I dont' care that he is 23 years old. He is better than Buzelis right now and probably will always be a better player.
He's absolutely better than Buzelis right now, that's true.
But when Knecht was Buzelis' age, he averaged 13.3 PPG at Northeastern Colorado Junior College. Buzelis was playing in the G-League against adults who were all college stars, the G-League is a MUCH higher level of play than high-major college basketball, let alone a Colorado Juco. And Buzelis is bigger, longer, and much more fluid and explosive athletically than Knecht, his raw tool set is objectively higher.
It's possible Buzelis' development stalls out and he never reaches Knecht's level. But that's not the likeliest outcome. Think of how high the expectations would be if Buzelis were going to Tennessee next year, and think what it would look like if he spent four years there.
As a guy who can't guard and can't distribute and who doesn't have the development runway left to really change either of those things, Knecht is already pretty much maxxed out as an offensively helpful rotation guy. He can play in the league (unlike Edey) and I see why he appealed to the Lakers. 17 isn't an unreasonable place to take him in a bad draft. But taking Buzelis over him is an easy decision, especially given the Bulls need for youth and upside.
I would have been volcanically furious if they'd passed on Buzelis and Topic to take Knecht.
I also thought it was nice that Gary Parrish openly said that the rape charge is behind him and that the public has no reason to think he’s anything other than innocent
Just to give voice to it, I understand and respect people's desire to have headlines and discussions everywhere about the outcome of the trial and TSJ having been exonerated. My personal preference is much more to have the matter put to bed and to have the focus be on basketball where it always should have been.
We're so lucky to have gotten TSJ's contributions last year under the circumstances, and in the end he got the professional future he always deserved. That's where I am inclined to focus, though I can understand people's desire to continue litigating over their sense of injustice about the whole thing.
I'd rather have the charges as a forgotten footnote of our glorious 2023-24 campaign, and for me what Illini Nation won in that Kansas courthouse was the right to have it all be a forgotten footnote.
