Brandon Knight (basketball)

Brandon Knight
Born	(1991-12-02) December 2, 1991 Miami, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Professional basketball player
Years active	2011–present

Brandon Emmanuel Knight (born December 2, 1991) is a professional basketball player from the United States currently signed with the Capitanes de Arecibo competing in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). Knight, recognized twice as the Gatorade National Player of the Year, spent one collegiate season with the Kentucky Wildcats before being chosen eighth overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons.

Following two seasons in Detroit, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he remained for approximately one and a half seasons. In February 2015, Knight was moved to the Phoenix Suns. He was later traded to the Houston Rockets in August 2018. At the 2019 trade deadline, Knight returned to Phoenix and was subsequently traded back to Detroit at the 2020 trade deadline.

High school career

Hailing from Miami, Florida, Knight attended Pine Crest School located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Excelling both academically and athletically, he maintained an impressive 4.3 GPA. During his junior year (2008–09), he averaged 31.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 3.2 steals per game; as a senior (2009–10), his averages rose to 32.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Knight earned the distinction of being a two-time recipient of the Gatorade National Player of the Year and was honored as the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year in 2010. He guided Pine Crest to four state championship appearances, securing titles in both 2008 and 2009, and was named class 3A-1A Basketball Player of the Year four times by the Miami Herald. Additionally, Knight claimed two Florida Mr. Basketball awards and ranks second on Florida’s all-time high school scoring list with a total of 3,515 points.

Following his senior year, Knight showcased his talents in prestigious events such as the McDonald's All-American Game, Nike Hoop Summit, and Jordan Brand Classic. Notably, during the 2010 McDonald's All-American Game, he nailed a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the West team to a 107–104 victory.

Ranked as the No. 6 overall recruit in 2010 by Rivals.com, Knight verbally committed to play at the University of Kentucky in April of that year. Although he signed a financial aid agreement indicating his intent to join Kentucky's program, he refrained from signing a binding letter of intent amid speculation regarding coach John Calipari’s potential departure for an NBA coaching position.

College career

In his freshman season with the Kentucky Wildcats, Knight posted averages of 17.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists across 38 games. His shooting percentages included 42% from the field, 38% beyond the arc, and an 80% free-throw rate. Knight set several freshman records at Kentucky: most points scored in a season (657), highest number of three-pointers made (87), and most games scoring at least 20 points (14). Within SEC competition over 16 games, he averaged 17.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists, earning First-Team All-SEC honors from coaches, Second-Team All-SEC recognition from media members, and selection to the SEC All-Freshman team. During the 2011 NCAA tournament, Knight achieved a career-best performance with 30 points against West Virginia in the third round and contributed 22 points along with seven rebounds and four assists versus North Carolina in the Elite Eight round. His outstanding play led to him receiving NCAA East Region All-Tournament Most Outstanding Player accolades.

In April 2011, Knight declared for the NBA draft, opting to forgo his remaining three years of college eligibility.

Detroit Pistons (2011–2013)

Knight was chosen as the eighth overall pick by the Detroit Pistons in the 2011 NBA draft. In May 2012, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, becoming the first Pistons rookie to earn this distinction since Grant Hill in the 1994–95 season. His total of 847 points during his rookie year ranked as the second-highest for a Pistons rookie since the 1985–86 season, while his average of 12.8 points per game was the fourth-best since 1980–81.

Throughout two seasons with Detroit, Knight played in 141 games, starting 135 of them, and posted averages of 13.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game, shooting 37.3% from beyond the arc. He reached double-digit scoring in 92 contests and recorded three games with at least 30 points during his tenure with the Pistons.

Milwaukee Bucks (2013–2015)

On July 31, 2013, Knight was traded alongside Khris Middleton and Viacheslav Kravtsov to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Brandon Jennings. His debut season with Milwaukee was hampered by a hamstring injury sustained in the opening game, limiting him to only two minutes on court and causing him to miss eight out of the following ten games. On December 20, 2013, Knight delivered a near triple-double performance with 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists in a close loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Eleven days later, on December 31, he achieved a career-high of 37 points in a victory against the Los Angeles Lakers. That year, Knight became just the second player in Bucks history to lead his team in both scoring (1,291 points) and assists (352) during his inaugural season.

During an overtime game on November 19, 2014, against the Brooklyn Nets, Knight missed a crucial fastbreak layup but later redeemed himself by sinking a game-tying three-pointer that forced a third overtime period; Milwaukee ultimately triumphed 122–118. On January 15, 2015, he recorded an impressive stat line of 20 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and a career-best six steals in a commanding win over the New York Knicks. By the All-Star break of the 2014–15 season, Knight was leading the Bucks in both scoring and assists, posting career highs with averages of 17.8 points, 5.4 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game while shooting efficiently at 43.5% from the field and 40.9% from three-point range.

Phoenix Suns (2015–2018)

Knight was traded to the Phoenix Suns on February 19, 2015, along with Kendall Marshall, as part of a three-team deal involving the Philadelphia 76ers. He missed several games in March due to a left ankle injury and concluded that season prematurely after undergoing surgery for a left heel bone bruise.

On July 17, 2015, Knight secured a new contract with Phoenix—a five-year deal worth $70 million. On November 12 of that year, he matched his career-high by scoring 37 points in a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Four days later, he achieved his first career triple-double by contributing 30 points, grabbing ten rebounds, and dishing out a career-best fifteen assists during a win against the Los Angeles Lakers. This performance made Knight only the fourth player since steals became an official statistic in the 1973–74 season to record a triple-double featuring at least 30 points, 15 assists, ten rebounds, and four steals—joining elite company such as Magic Johnson and Russell Westbrook. On November 20, he surpassed his personal best by scoring 38 points in a win over the Denver Nuggets. Then on December 13, Knight added another strong outing with 25 points and set a new career high by making seven three-pointers in a victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Between late January and early March, Knight was sidelined due to a left adductor strain. Upon returning on March 12, he scored 30 points and tied his record for most three-pointers made (seven) during a loss to the Golden State Warriors. Later that month on March 28, he once again tallied 30 points and matched his career high of seven made threes in another defeat to Minnesota—marking his fifth game with at least thirty points that season. On April 3, it was announced that Knight would miss the remainder of the season because of recurring issues with his adductor muscle; five days later he underwent successful surgery for a sports hernia.

In the following season (2016–17), Knight initially came off the bench but was eventually sidelined despite being medically cleared during the latter half of the year. He missed all games throughout the entire 2017–18 campaign after suffering an ACL tear in July of 2017 that required surgical repair.

Houston Rockets (2018–2019)

On August 31, 2018, Knight was traded alongside Marquese Chriss to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Ryan Anderson and De'Anthony Melton. Although he intended to rejuvenate his career during the 2018–19 season, Knight was sidelined indefinitely prior to the season's start due to an infection stemming from offseason surgery. On November 30, he was assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League for rehabilitation purposes, where he posted 16 points and five assists in 22 minutes against the Salt Lake City Stars before being recalled by Houston on December 1.

Knight made his Rockets debut on December 13, contributing one assist and one rebound over four minutes in a 126–111 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers—marking his first game since February 2017. He participated in 12 games total, with his last appearance on January 11 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, before being sidelined again due to soreness in his left knee.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2019–2020)

On February 7, 2019, Knight was acquired by the Cleveland Cavaliers through a three-team trade that also involved the Rockets and Sacramento Kings. He made his first appearance for Cleveland two days later, scoring nine points off the bench in less than 12 minutes during a 105–90 defeat to the Indiana Pacers.

Return to Detroit (2020)

The Cleveland Cavaliers traded Knight along with John Henson and a 2023 second-round draft pick to the Detroit Pistons on February 6, 2020, in exchange for Andre Drummond.

Dallas Mavericks / Sioux Falls Skyforce (2021–2022)

In March 2021, Knight participated in a workout with the Milwaukee Bucks, but did not secure a contract. He then joined the Brooklyn Nets for the 2021 NBA Summer League on August 3, 2021. Later that year, he signed with the New York Knicks on October 16 but was waived on the same day.

Knight was selected sixth overall by the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the 2021 NBA G League draft on October 23, 2021. Over 11 games with Sioux Falls, he averaged 21.3 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.6 rebounds per contest while playing approximately 38 minutes per game and shooting 35.7% from beyond the arc with an average of 3.2 three-pointers made each game.

He signed a 10-day contract with the Dallas Mavericks on December 23, 2021. After this contract ended on January 14, 2022, Knight returned to Sioux Falls. On March 29, he inked a second 10-day deal with Dallas, during which he averaged 10.0 points and 2.7 assists across three appearances.

Piratas de Quebradillas (2023–2024)

Knight signed with the Piratas de Quebradillas of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional on March 14, 2023. During that season, he received the league’s Most Valuable Player award and led as the top scorer with averages of 24.4 points, alongside contributing 5.2 assists and making an average of 3.2 three-pointers per game.

Capitanes de Arecibo (2025–present)

On February 20, 2025, Knight was traded to the Capitanes de Arecibo.

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | style="background:#cfecec;"|66* ||60 ||32.3 || .415 || .380 || .759 ||3.2 ||3.8 || .7 || .2 ||12.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 75 || 75 ||31.5 || .407 || .367 || .733 ||3.3 ||4.0 || .8 || .1 ||13.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee |72 ||69 ||33.3 || .422 || .325 || .802 ||3.5 ||4.9 ||1.0 || .2 ||17.9 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2| | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee |52 ||52 ||32.5 || .435 || .409 || .881 || 4.3 || 5.4 || 1.6 || .2 ||17.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix |11 ||9 ||31.5 || .357 || .313 || .828 ||2.1 ||4.5 || .5 || .1 ||13.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix |52 ||50 || 36.0|| .415|| .342|| .852||3.9||5.1||1.2|| .4|| 19.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix |54||5||21.1|| .398|| .324|| .857||2.2||2.4|| .5|| .1||11.0 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2| | style="text-align:left;" |Houston |12||0||9.8|| .234|| .156|| .818|| .8|| .8|| .2|| .0||3.0 |- | style="text-align:left;" |Cleveland |27||26||22.9|| .413|| .371|| .783||1.9||2.3|| .7|| .1||8.5 |-

|style="text-align:left;" |Cleveland
|16||0||15.1|| .326|| .297|| .308||1.3||1.9|| .3|| .1||4..9

|-

|style="text-align:left;" |Detroit 
|9||3||24..6|| .383|| .238|| .762||2..3||4..2|| ..6|| ..1||11..6 

|-

|style="text-align:left;" | 
|style="text-align:left;" |Dallas 
|5||0||13..0|| .400|| ..235||| 1..000|||1..6|||1..6|||0..2|||0|||6..4 

|- class="sortbottom"

|style="text-align:center;" colspan= "2"|Career
|451|||349|||29..3|||0..411|||0..352|||0..807|||3..1|||3..9|||0..9|||0..2|||14..0

College

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| Kentucky | 38 || 38 || 35.9 || .423 || .377 || .795 || 4.0 || 4.2 || .7 || .2 || 17.3

Personal life

Efrem and Tonya Knight are his parents.

He identifies as a devoted Christian.

External links

• Kentucky Wildcats profile