When the front office made the claim about Knox's ball handling during their workout, I was cynical because usually its motivated by marketing and politics. I have to acknowledge that they were correct regarding his improvement in this department, which is encouraging given the time frame in which Knox has accomplished this, and surprising to me because his college trajectory was underwhelming.
Some positives projectionally for him, based on previous summer league statistical precedent, are his rebounding (7.3/gm) and free throw attempt rate (6.5/gm). The suggestion is he has a significant intrinsic athletic advantage and just enough skill at this point that there's hope it will translate.
On a macro level, the front office has done a good job over the past year of auditioning young talent. KP's injury has been helpful in keeping clarity on direction. And it seems that Mills/Perry understand how much uncertainty remins with our current assets (no knee-jerk extension this year for KP). As I've droned on about before, keeping the operation small/consistent maintains our flexibility until these investments reveal themselves, allows the maximization of upcoming draft picks, dollar-cost averages free agent opportunities, and hedges against a cap down-turn. If Hardaway Jr is the one shot they needed to take in the past 1.5 years, I can live with that.
We have another high pick, if we play our cards right this year. And there are several shooting guards that may meet our need, out of Barrett, Little, Reddish and Hachimura. With Frank, one of the above, Knox, Porzingis and Robinson, you have a line-up with formidable 1-on-1 defensive ability, above-average defensive switching ability, good transition ability, average rebounding and unclear shooting. Difficult to say where that line-up ranks, perhaps light on playmaking, but its a start.
Sh-t in the popcorn to go with sh-t on the court. Its a theme show like Medieval times.