The Atlanta Hawks have lost a second player on the first day of free agency. Just after losing Delon Wright to the Washington Wizards, Kexin Knox has agreed to an in-principle deal with the Detroit Pistons per Shams of The Athletic.
It appeared unlikely that the Hawks would re-sign Kevin Knox given that he fell out of the rotations as soon as the team was healthy. He bought into his role as soon as he arrived at the franchise thanks to the Cam reddish trade. However, he did not show Nate McMillan enough to work his way back into the rotation.
The former top-ten pick has seen his value drop over the past four seasons. The reported deal that he has signed with the Pistons is only worth $6.0 million over two seasons. This is a massive pay cut for the 6’7″ forward out of Kentucky.
Why the Atlanta Hawks have made the right call letting Kevin Knox walk.
Despite having the ability to microwave points, Knox was not reliable enough to be a mainstay in the rotation. While he could have provided a nice level of floor spacing for the Hawks, there is the problem of Knox being so far down the wing rotation that he is not going to see the floor all that often.
With so much of their cap space taken up already, the Hawks need to make every signing a winner. If they do not then they will be too top-heavy, meaning that they may not be able to sign the depth required to make a push for the Finals.
Knox only averaged 2.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in 6.5 minutes per game. He struggled to get his shot going, shooting the ball at only 19.2 percent from behind the 3-point line. While some of this may be attributed to his lack of regular minutes, however, players need to stay ready in this league and this would not have been good enough to warrant re-signing by the Hawks.
With the Hawks extending a two-way qualifying offer to Sharife Cooper and trading for DeJounte Murray, they now need to focus on another quality bench guard. Lou Williams has signaled that he would like another season in the league and would be a much better alternative than Knox.