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Brandon Knight is 29 years old, a bit unusual for a G League player. Even more unusual is that he has a long history as an NBA starter, having been in the starting five in 349 of the 446 NBA games he played from 2011 through 2020. He was, after all, the No. 4 prospect coming out of high school in 2010, a star at Kentucky before he was picked No. 8 in the 2011 NBA draft.
Now, though, Knight is just another player scuffling in the minors, holding onto an NBA dream. He is the point guard for the Sioux Falls Sky Force, the minor-league affiliate of the Miami Heat. And he’s playing quite well, thanks.
In his debut game, Knight notched 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds. In his second game with Sioux City, he followed up with 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds, though he also had eight turnovers in a double-overtime loss. The thing to watch for Knight, though, is that he has been red-hot from the 3-point line, coming out making nine of his first 20 attempts, or 45.0%.
Knight was never more than a so-so 3-point shooter in the NBA, with a career mark of 35.5%. If he can show that he has raised his 3-point game, there could be a path back to the league for him.
Knight Suffered ACL Tear in 2017
That path could lead to Miami, in fact. While the Heat pride themselves for their ability to draft and curate young, overlooked and hungry players into useful NBA contributors—look at Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Derrick Jones Jr.—Knight would be a different sort of story if he were to wind up on the Heat. He’d be a veteran coming back to the league with a chip on his shoulder.
Knight suffered a torn ACL injury in 2017 and though he was not a star before he got hurt, he never really got back into form once he returned to action. The hope now is that, with a career reset in the G League–he was the sixth pick in the league’s draft–Knight can establish himself as a quality veteran backup.
He would fit right in with the current Heat roster, too. Kyle Lowry is the starting point guard, but the Heat don’t have a pure backup for him, a dangerous roster play considering that Lowry is 35 years old and has already had two scares with ankle injuries. The injuries did not prove to be costly, but if Lowry were to go down, the Heat’s only backup is untested Gabe Vincent.
Tyler Herro gets most of the reserve point guard minutes, but that is not his natural position.
Knight Has Remained Humble in His Comeback
Knight grew up a Heat fan in Fort Lauderdale, and starred at Pine Crest High School, so getting chance to land with the Heat in an NBA return would be extra special for him. But he knows that is not a given. He has done his best, even as he has gone from the heights of the NBA all the way to Sioux Falls, to keep his focus on the positive.
“My main thing is no matter what is to keep growing, keep striking the ground, keep building good days to show that I can go through a season and be healthy and be productive, all those things,” he told the Miami Herald last month. “I’ve played a while in the league, but I’m not despising the small beginnings. These small beginnings, you got to start somewhere. So I enjoy rebuilding, kind of tearing down what I did before and starting fresh. I kind of like that.”
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