Unrestricted free agent forward Kevin Knox will sign a two-year, $6MM deal with the Pistons, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
After being selected by the Knicks with the ninth pick in the 2018 draft out of Kentucky, Knox enjoyed a productive rookie season for a rebuilding 17-65 New York club. The 6’7″ forward averaged a career-best 12.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.1 APG and 0.6 SPG in a career-most 28.8 MPG, starting in 57 of his 75 healthy games.
Knox has never scaled those heights again in his successive three NBA seasons of action. The 22-year-old has yet to average better than half of that scoring mark across three unproductive seasons with New York and the Hawks, to whom he was traded in January.
After head coach Tom Thibodeau took over in 2020, Knox found himself a fringe rotation player, averaging 11.0 MPG in just 42 games during the team’s playoff-bound 2020/21 season.
Last year, Knox cameoed in just 13 games with the Knicks before being dealt to Atlanta. In 17 games with the Hawks, Knox averaged just 6.5 MPG. The Hawks did not tender a qualifying offer to Knox this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Considering the Pistons’ youth movement, it makes sense for the team to take flyers on young lottery selections like Knox and Marvin Bagley III, as Detroit builds around star point guard Cade Cunningham and 2022 lottery picks Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren.
Dude pistons are going shock people
Totally, Kevin Knox is a real difference-maker
How you know who you really are as a player if you don’t get mins. Dude went to the dog house once thibs got there . Plus he still young got time to grow
Kevin Knox is a G League player. He’s awful.
He’s 22 yrs old. True his head is not in this. He’s still got yrs to show up.
@rct – you being kind. Apparently this is some sort of a prank that Detroit isn’t aware of yet.
No idea how he swindled a second year from the Pistons but good for him in securing his bag.
Are they gonna be that bad?
I love this move as a rebound candidate
He better be able to shoot. Two years & 6 million is nothing for a guy who was once the 9th pick in the draft. If Killian Hayes doesn’t play well (i.e) shoot better, he’s going to be paid just like this guy.
He never got a real shot. Thibs never played him. If he get better mins maybe he will show up
He did not make it in ATL either.
But beat the drums, fan.
Sometimes it takes a player the right situation. Thibs wasn’t and neither was Atlanta, it’s a 3 million dollar gamble on a player who was a lottery pick.
Hopefully he can finally show something
He is still only 22. If he had stayed in school, he would still have one year of eligibility left in college thanx to Covid. So there is still a chance for him to blossom.
Personally, I never saw the hype for him other than his age. His one year at Kentucky was rather meh. I never saw much out of his game that said he would be even a first rounder, let alone a lottery pick. But I still wish him well and hope he can pair with Hamidou Diallo and make the Pistons second string better than the first.
Wasted talent. He seriously doesn’t even like playing ball. Too bad.