Suns' Brandon Knight: Shut down for rest of season

Knight will not play for the remainder of the season, per coach Earl Watson, Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic reports.

Analysis:

The decision doesn't come as much of a surprise considering Knight has not been part of the rotation for more than a month. Still, it's somewhat of a disappointing result for those who believed Knight would rebound after somewhat of an underwhelming 2016-16 campaign. The former Kentucky star averaged 19.6 points per game last season but shot just 41.5 percent from the floor, and he immediately struggled to solidify his role with the team in 2016-17. Assuming Knight doesn't see the floor the rest of the season, he'll conclude the campaign with averages of 11.0 points, 2.4 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per game. Knight, who started five of 54 games played, converted only 39.8 percent of his field goals, while shooting 32.4 percent from three. He's reportedly been battling back spasms of late, but the lottery-bound Suns obviously have other motivations as the season moves into its final stretch.