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It’s been up and down career for Miami Heat G League point guard Brandon Knight. Now the one-time first-rounder is ditching Sioux Falls to sign a 10-day hardship deal with the Dallas Mavericks, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The move has yet to be officially announced by either team. Knight, the eighth overall pick in 2011, joined the Sioux Falls Skyforce in October after going No. 6 in the 2021 NBA G League draft. The talented point guard is averaging 21.3 points and 5.5 assists per game for Sioux Falls in 11 starts. He’s shooting 39.3% from the field, including 35.7% from deep.
The 30-year-old has been a a bit of a journeyman during his nine-year professional career following stints in Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Houston. Knight was named to NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2012 and was a two-time Mr. Florida Basketball coming out of the Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale. He was also twice named Gatorade National Player of the Year.
A torn ACL in his left knee caused him to miss the entire 2017-18 campaign and detoured a once promising future. His path to redemption was starting to brighten in Sioux Falls where he was seeing meaningful minutes for his hometown team’s G League squad, but fate has a funny way of pausing plans sometimes.
“I grew up a Heat fan,” Knight told the Sun-Sentinel in November. “My goal is to keep going, to see where each step takes me, just like all the other guys here. I don’t care what the level is.”
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Heat Officially Ink Zylan Cheatham
The Miami Heat officially announced the reported signing of Zylan Cheatham to a 10-day hardship contract on Wednesday. The 6-foot-5 forward will wear No. 45.
Cheatham went undrafted in 2019 out of Arizona State before joining the New Orleans Pelicans as a free agent. He started in all 13 games for the Birmingham Squadron of the G League this season: 14.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists in 30.6 minutes per game. Cheatham is shooting 48.7% from the field, including 42.9% from three-point range and 80.6% from the foul line.
Omar Yurtseven Seeing Increased Minutes
Turkish big man Omar Yurtseven has been seeing increased minutes for the Heat thanks to gritty, heady play in the paint. He has averaged 18.6 minutes per game since December 13. And Yurtseven has been making the most out of his opportunities, especially with injuries to Markieff Morris, Bam Adebayo, P.J. Tucker. He has grabbed 37 rebounds over his past three contests.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra recently talked about how important playing in competitive games is for a young player’s development. He also mentioned that hard-nosed veteran Udonis Haslem has been pushing Yurtseven hard.
“We’ve always said this, that there’s no better player development for a young player than playing in competitive games with context, meaning and consequences,” Spoelstra said, via the Sun-Sentinel. “Every possession matters, every detail matters, and then you’re expected to produce and contribute to winning basketball. That has a 10-X, I think, impact.”
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