NBA Trade Deadline portfolio: Brandon Knight

It’s an open secret that the Phoenix Suns are willing (and perhaps desperate) to trade combo guard Brandon Knight. After acquiring him at the 2015 deadline, they signed him to a five-year, $70 million deal that summer. The contract promptly turned into one of the worst for a young player in the entire NBA. Between missing time with a left adductor strain that forced him into surgery last April and struggling to maintain scoring efficiency, Knight has been a disappointment from the time he joined the Suns. This year has been more of the same.

Knight is shooting 39 percent from the field, and the Suns are more than five points better per 100 possesions on offense this season with him on the bench. Though he’s had stretches of enthused two-way production, there’s been nothing so encouraging that the Suns can convince another team of his rehabilitated value. Knight is someone who will need to improve to return to form in a new city; his current level of play isn’t appealing to any team. Unfortunately, injuries have continued to affect him this season, and he’s been unimpressive for the majority.

Knight signed the five-year, $70 million mentioned above even after teammate Eric Bledsoe had signed a similar deal the year before, and after the team had just used a lottery pick to select Devin Booker. After two above-average seasons in Milwaukee, it appeared the Suns had found a better fit next to Bledsoe who could shoot, defend and make plays in Jeff Hornacek’s two-point guard system. As a result, Knight received and accepted that sizable offer in restricted free agency.

Any team acquiring him at the deadline would owe the remainder of Knight’s salary this season, followed by $13.6 million next year, $14.6 the next season and finally $15.6 in the last year of his deal. That’s high-enc backup/low-end starting point guard money in the NBA’s new money market; he ranks near Jeremy Lin, Ricky Rubio and Rajon Rondo in terms of average annual value for this contract.

Based on ESPN’s report that the Sacramento Kings have spoken with Phoenix about acquiring Knight, it’s more likely that his value is just lower than other available players. He’s not a bad plan B for some team getting poor play out of its guard spots with money to spend.

The hard part is finding a team who fits that description. By my count, only the Kings, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets and (funnily enough) Milwaukee Bucks seem to fit that mold. The idea of taking on three-plus years of salary for a player with Knight’s recent history might make most of the league balk, but it’s a situation worth watching.

Besides the Windhorst report, only Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro has had any recent news regarding Knight and his availability. Unfortunately for the Suns, that news offered little hope. Gambadoro reports that Phoenix will have “a tough time” dealing Knight before the Feb. 23 trade deadline. CBS Sports’ James Herbert listed the Bulls, Magic, Mavericks, Pelicans, Kings and Hawks as teams who would have use for a player like Knight. Hoops Habit’s Suns writer, Gerald Bourguet, added Philadelphia and Brooklyn to those six in his own detailed look at a possible Knight trade.

Unlike last season’s Markieff Morris situation, the Suns are unlikely to rehab Knight’s value enough that a team will offer anything of worth in return for him this February. So unless they think they can pull off something bigger during the offseason, they ought to capitalize on some organization’s in-season desperation.

Next: The 20 best NBA players who could be available at the trade deadline

I think at this point, receiving financial flexibility and some small asset in return for Knight is the best the Suns can hope for. Something like Rudy Gay’s expiring deal and a second-round draft pick makes a lot of sense; it frees Phoenix from double-digit salary over the next three seasons and gives them a selection in the top half of the second round.