[ot-caption title=”After playing great in his second season with the Milwaukee Bucks, Brandon Knight was shipped to the Phoenix Suns at the trade deadline, as the Bucks didn’t want to pay the star 4th year guard. (Via Noah K. Murray, USA Today Sports)” url=”https://pcpawprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/brandon-knight-deron-williams-nba-milwaukee-bucks-brooklyn-nets-850×560.jpg”]

Pine Crest’s very own Brandon Knight made it clear that he was destined for big things in his basketball career when he was just in high school. His spectacular play earned him recognition from basketball lovers across the country as he won awards such as the National Gatorade High School Player of the Year, not once but twice, putting him in elite company with Greg Oden and Lebron James. He would continue to collect hardware throughout his high school career. Winning two state championships, and earning a spot to play in the McDonalds All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic, Brandon Knight was surely on the path to stardom going into college . Even with his departure in 2009, Pine Crest still bursts with pride about his accomplishments on and off the court.

After his high school career, Knight accepted a scholarship offer to play basketball at the University of Kentucky, one of the most storied and prestigious programs in all of college basketball. He played a key role in his lone year at Kentucky, leading his team to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. Soon after that, Knight declared for the NBA Draft and his journey in the NBA began.

Having shown great promise in high school and college, Knight was drafted eighth overall by the Detroit Pistons in 2011. However, with the Pistons trying to rebuild, Knight was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in July of 2013. After a subpar first season with his new team, the following year Knight took his play to another level, averaging around 18 points and five assists per game with the Bucks, while vaulting his team to 6th place in the Eastern Conference.

Despite his eye-popping play, the Bucks decided Knight was not worth the hefty contract that he was promised this upcoming summer, and opted for a trade. While they offloaded Knight, they gained the inexperienced point guard Michael Carter-Williams, and two role players in rookie Tyler Ennis and Miles Plumlee, who has shown promise in his 3rd year in the league. Due to this decision by the Buck’s front office, Knight’s NBA journey took a major change in direction as he was traded from the Bucks to the Phoenix Suns on February 19, 2015.

Although being traded means getting acclimated to a whole new team and organization, being traded to the Suns is an exciting development in Knight’s career. He is now on a young, up-and-coming team that is improving rapidly, and will be paired with upcoming star guard Eric Bledsoe. The pair should be a nightmare of a backcourt for opposing teams to deal with as long as they are in Phoenix together. During his short time with the Suns, Knight is averaging nearly 15 points per game as well as five assists per game. It is quite possible that these averages will rise once Knight becomes fully comfortable with his new team.

The Suns currently possess a record of 38 wins and 33 losses, and are a couple games out of the 8th playoff spot in the incredibly tough Western Conference. As the regular season reaches the home stretch, it will be an interesting storyline to see whether or not the addition of Knight is enough to get the Suns into the playoffs. No matter what happens, everyone at Pine Crest is certainly proud of him and his accomplishments, and how well he handles himself on and off the court.

source: ESPN