I initially posted it without a lot of consideration, but actually think it's not that crazy of a deal... if the Knicks do want to move on from Frank and are thinking they want to be more competitive when KP returns. I'm fine staying with the young guys but gotta think that KP isn't going to want to stay with the youth for very long once he returns and regains his form. So if true, then we should be assessing players value for next year - not so much for 3-4 years down the road.
Nobody is saying Knox won't eventually be a player - just that he seems 2-3 years away from being close to that. His youth, focus, motor and lack of defensive and/or toughness are yellow flags for me. Although Josh Jackson has not taken off either, he plays defense, has an active motor and is in a numbers crunch with TJ, Ariza, Bridges and Booker.
They are both gambles, but if we're looking to make moves - I'd always rather gamble on players that play hard, with passion and have a defensive instinct. I wanted the Knicks to draft Mikal Bridges (over Knox) for this exact reason. And the deal would free up needed cap space and gain a 2nd round pick (which seems to be Frank's value currently IMO). I'd easily swap Bridges for Knox but don't think the Suns would part with him because they gave us a lot to get him.
If you agree about Frank's value being kinda low, that essentially makes it Knox (and the need to trade Lee) for J.Jackson and needed cap space for next year's free agent crop. So this would put us in a better place for FA and wouldn't hurt us in the short term for productivity. Obviously Knox could prove many of us wrong and develop a killer instinct, work ethic and motor (Trier seems to have it even though he needs defensive help). Don't think that's likely to come together in the near future though - there's a lot to work on and develop.
I do believe that J.Jackson could blossom with a change of scenery - have watched him live a few times and think a coach like Fizdale could really help him. He has the same (if not more) physical tools and plays harder then Knox. Basically I think JJ is a year closer to being whatever player he will become and that helps our timeline for when KP returns.