Jazz Swap Hart For Knight

Posted by Johnathan Kendrick on July 23, 2008

‘More Heart than Hart?’ (N. Graham – NBAE/Getty Images)

The battle to be the Jazz backup point guard was seemingly reopened Wednesday when the Jazz sent Jason Hart back to the Clippers for veteran point guard Brevin Knight.

Brevin Knight averaged 4.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 22.6 minutes appearing in 74 games last season while shooting 40.4% from the floor. Knight was strong at the free throw line shooting 87%, but struggled from the 3 point line – missing all six attempts. It’s safe to say though that the Jazz were more interested in his passing skills – including his 4.5 to 1 assist to turnover ratio.

Knight is two years older and five inches shorter than Hart. Both players contracts will expire at the end of the next season, but switching to Knight will save the Jazz half a million dollars in guaranteed salary.

It’s very possible the Jazz are positioning themselves to keep CJ Miles for the coming season and deal with the salary problems next year.

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justalars on July 23, 2008 said:

Yay Hart is gone . I like your analysis, they have till friday to match CJ’s offer I believe. 3.5 mil. yr (thats the average) seems alot cause we need to resign Brewer next year too.

Clint on July 23, 2008 said:

Oh mercy me, next year is going to be an exciting time for the Jazz organization. I am glad Hart is gone, what a weak player. Never heard of Knight, but hopefully he can backup D-Will, and let Ronnie Price play a little more of the SG position. I think if Almond improves his defense, we will see him switching from SG to SF quite a bit. I’m excited for this season to come, wish I could have afforded to purchase season tickets!

Go Jazz, 2009 Western Conference Champions, and beyond..

Aaron on July 24, 2008 said:

I’m glad Hart is gone, but I don’t know that Brevin Knight helps all that much. He doesn’t penetrate all that well, and, obviously, he can’t shoot 3s. Ronnie Price may have had trouble starting the offense, but at least he made the other team pay if they ever double-teamed off of him. I’m afraid that when Brevin is in the game, teams will be able to double-team Booz with impunity. But, he can’t be worse than Hart, so I look at the trade as a positive.

I don’t know that Price will get much play at the 2. Where will he get any substantial minutes? I’d much rather see him remain the backup PG and, based on matchups, slide over to the 2 when advantageous. As scrappy and effective of a defender as he is, he can’t be expected to effectively defend oversized 2-guards. Plus, Brewer and Korver bring substantial benefits at the 2, so I don’t see any reason that they should forfeit many minutes.

This trade is most effective in my mind because it allows the Jazz to bring in an established decision-maker that has proven (as a starter for a great deal of his career) that he knows how to take care of the ball and run an offense. This is important because….injuries are always one play away. Apparently Sloan and the Jazz brass knew that they would not be able to rely on Hart as an effective stop-gap; the only option was to bring in a new face and hope that he would be better. Brevin Knight is the new face, and hopefully he’ll step up and be effective if the Jazz need him.

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