The Milwaukee Bucks were in the midst of a surprisingly successful season under the tutelage of Jason Kidd and were well on their way to make it to the postseason. Brandon Knight played a huge role for the Bucks and was in the midst of a career year, so it was quite surprising when he was traded away to the Phoenix Suns to ultimately be replaced by Michael Carter-Williams.
So what’s that about, exactly? Carter-Williams is actually almost two months older than Knight and had been toiling with one of the worst teams in the league. He has regressed in his second year after a stellar rookie season and from an overall standpoint, it’s hard to say if he is really an upgrade over Knight right now.
Apparently, one of the key factors in moving Knight was the fact that Kidd didn’t believe he was a point guard, according to Chad Ford of ESPN:
They want to sign Knight to a long-term contract. They were going to go hard after him this summer — but their chances of getting him were much slimmer given his restricted free agent status. This guaranteed that they controlled his future. If Knight can buy into playing off the ball (Jason Kidd wasn’t convinced he was a point guard which explains why they made the deal for MCW) and letting Bledsoe run the point, I think it will be a great deal for the Suns. I like Knight much better off the ball. But that’s a big if. Knight has always wanted to be the point guard and I’m not sure he’ll adjust any better than Goran Dragic did. We’ll see. He has more incentive.
Knight averaged 5.4 assists – a career high – and 3.2 turnovers in 52 games with the Bucks this year, so it’s true that he doesn’t exactly scream “true point guard“. Perhaps Kidd, considered one of the best point guards in the history of the game, was thinking of a long-term plan to develop Carter-Williams, who does have more of a natural ability to create for his team. His true shooting percentage of 45 percent is an abomination (Knight is sitting much prettier at 55.6 percent) and will likely hurt the Bucks in the immediate future from an efficiency standpoint, but playing a different role where he isn’t forced to be the best creator and scorer at the same time could work wonders for him.
Kidd has achieved greatness as a player and surely wants to do the same as a coach. While the Bucks have had a tremendous season (given what most expected out of them this year), they were not what you would consider one of the scarier teams in the league – which is ultimately what you want to become – with Knight at the helm. With Knight set to become a restricted free agent in the upcoming summer, the Bucks would have had to overpay to keep him or lose him for nothing. They decided to go with the other alternative, which was to deal him for an asset, and they certainly got one in Carter-Williams. Whether he can help the Bucks reach another level remains to be seen, but Kidd has to be looking forward to developing a player who has the potential to be one of the better true point guards in the league.
As for how Carter-Williams felt about being traded so suddenly from the Philadelphia 76ers, here is what the point guard had to say, from Bob Cooney of Daily News:
“I’m happy to be out here with a new team. It’s a great fit for me. It’s tough to swallow to know why and what happened. Tt was thought to really get a rhythm and really learn your teammates. When I did, we were playing pretty well. It’s time for everybody to move on and I’m not looking back. As far as I knew, I was involved in the long term plan, especially with me, Joel and Nerlens. It was really us 3 that were the core group. We were told we were going to be here for a pretty long time. I understand that things change and plans change. I guess Sam and the rest of those guys thought moving me was the best move. I think that coach Brown coaches and Sam does the moves. I don’t think that if it was up to coach Brown I would have been moved.
OTHER NEWS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Rajon Rondo has been suspended for one game by the Dallas Mavericks due to conduct detrimental to the team, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas: “The suspension stems from Rondo’s profanity-laced shouting match with coach Rick Carlisle over play-calling responsibilities during the third quarter of Tuesday’s win over the Toronto Raptors. Rondo, a four-time All-Star acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Boston Celticson Dec. 18, traveled with the team overnight to Atlanta but will not play Wednesday night against the Hawks. Rondo and Carlisle had another emotionally charged dispute in the locker room after the game, sources told ESPNDallas.com, and the Mavs subsequently announced Rondo’s suspension a little more than two hours before Wednesday’s tipoff… Team sources told ESPNDallas.com that friction had been building between Carlisle and Rondo over play-calling responsibilities, the majority of which the coach has handled. Former Mavs point guard Jason Kidd had similar frustrations during his first season playing with Carlisle, although it never resulted in a public outburst.”
Danny Green doesn’t believe his team can make the playoffs if they continue to play the way they have in recent games, from Jeff McDonald of Express-News: “I think we had some good things said, good things talked about,” guard Danny Green said after a high-spirited shootaround session this morning at the Moda Center. “We reflected on what’s going on, what we need to do, what we need to be. If we continue to do what we’re doing, we’re not going to be a playoff team.”… “We have to stay positive, buy into it and encourage each other,” Green said. “That’s all we have to do. Right now, it’s a snowball effect where a couple things go wrong and guys are trying to do so much to make it up quickly, and end up making more mistakes on top of it. “We’re all getting on each other, Pop’s getting on us, and it’s hard to play basketball when we’re not the happy fun team we were last year.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar explained why being able to utilize the post is a great thing, from Maurice Bobb of Slam Online: “Getting points in the paint and creating points by getting fouled in the paint that puts an additional pressure on the team you’re playing against and too many players don’t know how to use that situation to their advantage,” he said. “You have to learn the game on a subtle level using all the tools and situations that are available. The game hasn’t changed that much it’s just that there are fewer players that focus on that part of the game. That’s still a very important part of the game to have someone with post up moves you have an inside threat that is a problem for other teams that’s still a reality it’s just that fewer players are pursuing the game that way. I think it has to do with style. The three-point shot is very seductive, the fans love it. So everybody wants to shoot three pointers.”
Larry Sanders opened up about the reason he walked away from the game of basketball in his own words: “Everyone’s come up with their own theories about why I’ve been absent since leaving the Bucks. I knew people would speculate, but the crazy thing to me is that people are making it about the money. As a person who grew up with nothing, I know money is important. I’m incredibly grateful to have had the chance to play in the NBA. But at the same time, that’s not what fuels me. I’ve never chased money. It’s never been how I define success. Happiness isn’t behind a golden gate. Everyone has to make a living. I’m no different from the person whose 9-to-5 isn’t their dream job. It’s a scary thing to walk away from security but I’m more afraid of living with the “what if.” I love basketball, and if I get to a point where I feel I’m capable of playing basketball again, I will. I’ve had to make the difficult decision to follow my intuition, and allow myself the space and time to explore my true purpose in life.”
Michele Roberts had some harsh criticism for the way the media operates in the locker room, from Kate Fagan of espnW: “Most of the time I go to the locker room, the players are there and there are like eight or nine reporters just standing there, just staring at them,” Roberts said. “And I think to myself, ‘OK, so this is media availability?’ If you don’t have a f—ing question, leave, because it’s an incredible invasion of privacy. It’s a tremendous commitment that we’ve made to the media — are there ways we can tone it down? Of course. It’s very dangerous to suggest any limitation on media’s access to players, but let’s be real about some of this stuff. “I’ve asked about a couple of these guys, ‘Does he ask you a question?’ ‘Nah, he just stands there.’ And when I go in there to talk to the guys, I see them trying to listen to my conversation, and I don’t think that’s the point of media availability. If nothing else, I would like to have a rule imposed, ‘If you have a question, ask it; if you don’t, leave.’ Sometimes, they’re waiting for the marquee players. I get that, but there is so much standing around.”
- Some of the folks in the media, particularly the ones in the New York area, weren’t thrilled with what Roberts had to say and dished back on the attack of the media:
More often than not, most #Knicks are not in the locker room before the game. The player(s) most media are waiting for are never there.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 25, 2015
NBPA chief Michele Roberts on media in locker room: “If you don’t have a f—ing question, leave…it’s an incredible invasion of privacy.”
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 25, 2015
Can’t speak for every reporter, but I ask players questions during pregame locker room access. Michelle Roberts can shadow me if she’d like.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 25, 2015
Last thing on NBPA Michelle Roberts: some players in the locker room before the game are wearing headphones. Not very conducive to a big Q&A
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 25, 2015
If Michele Roberts thinks there’s a lot of standing around in a NBA locker room she’s apparently never visited a MLB clubhouse during access
— Rod Boone (@rodboone) February 25, 2015
Michele Roberts isn’t wrong about some reporters standing around locker room doing nothing or cameramen waiting 4 writers 2 do the work…
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) February 25, 2015
… but if more players were in locker room during the scheduled times, the actual reporters would get in & get out, instead of loitering.
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) February 25, 2015
If Michele Roberts wants to even things out, LeBron can come over to my office and ask me questions for 7 or 8 minutes whenever he likes.
— Sean Deveney (@SeanDeveney) February 25, 2015
Michele Roberts has about the same understanding of how to do my job as I do about how to do hers.
— Alex Raskin (@alexraskinNYC) February 25, 2015
I’ll bet NBA union chief Michele Roberts won’t want to limit media access during the next labor talks. Just a crazy hunch.
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) February 25, 2015
Maybe what Michele Roberts meant to say was “we need to limit Berman of the Post.”
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) February 25, 2015
I want Michele Roberts to write a deadline NBA story lol…We are BEGGING players to dress so we can get what we need..not “standing around”
— Tony Jones (@Tjonessltrib) February 25, 2015
Only thing incredible about what Michele Roberts is saying is her misinformation. The reason reporters are standing in the locker room. ..
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) February 25, 2015
Is we’re waiting for a player who may or may not show up for the scheduled availability, maybe for a second or two before he leaves. Or. …
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) February 25, 2015
We’re trying to be respectful by waiting to talk to a player who is getting ready in front of his locker, playing on his phone, etc. …
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) February 25, 2015
If Michele Roberts wants to change this, then players could come out of the locker room to speak. But I’m guessing they won’t do that.
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) February 25, 2015
Isola of Daily News hit back particularly hard in this piece about Roberts: “For Ms. Roberts to put further restrictions on availability is a fight that isn’t worth fighting. Will she instruct her players not to alert the media to attend the numerous charity functions they run both during and after the season? Something tells me the players don’t complain about a media horde at their events. And when she begins to negotiate the next collective bargaining agreement with the NBA, would Roberts prefer that the media attend only NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s press conferences? Roberts’ comments regarding access are another calculated attempt to show union members that she’s going to fight for them. Only this time Roberts came across as uninformed and insensitive. She may want to think about limiting her media access for a while.”
Jim Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @Sheridanblog.