Brandon Knight traded to Suns, Michael Carter-Williams to Bucks in stunning NBA deadline deal

Two bright young point guards set the deadline on fire.

Feb 19, 2015, 8:03 PM UTC

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Knight has been traded to the Suns and Michael Carter-Williams is heading to the Bucks in a stunning deal reported just before Thursday's NBA trade deadline. Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the deal, with ESPN's Marc Stein quickly supplying additional details.

What the Suns get

Phoenix lands Brandon Knight, the best player in the deal and a worthy replacement for Goran Dragic. Knight nearly made the East All-Star team this year, his fourth season out of Kentucky. Just 23 years old, he's averaging 17 points, five assists and four rebounds per game this season. He'll be a restricted free agent in July, and should be able to play alongside Eric Bledsoe.

SB Nation presents: The three biggest trades at this year’s deadline

What the Bucks get

The Bucks pick up the reigning Rookie of the Year in Carter-Williams, who is also 23. He’s averaging 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds per game for Philadelphia, but has fought some nagging injuries and is very inefficient from the field. The primary benefit of Carter-Williams over Knight is that the former is cheap for the next two seasons, whereas Knight can expect a major raise.

Milwaukee also lands Miles Plumlee, whose size will help given the end of Larry Sanders’ Bucks career, and Tyler Ennis, a promising young point guard who can develop behind fellow Syracuse product Carter-Williams.

What the Sixers get

The Sixers might have landed the best asset in the deal: the Lakers' first-round pick from Phoenix. The pick is protected through No. 5 this season; currently, L.A. has roughly an 80 percent probability of keeping it. That pick is protected only through No. 3 in each of 2016 and 2017, however, and is completely unprotected in 2018. Unless L.A. keeps the pick this year and has an outstanding offseason, there are strong odds Philadelphia will land another lottery pick out of this deal.