Utah Jazz: Knight gladly leaves L.A. for a playoff shot

Along with his leadership skills in running the team, Knight says the Jazz "expect me to be quick." He's quite familiar with the Jazz as an opponent, so he joked that he can already run the "1-4 high post" and "automatic" for coach Jerry Sloan. The 32-year-old also said the Jazz want their oldest roster player to provide "a positive voice in the locker room" and to help younger players.

O'Connor, however, insisted the Jazz got Knight for what he brings to the hardwood, not behind the scenes.

"We try never to make a move for the locker room. If you don't compete on the court and play on the court, it's very difficult to be good in the locker room," O'Connor said. "His role is going to be on the court, and anything else he brings is a plus."

Knight played in 74 games, starting 39, last year with the Clippers and averaged 4.6 points, 4.4 assists and 1.35 steals in 22.6 minutes of action. The Stanford product has logged 655 career regular-season games, having averaged 7.9 points, 6.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.77 steals an outing.

He is expecting big things from himself and the Jazz, who he considers to be an elite team in the Western Conference.

"I really like the team. I like the guys that they have here," he said. "I think we have the pieces to win, and hopefully I'll just be one of those final pieces to bring it all together."

Knight laughed when it was brought up that he is the squad's senior member.

"No problem," he said with a smile. "If you can be the oldest guy at 32, then that's all right. I'll probably be if not the quickest ... one of the quickest guys out there."

Knight added that he is excited to have the EnergySolutions Arena crowd behind him for a change.

"This city loves the Jazz. There's not more I can ask for (than) to come to a team that is loved by their city and they're a winning team," he said. "I look for this to be a good chance for me ... to win some games and do something positive and have some fun."