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2022 Free Agents - Kevin Knox

Summary
Knox was the #9 overall pick back in 2018, but his career is already on life support. Knox has been one of the most inefficient players in the league since he was drafted in 2018. His minutes have gone down each season as the Knicks became more competitive, and was not in the regular rotation before being traded to Atlanta, nor was he in the Hawks' rotation afterwards.

Knox improved his shooting slightly in '20-'21, hitting slightly below-average from three at 37%. However, the sample size was small and he dropped back down to 33% in '21-'22. He also continued to shoot very poorly from inside the arc.

Knox doesn't have the creation skills to get good shots, and isn't a reliable-enough shooter off the ball. Defensively, Knox also struggles. He has the tools to be a decent defender but hasn't put them together to actually be solid on that end. Knox may benefit from a change of scenery (although the move to Atlanta didn't seem to help), but he simply needs to improve if he's going to stick around in the NBA. He's still only 22, but the NBA can give up on you quickly.

 
Cap Considerations
Knox will be a restricted free agent with a $17.5 million cap hold and a $7.2 million Qualifying Offer. If the Hawks do not have interest in bringing back Knox they could refuse to tender him a QO, making him an unrestricted free agent. With Knox's QO being above his market value, I expect them to not offer him the QO, even if they want to try to bring him back.

Other teams will have multiple ways to Knox as even teams without cap space could use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him to an offer sheet or outright as an unrestricted free agent. He also could likely be signed for the minimum.

Potential Teams: Trailblazers, Magic, Thunder, Pistons, Rockets

Predicted Contract: 1-year, $1.9 million ($1.8 million cap hit) with the Trailblazers

Actual Contract: 2-year, $6 million (2nd year team option) with the Pistons

I'm surprised Knox got more than the minimum, but this is a reasonable flyer by the Pistons as the opportunity cost of signing him was low and the 2nd year is a team option.

Last updated: 8/3/2022

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