FanPost

Next time when Bucks organization says Player X is an important part of team’s future, remember Brandon Knight

Bits from article by Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel dated October 1st, 2014, time around Bucks Media day. Full article here.

There's little question the Bucks value Knight and are interested in a long-term deal. The question is at what price.

"He's a piece we want here," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said Wednesday, referring to Knight. "You talk about his work ethic, the way he approaches the game, he's a professional, on and off the court.

Kidd said the coaching staff "is very confident on him being the point guard" although there still may be times Knight plays off the ball in certain lineups.

Now fast forward to February 19, 2015.

Bucks just became a first team in NBA history to double their past season wins until All-Star break. I am not saying all this is solely due to Knight’s improvement. Both Jarreds (Dudley and Bayless) paned out to be good pick-ups, O.J. Mayo (who worked out with Knight during the summer) looked like another person, and Giannis became more aware of his abilities. And then Jabari...(sigh). Team had great chemistry on and off the court and Bayless wrote about that in his blog. With surprising Bucks success Kidd already redeemed his reputation after controversial debut at the helm of Brooklyn Nets last year. Was team’s new identity just to Kidd’s or coaching staff credit or above mentioned obstacles? I believe its somewhere even.

Now that play-off spot felt safe, Bucks front office (all of a sudden) started to build for the future and B. Knight was no longer in their plans. He was a hard worker, he was clutch, he never pouted and never gave up, he liked his teammates and they liked him back. I've personally never read of any issues between him, teammates or coaching staff. And he seemed passionate about being a Bucks player (his twitter account with Bucks references all over the place) and hoped to resign (back in October). Bucks organization has zero respect for those qualities. Four months after failing to sign an extension, Bucks front office realized his progress has made him too valuable and they did not want to let him go for nothing or sign him for "other team’s price-tag". They brought in Michael Carter-Williams and proclaimed him the next "point guard of the future". Looking back its kinda 'grass is always greener on the other side' philosophy all over again. When Bucks had Jennings (who frankly did not want to play in Milwaukee) they needed Knight. When they had Knight they wanted Jeff Teague. Now they wanted MCW over Knight. At the same time 76ers thought they could get a better PG with a draft pick at any time.

"All I need is 5 minutes, and that will be better than last year," Knight said of his Bucks debut. "The first time I touched the basketball, it was done. It will be better this year."

Maybe with how MCW progresses, whom I view as still raw (yes, I have watched quite a lot of 76ers games this and last season), would indicate much better for Kidd’s influence. Will Bucks organization be patient this time?

After Michael Carter-Williams found out about being traded, he tweeted he was shocked. Why?- one might think. He now enters a better position after constant loosing in Philadelphia and should be jumping in joy. But he probably (also) was told by organization that he was a part of the future there, a building block. He felt valued, he thought that (76ers, that is) was his team. I guess same can be said about Knight.

It is just a business, blah, blah. But how you manage this business tells much about organization.

Here’s what Utah Jazz did with two pending free agents in Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson at the deadline in 2013. - Nothing. NBA TV probably called them stupid. But Jazz respected those guys. They respected what players had done for the team, even if that particular season was washed down the drain and those two were clearly playing without urgency nor expressing desire to stay. In summer they both walked away for nothing. Jazz then had spare money to offer their own young players they believed in and wanted to develop. Bucks did just the opposite. They got everything out of Knight they possibly could (even when he had an off night, I could tell he left his heart out on the court) and cashed on him at trade deadline, when his stock fresh of off All-Star considerations was probably the highest. BK was denied an opportunity to enjoy the income of his hard work, the taste of play-off atmosphere. Had they pulled this trade if Bucks were currently some 23-30 and fighting for a play-off spot? My guess is no.

"I've got so many things I want to do with this team and so many goals I have for myself and the team, it's (contract extension) something I barely think about." – B.Knight, October 2014.

All Brandon cared about was Bucks. All Bucks organization cared about was, well…bucks.

Note to MCW: Better don't by a house in Milwaukee.

P.S. I am a fan from Europe and I liked watching Bucks this season and used to visit this site. It was such a feel good story. Now I exit. I find it impossible to root for a team who's front office treat their loyal players like that.

FanPosts are user-generated blogs-within-the-blog. We require that members abide by our <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/community-guidelines" target="new">community guidelines</a> and keep things respectable.