Brandon Knight NBA

With both the college and NBA basketball seasons closing in, it’s time to revive our regular roundup feature, where we whip around the world of basketball and see what’s happening that’s interesting right now.

First off, Lebron James did a cool Q&A on Twitter, which makes us wonder – would MJ or Magic have done something like that? Pretty sure Magic would have, but not so sure about His Airness.

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Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks picked up the fourth-year options on Brandon Knight and John Henson, and if you need an explanation on how the rookie pay scale works, you might want to review our discussion from last week.

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Gerald Wallace prepares for the upcoming season by ignoring the media.

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Derrick Rose is not only ready physically for the season, he’s been slowly increasing his conversation as well, most recently saying that the only true rival for the Chigago Bulls right now are the Miami Heat.

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The Utah Jazz are pretty happy with Derrick Favors and have signed him to a four year contract extension.

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Doc Rivers is trying to control the home arena for the Clippers by covering the Lakers championship banners when the Clippers play a home game:

“Well, I didn’t look at it as the banner thing. I just look at it as putting our guys up…. Listen, I think this is our arena when we play,” Rivers said. “So I just thought it would be good that we show our guys. No disrespect to them. But when we play, it’s the Clippers’ arena as far as I know.”

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Finally, Hall of Fame center Bill Russell was arrested for carrying a loaded handgun into an airport inside of his luggage. No explanation was given but Russell has apologized for the incident.

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Brandon Jennings Italy Basketball

A rumor flared up this week that Brandon Knight (PG/SG, 6’3″ , 2010), a Kentucky commit and almost certainly the starting PG for UK next season, might be considering a jump to Europe to play, ala Brandon Jennings.

The difference between Knight’s situation is twofold; one, it isn’t clear if Brandon Jennings actually opted to go pro because of the pay or because he couldn’t get the needed scholastic score to go into Arizona. There’s no indication that Knight is considering not enrolling at Kentucky for academic reasons.

Secondly, Jennings was more attractive as a point guard than Knight to pro teams. Jennings’ flashy style is exciting and pro teams in Europe were looking to land a player that might immediately draw fans, win or lose. Knight, although a good player as well, doesn’t have that same hype.

This does not mean that Knight couldn’t take the overseas route, but there’s one more key factor: Brandon Jennings experience in his year playing in Europe wasn’t great. He sat a lot and did not put up the numbers that were expected, and as a result, his draft status sank. It worked out for Jennings, who grew up quickly as he realized the difference between being a superstar high school recruit and just another pro player on a team of experienced vets.

Jennings treated his time in Italy as a professional, training daily to improve his shot, and approaching the game as he should. That, at least, is a benefit that has no doubt improved his chances for NBA success. After one season in Milwaukee, many people considered him to the be the rookie of the year.

The Jump Manual

In an unsurprising development, Brandon Knight (SG, 6’3″, 2010) has decided to play his college basketball in Kentucky. Knight should see a lot of immediate playing time in the vacuum of John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, but only time will tell if he’ll be able to run the point as effectively as he plays the off guard.

Kentucky also landed a top player from the 2011 class in Michael Gilchrist (SF, 6’6″, 2011), but it’s unclear at this point if he and Knight will ever play together.

The Florida Gators have pulled themselves out of the recruiting race for Brandon Knight (PG/SG, 6’3″, 2010), the star scorer who is down to a handful of schools. This move by Florida leads us to believe that Florida knows Knight is headed elsewhere, and right now all signs point to the Kentucky Wildcats; however, that still remains to be seen, and with Knight taking his time, anything can happen.

It also means the Gators may be making more time to focus on getting Austin Rivers (PG/SG, 6’4″, 2010) to completely commit to Florida. The recruiting situation with Rivers is odd; he continues to say he’s committed to Florida while also evaluating Duke. That means he’s not committed at all.

The Jump Manual

Brandon Knight (PG/SG, 6’3″, 2010) still has to announce, and several schools are watching as close as possible, not the least of which being Kentucky. It’s expected that Kentucky will lose PG John Wall after this season and possibly lose Eric Bledsoe as well. Knight would be a welcome addition to fill in, especially if Bledsoe returns and Knight can play some off guard. According to our old pal Adam Zagoria, Kentucky may have the inside track with Knight’s parents.

The Jump Manual

Brandon Knight
Image: Miami Herald

The future is very bright for Brandon Knight (PG/SG, 6’3″, 2010) , who is still weighing his college basketball options between Kentucky, Syracuse, Connecticut, Florida and Kansas. Knight is one of the top players in the 2010 class and has just repeated as the Florida Gatorade Player of the Year , his home state:

Already named to the McDonald’s All-American and Jordan Brand Classic All-American teams, Knight’s stellar senior season has put him in position to repeat as the Gatorade National Player of the Year.

Although a late season injury prevented Knight from a three-peat of the state title, top programs around the nation are eagerly awaiting where he’s going to commit. He’s recently stated that he will announce after the McDonald’s All American game is out of the way later this month.

Two big things are about to happen for Brandon Knight (SG, 6’3″, 2010); first, he’s going to play in the biggest high school basketball showcase, the McDonald’s All American game on ESPN. Then, he’s going to pick his college destination.

And he’s going to both on television.

After recently eliminating Miami from contention, the super scorer will pick from Connecticut, Syracuse, Kentucky, Kansas and Florida. Knight’s scoring ability is his calling card, and a team that lands him should get instant offense. However, it remains to be seen which guard position he’ll play.