The San Antonio Spurs are rumored to be targeting Phoenix Suns point guard Brandon Knight as a potential long-term replacement for aging floor general Tony Parker.
Parker, 34, is entering his 16th year in the NBA, all with the Spurs, this coming season and had recently retired from international competitions with the French national team to try and preserve his body to prolong his professional career.
At the moment, Patty Mills is their only other option at the number one guard spot and the Australian star had just turned 28 years old in August.
The Spurs are known to be a franchise that prepares well for the future and so the timing of the rumors do make sense. Sportsrageous indicated that Manu Ginobili is playing his last year this upcoming season, which means that in 2017-2018, Parker will be the only one left from the Spurs' vaunted Big Three and the Frenchman is not getting any younger.
As of now, San Antonio has prepared for Tim Duncan's retirement by successfully luring LaMarcus Aldridge last summer. Ginobili is also set to be replaced by Kawhi Leonard to man the wings, but the only position that is yet to have a potential future star is the point guard spot.
This predicament rumored to have prompted the Spurs management to search for a potential point guard of the future. With an internal conflict speculated to be ongoing in the Suns' locker room, rumors abound that San Antonio may take advantage of it to snag one of Phoenix's young point guards.
Recent rumors have emerged that Suns head coach Earl Watson is also in a quandary on who to start as he has three potential All-Star guards currently in his roster with Knight, Eric Bledsoe, and sophomore Devin Booker.
Bledsoe had been a regular starter for the Suns for years while Booker is reportedly being groomed as the future face of the franchise, which left Knight as the odd man out of the trio.
ESPN indicated that Watson prefers Bledsoe and Booker as his starters in the backcourt with Knight coming off the bench as a sixth man.
Knight is reportedly fine about his new role at the moment, but there are rumors that sooner or later he may become disgruntled about it.
If that happens, then the Spurs could definitely jump in between Knight and the Suns to potentially trigger a trade between the two teams.