Suns bound for leap, says Knight

THE NBA season just can’t come soon enough for Brandon Knight.

With Phoenix retooling with some familiar faces and impressive upstarts in the offseason, the playmaker out of Kentucky is just positive with how the Suns will fare this upcoming season.

“I’m excited. We drafted a lot of young guys and we got some guys who are coming back,” Knight said, as he and Boston Celtics legend Dee Brown are in town for the NBA FIT Week.

Phoenix hauled in Croatian big man Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss from the draft, and also welcomed back ex-Suns Jared Dudley and Leandro Barbosa back to its camp, giving coach Earl Watson a lot of optimism as the Suns finally hope to make the leap this season.

“Eric Bledsoe is going to be healthy this year and Devin Booker has been playing well,” noted Knight.

“We’re just excited to have everybody back. I’m excited to bring our team together, get started and get after our goals.”

But nothing will come easy in a loaded Western Conference, and the 6-foot-3 guard acknowledges that making the Playoffs remains a tall task for the young crew, especially with the behemoth Golden State Warriors pacesetting the West.

“It’s not going to be any tougher than it has already been,” he said. “The West is tough and loaded with a lot of talent. We know the challenge that’s ahead of us and we got a group that are ready to accept it, a group that can surprise a lot of people. We’re excited to get to work and get the season going.”

And Knight made it clear that with the lineup Phoenix has, the team will be ready to grind it out whoever steps on their home floor.

“All of our players in our team, we know every night is going to be a dogfight,” he said. “You might enjoy our city, but when you come to our arena, it’s going to be a problem.”