frank was worth the wait. I think he will grow in value over time.
I'm not sold on Knox, though we can afford to give him another year since he is still cheap even if only to increase his trade value. We have enough picks stashed right now to not dump him away for a 2nd rounder yet.
To me the long term upside is a question of basic talent and smarts. Every case is unique.
Frank is super talented on defense and he seems like a fairly smart guy.
Knox has some physical talents. He is very long and his floaters as a rookie showed off some of that length to advantage, but he is heavy footed. His mental game is weak, both as a competitor, having a motor and strategically.
I'm pretty clear about where Frank fits in the league (stopper, secondary distributor, maturing into a three point threat), whereas I don't even know if Knox will stick in the league.
It still looked like Knox doesn't know what his fit is or what he is trying to grow into. It could be a maturation issue as he came in so raw and young, but it is going to take a patient club to find out.
If a deal involving both Randle and Knox can bring back a first round pick and/or a favorable package, I'd pull the trigger.